Taken from the movie “Field of Dreams” and the popular quote used within – “if you build it, they will come”,can we apply this to current day issues around transportation, dependence on foreign oil, and America’s affection with the personal automobile? Can we effectively build pedestrian, public transit, and bicycle friendly facilities that will alleviate a host of problems our county currently faces. What’s to gain for this type of shift? Major impacts on personal and community health, the environment, and a separation from our oil-eyed focus, just to name a few. More over, beyond the impacts a system like this would create, lies a much deeper question – would these type facilities be used? Would Americans move past the automobile in the driveway and opt for a seat on the bus? Would the lone driver exchange their four wheels in the left lane for two-wheels in the bike lane?
As seen in popular media over the past couple of months, more and more people are beginning to look at the dynamics of a walkable community/city. In almost a ground swell of momentum, citizens are demanding that they have the freedom and safety to get to place-to-place by foot, bike, bus, or lightrail. As gas prices increase and people face economical squeezes, they are looking for civic leaders to do something about it. As a civic leader and official it is highly important to understand that citizens want these changes – they want livable communities. Unfortunately these changes can’t be made overnight – seen as major investments there needs to be more than just a surface level of interest from citizens. As I’m sure with any major investment, officials must contemplate a multitude of characteristics in deciding whether to initiate a project or not. In the case of public transit, pedestrian and bike facilities, I believe the biggest question facing leaders is simple enough – will they use it? Will Americans step away from their cars and move toward a different way of travel?
I think the answer it a resounding yes – under some conditions. Americans want their convenience, they want their safety, and they want their money – logical right? Public transit and bicycle/pedestrian facilities must meet all three of these criteria for citizens to make that major jump. The changes must be convenient – what will you choose…one hour by bus or 15 minutes by car? Commuting by bike on a street with no bike lane, no sharrow, or no shoulder doesn’t make the user feel safe, enclosed in a large piece of steel on four wheels does. And as we have currently seen, when the price of taking alternative modes of transit dips below that of driving, the user will seek out those alternatives. Ultimately, in my mind, it isn’t a question of use, it is a question of design. Can we build it right? Can we meet the needs of the user? As seen in some of America’s bigger cities, like San Francisco, New York, Portland, etc., Americans are opting for those alternative modes of transit – simply because they fit the criteria above – they’re convenient, they’re safe(er), and/or they’re economical.
It’s plain and simple – smart design and thorough planning will lead to great use. Poor planning and poor implementation will yield little result.
The Gas is Half Empty...The Pedal is Half Full 
I discovered your homepage by coincidence.
Very interesting posts and well written.
I will put your site on my blogroll.
🙂
Indeed, like the previous commentator, for me it was a happy coincidence coming across your blog. Just today I published my own blog entry on pretty much the same topic — you can see it at http://www.sustainable-ny.org. I will be doing a followup entry in a couple days on funding alternatives to develop walkable communities. Kudos for your efforts to spread the word!
In our small upstate NY community (pop. 1,600), we got a $608,000 NYSDOT/FHWA grant in 2006 to build a shared-use (bike/ped.) pathway along a river that bisects our village. That grant represents 80% of the total project value. It’s called the Transportation Enhancements Program (TEP), and is authorized under FHWA’s SAFETEA-LU program. If you go to my blog you’ll find a link (in the 8/7/08 entry) to a PDF file that gives a pretty good overview of our project. (I wrote it. I also wrote the grant app.)
Among other things, I’d be happy to share with you our fairly simple, methodical approach to forecasting potential usership of the pathway facility. A state senator here, who we also went to asking for supplementary funding, basically asked the same question which you started off with — “If you build it, will they come?” But unfortunately he answered this question for himself with a negative, and he shut us out. Too bad, because our usership forecast subsequently passed muster with NYSDOT, they liked our concept, and we got the grant.
Every community could do this….but it often takes a local “sparkplug” or two — i.e., people who are willing to put in the time and do their homework to make a project like this happen.
Now that I’ve found your blog, I hope to follow it from time to time. Cheers!