Tuesday, August 19, 2014

The Comm Ave conundrum—in a chart

We've been covering Commonwealth Avenue a lot recently on this page, and here's another post (likely not the last). In the last couple of days we've seen the Boston Globe editorialize that the current design is subpar, which, despite the supposed end of print media, is a decently big deal. This post will be somewhat short on words, but I think get across an important point: the current design gives drivers more room than they deserve, and gives the short shrift to everyone else: transit users, bicyclists and pedestrians. Many thanks to TransitMatters for digging through the BU transportation plan (several hundred pages, including the entire MBTA Blue Book appended to the end) and finding their peak hour traffic counts. He presented it as a table, I simplified it a bit (grouping all transit riders) and show it to the right.

It's plainly obvious who the current plan favors: automobiles. They are only 30% of the street's traffic, but are afforded 43% of the streetscape. Transit carries significantly more people but sees only two thirds of the street space, and pedestrians and bicyclists also see their portion of the street relatively small compared with the actual use. Plus, car traffic is flat or declining, while bicycling and walking grow, but instead of encouraging such growth, we're shifting them to the edge in narrow, dangerous conditions, so we can have faster vehicles.

Expressed another way, transit, vehicles and pedestrians transport between 61 (bikes) and 75 (transit) people per linear foot of street width per hour. Cars transport 39. Does it make sense to afford the most street space to the least efficient mode?

(Note, these measurements were made from the already-build segment of the street east of the BU Bridge; the new plans seem quite similar.)

Now, imagine, if the road was built according to the actual use, not prioritizing it for vehicles. Transit would go from 46 feet to 61 feet, although those 17 feet aren't really needed for transit, so they could be used for other modes. Cars would be reduced from 71 to 49. That's still enough for four 10 foot travel lanes and parking on one side. Does BU really need on-street parking lanes on both sides of the street? Pedestrians get an extra six feet, three on each side, and bikes go from 10 to 11 feet. Of course, you still have those 17 transit feet. You could put in another 9 foot parking lane (see, parking!), and then use the remaining eight feet to provide a four foot protected buffer for each of the bike lanes. (Or a three foot bike lane buffer and make the right lanes 11 feet instead of 10 since they will be host to buses.)

Or we could overbuild the road for cars at the expense of all other users.


21 comments:

  1. Thanks. I was going to dream up a visualization for the data but it fell through the cracks. Only so much time in the day.

    I also did a road width analysis (based on a cross section near BU West) and came up with: Car=44%, Green Line=24%, Walk=21.3%, Biking=4%.

    My numbers are slightly different than yours. As for walking and biking, I did not count the unusable portions of the cross-section. So for pedestrians, I subtracted an amount representing all the street furniture and planting zones that block up the sidewalk. And for bikes, I subtracted a few feet for the "door zone", where you shouldn't be riding anyhow. So that left me with 32' for pedestrians (summing both sides) and 6' for bikes (summing both sides). That left about 10' over, as unusable space for anyone.

    Couldn't quite figure out how to include route 57 in this perspective, since it runs in mixed traffic.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah, I included the 57 bus as the domain of cars. Unless it gets its own lane, it's a car lane. You could say that one foot of the parking lane is, on average, used for bus stops and another foot for curb bump outs, but you're dealing in tiny percentages on a busy street. I just did six cross sections and the ranges are (min-avg-max)

    Bike: 6-7-7
    Ped: 21-25-29
    Car: 40-44-48
    Transit: 22-26-29

    Or pretty much what we have above. Imagine taking out parking on one side, I wonder what you could do with that?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The 57 bus stops use designated space in the entire parking lane on both sides of the street all the way up and down Comm Ave. You can't have bus stops in the general lane of travel, that'd be ridiculously unsafe.

      Delete
    2. There's plenty of 57 bus stops that are in the general lane of travel (e.g. St Mary St inbound). And plenty of bus stops around the city and the world that are such. It's quite normal. The bus stops, lets passengers on and off, and then continues. Without needing to wait, either, when other cars might refuse to let it merge back into traffic. That's not an issue when the bus stops in the travel lane. A nice feature for the riders.

      Do you ever ride the bus?

