Title: Pedestrian Priority Index: Objectively Assessing Investments in Pedestrian Infrastructure in North Vancouver

Authors: Brian Patterson, MCIP, Transportation Planner Urban Systems Ltd. 2353 – 13353 Commerce Parkway, Richmond, BC V6V 3A1 e-mail: [email protected]; tel: 604-273-8700

Dragana Mitic, P.Eng., Assistant City Engineer, Transportation City of North Vancouver 141 West 14th Street, North Vancouver, BC, V7M 1H9 e-mail: [email protected]; tel: 604-983-7343

ABSTRACT:

The City of North Vancouver is committed to being a pedestrian friendly community and supporting walking as a primary mode of transportation. The City’s Official Community Plan (OCP) strongly endorses the development of a walkable city to support healthy lifestyles, environmental stewardship, and reduced infrastructure demands. In addition, the City recently adopted a new sustainable, multi-modal Transportation Plan to serve as a “road map” for the next decade and beyond and to help it achieve many of the long- term goals and objectives outlined in the OCP. The Transportation Plan identifies the need to expand and upgrade the sidewalk and trail network throughout the City to support walking as a primary mode of travel.

To encourage and support walking in the City of North Vancouver, and to build on the direction outlined in the Transportation Plan, the City wanted to establish an objective framework to enhance the pedestrian network through the community. This study included the identification of all locations in the City where sidewalks are missing, the development of a methodology to objectively assess and prioritize needs for new sidewalks, and the development of an implementation strategy.

The methodology included five evaluation criteria: Severity, which indicates how safe a particular missing link is; Probability of conflict, which indicates the probability of a conflict between pedestrians and vehicles; Access to transit, which considered the proximity of transit routes; Proximity to schools, which considered the proximity of schools; and Pedestrian demand, which considered the potential pedestrian demand for each missing sidewalk.

The assessment was conducted using a Geographic Information System (GIS). The study indicated that there is a total of approximately 41.5 km of sidewalks needed throughout the City, which would cost approximately $14.9 million to implement. The evaluation process reduced this list to a smaller number of higher priority improvements, which total approximately 9.4 km and will represent a cost of approximately $3.5 million to implement. BIOGRAPHY

Brian Patterson is a transportation planning consultant based in Richmond, BC, Canada. Brian’s work focuses primarily on active transportation, including walking, cycling, traffic calming, and travel demand management. Brian has developed active transportation plans for several communities throughout Western Canada.

Dragana Mitic is Assistant City Engineer, Transportation for the City of North Vancouver, BC, Canada, looking after the transportation system for the City. Dragana has over 18 years of experience working on various transportation projects ranging from the long-term transportation plans to traffic operational and safety projects. Sidewalk Needs Assessment: Developing an Objective Framework to Assess and Prioritize Investments in Pedestrian Infrastructure

By Brian Patterson MCIP, Transportation Planner, Urban Systems Ltd., and Dragana Mitic P.Eng., Assistant City Engineer, City of North Vancouver

Problem Statement The City of North Vancouver is committed to being a pedestrian friendly community and supporting walking as a primary mode of transportation. However, because of the significant gap between the extent of the City's existing sidewalk system and the desired standard, as well as limited financial resources, it will take many years before North Vancouver’s pedestrian system is complete. To address this challenge, the City wanted to establish an objective framework through which to assess and prioritize pedestrian improvements throughout the City on an on-going basis. This paper presents the methods used to develop a Sidewalk Needs Assessment, as well as the results and outcomes of this study.

Introduction To encourage and support walking in the City of North Vancouver, and to build on the direction outlined in the Transportation Plan, the City wanted to establish an objective framework to enhance the pedestrian network through the community. This study included the identification of all locations in the City where sidewalks are missing, the development of a methodology to objectively assess and prioritize needs for new sidewalks, and the development of an implementation strategy.

