Matthew Roe is a Senior Planning and Research Manager for the New York City Department of Transportation. This presentation from August 26, 2013 comes from a seminar on effective street design to improve safety and economic vitality. The seminar was hosted by EMBARQ Turkey at the Istanbul Technical University.

1. The Value of Great Streets:
Safety, Mobility, Vitality
Istanbul, 26 August 2013

2. • plaza • Bike lane
Urbanity
Vitality
Great Streets – Great Cities
Mobility
Safety
Mobility

3. • Basic Urban Form + Street Design
– Death & injury are largest cost of
automobile transport for most cities
– rivaling congestion
– Traffic crashes are a leading cause
of death worldwide, esp. young
adults
– Dumbaugh & Rae found that
traditional urban neighborhoods
were safer than suburban areas
with large, fast arterial streets
– 1 in 5 of Turkey’s road deaths are
pedestrians
10.8
3.3
13.4
1.6
0.0
10.0
20.0
US
NYC
Turkiye
Istanbul
Traffic Fatality Rate per
100,000 Inhabitants
Safety
Dense cities are much safer than car-
oriented cities and rural areas

4. • Strong benefit : cost ratio
• Safety projects can outperform
pure mobility projects
• Fast implementation with ordinary
materials
• Measurable results
• Most cost-effective to implement
as a continuing citywide program
Safety

5. • Above: person-capacity per hour of a typical 3.5m lane
• Walking and cycling save space – the scarcest urban resource
Graphic: Asian Development Bank
Mobility

6. • In New York City, bicycle
commuting rose as bike
network expanded from
2008 to 2013
• Has risen by 300% since
2000.
Graphic: NYC Dept. of Transportation
Mobility
Bicycling
grows
as
bike
networks
are
improved

7. A Virtuous Cycle
• Walking and biking
households spend
more locally than
drivers
• Presence of local
businesses improves
attraction of street
• Result: more and safer
walking
Improved
Street
Design
Improved
Safety
More
Walking/
Biking
Stronger
Local
Retail
Support
for
Street
Design
Economic Vitality

8. • Projects are not
intuitive to all
businesses
• Working closely with
groups of small
retailers or with
primary stakeholders
can overcome these
concerns
Economic Vitality

9. Pedestrian
space
and
bike
connec7vity
at
a
transit
hub
and
park
Union Square North, Manhattan
Retail
vacancies
cut in half
Travel times
unchanged
Injury
crashes
down by
26%
Source: NYC Dept. of Transportation

10. Pearl Street Plaza, Brooklyn
Retail
Sales
up
172%
Locally-­‐designed
plaza
replaces
empty
asphalt,
providing
focal
point
for
a
neighborhood
in
transi7on
from
industrial
to
mixed-­‐use
Source: NYC Dept. of Transportation

11. 9th Avenue Protected Bike Lanes
Retail
Sales
up
49%
Injuries
down
58%
2,200
bikes
per
day
Source: NYC Dept. of Transportation
Protected
Bike
Lane
replaces
one
lane
of
mixed
traffic,
adding
pedestrian
refuges
and
greening
the
street.

12. Palmer Street, Cambridge MA

13. Brighton New Road
Pedestrian
volume
up
62%
Car
speeds
down
to
20
kph
“Staying
acQviQes”
up
600%
Source: Gehl Architects
Shared
Street
design
allows
deliveries
and
bicycling
on
a
pedestrian-­‐
dominated
retail
street

14. West Palm Beach, Florida
Retail
occupancy
at
80%
Downtown
revitaliza7on
with
safe
street
designs
as
a
centerpiece

15. Questions
Matthew Roe
matthewjafferoe@gmail.com