      Delete
  3. Yes, BU needs on-street parking on both sides. It is heavily used, necessary for move-in and move-out, necessary for businesses along the streets, student/professor parking, etc. Removing parking from the BU campus area would be an abject disaster. Other than that, good thoughts.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Also, having been a student at BU and lived in that neighborhood for the better part of 10 years, and walked and jogged those sidewalks thousands of times, I've never once seen the sidewalks on the stretch of Comm Ave in question (BU Bridge -> Packards) filled beyond capacity. This includes Agganis events, high volume times during classes, etc. Those sidewalks are already exceptionally wide, so widening them at the expense of on-street parking is unnecessary. Now, if they can be widened, or if the bike lanes can be widened, without removing metered parking, that'd be great. Perhaps narrowing the T space where there isn't a station, removing any other unused or unnecessary space. But to remove metered parking in that area on either side would create an enormous parking problem, especially during Agganis events.

    The sidewalks on the lower part of Comm Ave that were redone a few years back are another story, those were stupidly narrowed - though even still I've never seen them absurdly overpacked. But that could've been easily rectified by better planning of the bench/garden installments that are absurdly large and poorly placed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Agganis events can fill it, although the sidewalk in that area is extra large so it can usually handle it. When the Paradise lets out it easily fills up the sidewalk (usually with drunk people).

      But really, I don't think sidewalk widening (other than at crosswalks) is on the table, nor needs to be at this point. The big problem with the city's current plans is that they significantly narrow the sidewalk, much like the city did in phase 1 as you mention. And I have seen the phase 1 sidewalks get overpacked. I've given up on trying to get through there in between class times, actually, and I usually just walk out in the street if I have to pass thru while the BU kids are running between classes.

      The big problems with the city's plans are: narrowing the sidewalks in order to install wider car lanes, not fixing many of the pedestrian crossing issues, not fixing the bike lanes at all, and repeating the same mistakes as phase 1.

      The city is loathe to move the curbs, and BU just spent money on a design that moves the curbs in the wrong direction. It seems that the best outcome will be to keep the curbs where they are currently, for the most part.

      Delete
    2. Oh, and Agganis events attract the worst drivers. The people who drive in seem to have never seen a bike or a pedestrian before. BU would probably be wise to just cordon off street parking in front of Agganis during events, make it an [un]loading zone for quick drop off/pick up, and station some attendants there to keep an eye on the crazy drivers/keep things moving.

      The relatively few street parking spaces in front of Agganis are not worth worrying about for events. They might help the local businesses at other times, but during events it just turns into bike-lane-blocking double-parking central as drivers drop off their passengers and sit around.

      BU has a much greater interest in making sure that its everyday students and staff that are walking and biking to campus are safe.

      Delete
    3. Good points, Matt. Signing that parking for two hours, or putting in smart meters or signage, would allow them to clear parking for pick-up/drop-off areas during events when the extra space would be useful. Most of the time, they don't need that much room along Comm Ave.

      Delete
  5. Anon, a few questions:

    1. "Having buses stop in general travel lanes would be ridiculously unsafe." Why? This is not the case. Quite often bus stops are blocked and buses stop in travel lanes anyway. And "bus bulbs" are enough of a thing that they have a Wikipedia page, and documented use in cities for years. The only "danger" is the potential for drivers to be delayed. Here is more information about bus bulbs. An article from Seattle points out that such bulbs work, but that they do impact traffic. But again, why should we prioritize minority road users at the expense of everyone else?

    2. "Parking on both sides is necessary for move-in / move-out." This encompasses a couple days of the year. Should we plan for those days at the expense of the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and transit users on the other 360 days a year? And how much of Comm Ave is residential, anyway?

    3. "Parking is necessary for businesses and student/professor parking." Any studies to cite here? Maybe people come to these businesses by bike and foot, and certainly more would if there were better options. And for students and professors? Do they all need on-street parking? If there was less parking, they might have to park further away (horrors) or pay more for parking (sacre bleu!) or walk, bike or take transit. Professors and students don't need parking, but if given it they'll use it. And the whole point I'm making is that we are giving away too much space to vehicles proportional to their use of the street, which is already skewed in their favor. Make bicycling, walking and transit safer, faster and more attractive, and even fewer people would drive.