Background Walking has always been the most fundamental of all modes of transportation. Although it may not be the primary mode for all trips, walking is a part of every trip whether it is at the beginning, the end, or as a connection between other modes. The trend towards walking as a viable mode of transportation – for the entire trip – is changing. People’s attitudes are beginning to change and walking is being viewed as more than recreational – it is growing to be viewed as a healthy, cost-effective and enjoyable way of moving about North Vancouver.

The City of North Vancouver is a relatively small, but well-established, community on the North Shore of the Metro Vancouver region in British Columbia, Canada. The City has evolved over the past 150 years from a lumber and shipping town known as Moodyville to a thriving urbanized municipality of over 48,000 residents today. The City is a relatively compact community, with a land area of 11.8 square kilometres (4.5 square miles).

Unlike in other suburban communities in the Metro Vancouver region, however, the City of North Vancouver is largely built out and has no opportunities for further “greenfield” development. Future growth in the City will occur through rejuvenation and redevelopment of existing residential, commercial, and industrial areas. As a relatively compact community with a strong transit-oriented commercial core, the City of North Vancouver is well suited to walking for local travel.

Figure 1 City of North Vancouver Regional Context

Policy Context The City of North Vancouver is committed to being a pedestrian friendly community and supporting walking as a primary mode of transportation. The City’s Official Community Plan (OCP) outlines a Community Vision, which is “to be a vibrant, diverse and highly livable community that strives to balance the social, economic and environmental needs of our community locally.” In order to realize this Community Vision, the OCP contains ten distinct “Policy Paths.” Each “Policy Path” addresses a different topic – such as land use, transportation, mobility and access, sense of place, environment, community infrastructure, and financial planning. Each Policy Path contains a set of goals and objectives through which the City will manage future planning and development. Through these goals and objectives in these Policy Paths, the City’s OCP strongly endorses the development of a walkable city to support healthy lifestyles, sustainability objectives, and reduced infrastructure demands.

In order to work towards the vision outlined in the OCP, the City aims to fulfill the following transportation objectives: Provide enhanced access to public transit; Create safe pedestrian and bicycle routes; Enable accessible transportation for people with limited mobility; Maintain existing transportation infrastructure; and Continue working with other levels of government on transportation issues.

In addition, the City recently adopted a new sustainable, multi-modal Transportation Plan to serve as a “road map” for the next decade and beyond and to help it achieve many of the long-term goals and objectives outlined in the OCP. The Transportation Plan is strongly linked to the achievement of the City's long-term goals within all Policy Paths identified in the OCP, as transportation influences many aspects of a community's overall function and quality of life. Implementation of the Transportation Plan through the goals shown in Figure 2 will directly and indirectly help the City to achieve its long-term goals within each Policy Path and to move forward toward its overall Community Vision.

Although the Transportation Plan includes strategies for all modes of transportation – including walking, cycling, transit, the road network and goods movement, and Travel Demand Management (TDM) – the emphasis of the Plan is to increase use of alternative travel modes, as that would also result in health benefits from active living, vibrant streets, paths and places, lower per capita greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and less impact on the environment. The Transportation Plan supports creation of complete streets that would provide safe access and mobility for all users whether they are pedestrians, cyclists, transit users, drivers, able or with disabilities. In particular, the Transportation Plan identifies the need to expand and upgrade the sidewalk and trail network throughout the City to support walking as a primary mode of travel.

Figure 2 Transportation Plan Goals

Study Objectives To encourage and support walking in the City of North Vancouver, and to build on the direction outlined in the Transportation Plan and OCP, the City wanted to establish an objective framework through which to enhance the pedestrian network through the community. This study included the identification of all locations in the City where sidewalks are missing, the development of a methodology to objectively assess and prioritize needs for new sidewalks, and the development of an implementation strategy. The specific objectives of this assessment were to:

Identify sidewalk needs within the City to achieve current standards along various classes of roadways and in key pedestrian areas; Establish priorities for the implementation of sidewalks, based on locally- defined criteria; Assign appropriate weighting to sidewalk improvements based on the Implementation Strategy developed as part of the City’s Transportation Plan; Prioritize improvement options based on the criteria and weighting. Development planning level cost estimates to complete the City’s sidewalk network. Prepare a ranked list of sidewalk projects to guide the City’s capital programming.

