Download pdf of Fred Hansen's report - Adelaide Thinkers in ...

I also agree with Professor Wegman that appropriate safety infrastructure must beincorporated into strategic planning to accommodate an increase in walking and cycling.As discussed in section 1, it is important to incorporate walking and cycling into strategicplanning and implementation processes, not simply be reactive or add it as an afterthoughtaround other projects.PedestriansThe Premier and the Minister for Transport should direct that the TransportationMaster Plan reverses our transportation planning hierarchy from placing themobility of vehicles as its number one priority to one that focuses on thepedestrian as its number one priority.We need to ensure that as we plan a new roadway, for example, we think first of how tomake the corridor work best for pedestrians and cyclists. Once we have planned for thepedestrian experience we can design the roadway to accommodate vehicular mobility.All too often today we do the opposite. We plan for the vehicle and then, if budgets andspace allow, we build the footpath, safe street crossings and a bike lane.This is not about being anti-vehicle but rather about being pro-people. The results willbe profound. In new neighbourhoods we will ensure that the ability to walk will not becompromised by the needs of the vehicle. We will ensure that in these neighbourhoodsvital retail services will be within walking distance of residences. We will ensure thatbicycling will also be highlighted, not as recreation but as a transportation mode.Making the pedestrian and cyclist modes a priority in the transportation planning hierarchyis not reserved just for new projects. Every time there is to be an investment intransportation infrastructure, from repaving a stretch of street to rebuilding amajor intersection, the role of the pedestrian should be placed front and centre.No project should be allowed to proceed if it has not done so. And each project that doesproceed must dramatically enhance the pedestrian experience.When this happens, it will also help in delivering efficient public transportation options.Efficient public transportation means that the catchment of potential riders is expanded bythe pedestrian-friendly neighbourhood, resulting in more seats on the bus, train or trambeing filled. The importance of this cannot be overstated.It will also result in neighbourhoods where people want to live and raise their families,because they will be neighbourhoods where children can safely walk or bike to school,where the elderly can walk to the store or to see friends, and where our environmentalimpact will be lessened. You will create and build healthier and more sustainableneighbourhoods. It will mean that the use of vehicles will be reduced – not eliminated, butused only for those necessary trips where walking or bicycling is not an option.In Portland, Oregon’s newest neighbourhood, the Pearl District, the public transportoutcomes have been startling. Citizens in this tiny neighbourhood are 11.5 times morelikely to take transit, 4.5 times more likely to walk, and 2.4 times more likely to bike thancitizens in the rest of the greater Portland region. They are also driving about half as muchand own half as many vehicles as their counterparts in the region as a whole.This same experience has been repeated each time communities have reinventedthemselves to focus on the pedestrian and cyclist. Wonderful examples exist in Bilbao,Spain; Freiburg, Germany; Dublin, Ireland; and countless other locations around the globe.A sense of communityStreet activation is often thought of at street level, but is less often considered at height,and yet it is no less crucial to improved pedestrian amenity. Key to a safe and welcomingpublic domain is a sense of community, of shared experience, and of what is oftencalled ‘passive surveillance’: eyes on the street. This should be delivered on the groundlevel where accessible and engaging shopfronts, lobbies and residential living spacescan enliven the footpath. More busy people transiting, transacting and interacting willgenerally result in a safer, more vibrant and desirable place. People are attracted to people.But ‘passive surveillance’ can also be effective when higher level apartments andcommercial uses are able to look over the street from balconies, or even zero setbacks,active roof terraces and the like to encourage a closer connection between occupants andpedestrians.Car access onto properties must be carefully considered. Just as inactive garage frontagesare a problem for streets, ramps and driveways into common carparks can produceunintended consequences if not well located, and well designed. Where practicable, entryto common carparks should be from laneways or service streets, not primary frontages.Across these entries, pedestrian footpaths should continue, and not be broken by kerbs,gutters, refuge islands and the like. Instead, cars should be reminded they are traversingP U T T I N G P E D E S T R I A N S A N D B I C Y C L I S T S A T T H E C E N T R E20 FRED HANSEN: ALL ON BOARDFRED HANSEN: ALL ON BOARD 21