Methodology

1. Needs Assessment The City’s Subdivision and Development Control Bylaw outlines the City’s sidewalk requirements. According to this bylaw, all through roads and all roads in commercial zones require sidewalks on both sides of the street. For cul-de-sacs, a sidewalk is required on one side of the access road to the bulb portion. Where a pedestrian generating access route (i.e. a walkway or emergency access) is proposed off the bulb portion, the sidewalk is to be extended around and connected to that facility.

A Sidewalk Needs Assessment was undertaken based on the City’s bylaw requirements. As such, sidewalk deficiencies were identified for all through roads that did nod not have sidewalks on both sides of the street as well as for all cul-de-sacs that did not have a sidewalk on at least one side of the street. The Sidewalk Needs Assessment was conducted by reviewing the City's sidewalk inventory and validating this information through field visits and a review of aerial photography. Sidewalk deficiencies are shown in Figure 3.

For the purpose of the assessment, sidewalk needs were grouped into distinct projects that shared similar characteristics. For example, if a sidewalk was missing on one street for several blocks and the characteristics of the sidewalk needs were the same for each of those blocks, the sidewalk deficiencies in those blocks were grouped together to form a single project. On the other hand, if a sidewalk was missing on one street for several blocks but had different characteristics at different points (ie if a sidewalk was missing one side of the street for one block, but missing on both sides of the street for a different block), then distinct projects were created to reflect their local conditions. Based on this approach, 172 distinct projects were identified throughout the City.

Figure 3 Sidewalk Needs

2. Pedestrian Priority Index Evaluation criteria were developed to prioritize improvements to the sidewalk deficiencies identified in the Sidewalk Needs Assessment. The methodology included the development of a Pedestrian Priority Index, with five evaluation criteria: severity (which indicated the safety of a particular missing sidewalk); probability of conflict (which indicated the probability of a conflict between pedestrians and vehicles); access to transit (which considered the proximity of transit routes); proximity to schools (which considered the proximity of schools); and pedestrian demand (which considered the potential pedestrian demand for each missing sidewalk).

The assessment was conducted using a Geographic Information System (GIS). Each criteria was ranked on a score of 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest). Each of these criteria are described in further detail below and are summarized in Table 1.

Severity - This measure indicates how safe a particular missing link is, based on two criteria: the degree of vehicle exposure (based on expected traffic volumes as determined by the City’s existing roadway classification) and the degree of consequence if a collision were to occur (based on expected truck volumes as determined by the City’s existing truck route designations). The degree of vehicle exposure measure provides a general indication of the physical configuration of the roadway and, in many cases, the volume of traffic that can be expected (as road classification is a proxy for traffic volumes). The degree of consequence measure is based upon the City’s truck route designations, which identifies those routes where trucks are more likely to be travelling and which increases the severity of consequence from a pedestrian perspective. This criteria is measured by combining the City’s existing roadway classification to indicate the degree of the vehicle exposure with its truck route designations as a measure of the degree of consequence, as shown in Figure 4 and Figure 5.

Figure 4 Severity Criteria Figure 5 Severity Results

Probability of Conflict - This measure indicates the probability of a conflict between pedestrians and vehicles. This measure is based on the degree to which a sidewalk deficiency creates a “missing link” in the sidewalk network, and the degree to which this “missing link” will impact a pedestrian’s ability to safely complete their journey. This criteria was measured by conducting a review of two factors: whether a sidewalk is missing on one side of the street or both sides of the street, and whether the sidewalk is missing for a portion of the block or for an entire block. In cases where a sidewalk is missing on both sides of the street for an entire block, a pedestrian is left with no choice but to use the road network, placing the pedestrian in a position of having a high probability of conflict with a vehicle. In cases where a sidewalk is missing on only side of the street, pedestrians have the option of walking on the side of the street with a sidewalk to complete their journey, in which case a lower score is applied. Further, in cases where a paved sidewalk is not provided but a gravel pathway is provided, a lower score was provided as this gravel pathway provides a relatively safe option for most pedestrians. In some cases, a given link may include a combination of two scores. In those cases, an average score was used. The results are shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6 Probability of Conflict

Access to Transit - This measure considers the proximity of all road links in the City of North Vancouver to transit routes throughout the community. Because most transit trips involve walking at one end or the other, transit routes represent key pedestrian generators. Transit routes are generally considered to have a “catchment” of approximately 400-500 metres (roughly a 5-minute walk). As such, this criterion considers those sidewalks that are missing directly on a transit route, those sidewalks missing within immediate proximity to a transit route (200 metres, or a typical City block), or those sidewalks missing within a typical catchment area for transit (400 metres). This criterion was developed by generating a 200 metre and 400 metre buffer around each transit route as shown in Figure 7. Sidewalks were then assigned a score based on their location within or outside these buffer areas. The results are shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7 – Access to Transit

Proximity to Schools - This measure considers the proximity of all road links in the City of North Vancouver to schools, including both public and private schools, and elementary and secondary schools. Similar to transit routes, schools represent key pedestrian generators. The typical walking distance to schools was assumed to approximately 400-500 metres (roughly a 5-minute walk). As such, this criterion considers those sidewalks that are missing directly adjacent to a school, those sidewalks missing within immediate proximity to a school (200 metres, or a typical City block), or those within a typical walking distance to school (400 metres). This criterion was developed by generating a 200 metre and 400 metre buffer around every school in the City as shown in Figure 8. Sidewalks were then assigned a score based on their location within or outside these buffer areas. The results are shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8 – Proximity to Schools

Pedestrian Demand - This criterion considers the potential pedestrian demand for each missing sidewalk link based on the proximity of each link to specific land uses that are known or anticipated to generate pedestrian traffic. These pedestrian generators were defined in the City’s Long-Term Transportation Plan as either: o Pedestrian Precincts, which are areas that support a diverse mix of higher-density land uses that attract multi-purpose trip making such as the Town Centre area and other major commercial nodes. o Primary Pedestrian Areas, which are those land uses within the City that will typically generate a higher than average number of walking trips, such as secondary schools, community centres, the library, and other major employment areas. o Secondary Pedestrian Areas, which are areas that will attract moderate volumes of pedestrians, such as minor and auto-oriented commercial developments, playing fields and parks, and elementary schools.

Figure 9 Pedestrian Demand

In addition, an adjustment factor, or weighting, was applied to the combined scores for each criteria based on priorities identified in the Transportation Plan. After the City adopted the Transportation Plan, it developed an Implementation Strategy that detailed a process to be used to evaluate various transportation related initiatives relative to the OCP Policy Paths as well as their contribution to mobility in the community. This evaluation process is based on a number of criteria, including the degree to which the improvements satisfy the Policy Paths in the City’s OCP, as well the relative safety benefits, relative cost, and opportunities for integration with other modes of transportation. The evaluation process assigned a weighting to each of these criteria to yield a total weighted score for each improvement. The evaluation scores for each project were used as a basis to determine the weighting, or “adjustment factor” for the Sidewalk Assessment. As such, this study was explicitly linked to the Transportation Plan and will help to achieve the goals and objectives of the Transportation Plan.

Table 1 Summary of Evaluation Criteria, Scoring, and Adjustment Factor

Adjustment Factor (Priority Severity (vehicle Probability of Vehicle Pedestrian Activity as per the evaluation process in exposure* / Pedestrian Conflict the Transportation Plan consequence) Implementation Strategy) Access to Transit Proximity to School Pedestrian Area

Type Weight Measure Score Measure Score Measure Score Measure Score Measure Score

Arterial and Missing Score of 21 or truck route Block surrounding Pedestrian 3 5 sidewalk on 5 On bus route 5 5 5 above or truck school precinct both sides area

Arterial but Missing not truck 4 sidewalk on route or 1 side for Primary or Score of 16 to truck area whole <200m from <200m from secondary 2 3 3 3 3 20 block, or bus route school pedestrian Collector both sides area and truck 3 for portion area of block

Local and Missing 2 truck area sidewalk on 1 side for 200-400m Low density Score of 15 or portion of 200-400m from 1 1 from bus 1 1 pedestrian 1 below block or school Collector route areal and not 1 gravel truck area pathway provided

3. Implementation Strategy The evaluation criteria and adjustment factor result in a range from a minimum possible score of 0 to a maximum possible score of 75. Based on these total weighted scores, each project was assigned a priority rating ranging from 1 (highest) to 3 (lowest), as shown in Figure 10 and Table 2. A total of 30 projects were assigned a priority rating of 1.

Table 2: Prioritization Score Priority 30 and above 1 15 - 29 2 1 - 14 3

Figure 10 Results

Based on the outcome of this analysis, an implementation strategy to remedy deficiencies in the City’s sidewalk network was developed. This strategy included a ranked listing of sidewalk implementation priorities, as well as planning level cost estimates for each project. The study indicated that there is a total of approximately 41.5 km of sidewalks needed throughout the City, which would cost approximately $14.9 million to implement. The evaluation process reduced this list to a smaller number of higher priority improvements, which total approximately 9.4 km and will represent a cost of approximately $2.6 million to implement.

Discussion This study provided the City with an objective framework to assess and prioritize sidewalk improvements throughout the City. Although this is an objective framework, it is intended as a flexible tool that can be used on an on-going basis to assist the City in its future decision-making. Ultimately, the implementation of sidewalk improvements throughout the City will be decided by staff and Council. Although the City would closely follow the suggested priorities as it moves ahead with its sidewalk program over the next several years, it is anticipated that priorities will be adjusted over time to reflect a number of influencing factors. These factors are briefly discussed below:

Annual capital program. Every year, Council will allocate a certain amount of funding for sidewalk improvements through the City’s capital program. The amount allocated to sidewalk projects may fluctuate from year to year depending on other community priorities and needs. The implementation of sidewalk improvements will depend primarily on the choices made by Council in the coming years. Community priorities. Although this review provides recommended priorities for sidewalk improvements based on an objective analysis, community priorities may ultimately determine the order in which projects are completed. These priorities will be established by Council in consultation with community groups and residents. Road rehabilitation projects. As part of the City’s ongoing capital program, the City undertakes road rehabilitation projects to maintain a safe and efficient roadway infrastructure. Typically, sidewalks would be constructed in conjunction with a road rehabilitation project. Accordingly, certain sidewalk priorities may be adjusted (moved forward or deferred) to reflect the City’s plans for major roadworks. Development opportunities. The City generally requires private developers to construct sidewalks along roadways fronting new developments. This represents an important contribution to the community’s sidewalk network, but may offer opportunities to the City for providing more widespread improvements in conjunction with development. For example, the City may choose to accelerate a given sidewalk project to complete a roadway’s sidewalk facility if private development occurs along a portion of that road segment.

It is important to emphasize that the prioritization of sidewalk improvements in the City will be a “living” or dynamic process. This will likely involve updating the assessment periodically to reflect changing conditions, road network improvements, or changing community needs. This updating process may involve changes to the ratings for individual assessment criteria or adjustments to the weighting factor. In this regard, the priorities identified in the study will likely change over time. However, a primary goal of this assessment was to provide the City with an objective tool with which staff can assess and prioritize sidewalk needs over time. This study provides an objective framework that other communities can build upon to assess and prioritize their future infrastructure investments on an on-going basis.

Improvements to the pedestrian network will help the City achieve several other key strategies, including its Greenhouse Gas reduction strategy and implementation of its Parks & Greenways Plan. To that end, the City is also developing a framework to monitor transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions in the City. Improvements to the pedestrian network are an explicit strategy to help achieve reductions in transportation-related GHG emissions.