    4. "The sidewalks aren't full, so they're plenty big." So, apparently we should make sure that they have no room to grow. But constraining growth on the road? That's preposterous!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I can see the value of on-street parking for business customers and drop-off pick-up in general. Employees, students, and teachers should not be parking on the street. They should be in off street lots or garages. If there were clearly marked off-street lots for business customers even some of that on-street parking could go away. But there will always be demand for 1-2 hour parking on-street for people running quick errands or grabbing a quick bite to eat. Even with that though, that parking could be on the side streets rather than Comm Ave if need be.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is certainly a reason to have on-street parking, and it shouldn't be eliminated entirely. But there's a fallacy wherein plans go out of their way to make driving as convenient as possible (parking in front of every doorway on the same side of the street) at the expense of transit users (slower transit trips, no signal priority, narrower lanes) and bicycles (no protection, having to ride along parking. BU has plenty of off-street parking, and with better transit access, they could let the market decide how much it is worth. On-street parking is a case of the city subsidizing driving and BU at the expense of the majority of people who live in Boston and work at BU.

      Delete
  7. Máy đưa võng tự động là một thiết bị được gắn trên chiếc võng xếp giúp đưa võng hoàn toàn tự động mà không cần tác động của người dùng. Máy đưa võng tự động nhỏ gọn, tiện lợi, may dua vong em be tiết kiệm điện lại rất an toàn khi sử dụng cho trẻ. Máy đưa võng phù hợp với tất cả các loại võng điện cho em bé hiện có trên thị trường hiện nay và rất dễ sử dụng.

    Máy đưa võng tự động là lựa chọn hàng đầu trong việc chăm sóc con của các ông bố bà mẹ bận rộn, máy đưa võng tự động là món quà tuyệt vời vô cùng ý nghĩa cho bé yêu của bạn. Võng tự động là giải pháp giúp bạn tiết kiệm thời gian công sức trong việc chăm sóc trẻ khi ngủ võng, vong em be tu dong không những giúp cho các bé có giấc ngủ ngon hơn mà bố mẹ, ông bà lại có thời gian rảnh rỗi làm những việc khác. Những lợi ích mà máy đưa võng mang lại là vô cùng thiết thực.

    Bạn xem thêm bí quyết và chia sẽ kinh nghiệm làm đẹp:

    Cách chăm sóc da mặt bằng http://cachchamsocdamatbang.blogspot.com/
    Dạy trẻ sơ sinh tại http://daytresosinh.blogspot.com/
    Bí quyết giảm cân hay tại http://biquyetgiamcanhay.blogspot.com/

    Chúc các bạn ngày mới vui vẻ!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Bằng nguồn lực nhân sự và tiềm lực tài chính vững mạnh, cùng một chiến lược kinh doanh hiệu quả mang tính định hướng tương lai. snr phẩm máy hàn Vạn Thái luôn nỗ lực trở thành "Nhà phân phối đa ngành" hàng đầu tại Việt Nam. Với bề dày trong các hoạt động giao thương quốc tế, Vạn Thái không ngừng tìm ra những sản phẩm có chất lượng ngày càng tốt hơn, tối ưu hóa chi phí đầu tư của Khách hàng. Những dịch vụ, sản phẩm mang các thương hiệu thuộc sở hữu của Vạn Thái đều đạt tiêu chuẩn chất lượng cao, quy trình sản xuất nghiêm ngặt và phù hợp nhất với thị hiếu của khách hàng tại mỗi quốc gia mà Vạn Thái đầu tư.
    Hoàng Gia là thương hiệu wedding và tổ chức các sự kiện đặc biệt hàng đầu tại Việt Nam, luôn sáng tạo và đi đầu với những ý tưởng phông hội trường vad dịch vụ tổ chức đám cưới cưới độc đáo, ấn tượng. Ngoài ra, chúng tôi chuyên cung cấp phu tung o to chính hãng giá rẻ như phụ tùng ô tô huyndai, phu tung oto mitsubishi, phu tung oto ford, phu tung oto kia chính hãng. Đói bụng cần tìm chỗ ăn món vịt om sấu, bánh rán doremon, phở cuốn, cút lộn xào me hay những quán ngon hà nội hoặc tìm quán cafe đẹp thì lên lozi.vn nhé

    ReplyDelete
  9. TRUYEN-HAY-LAM.BLOGSPOT.COM - Nơi tổng hợp truyện online hay nhất, blog có nhiều thể loại cực hấp dẫn như: tuyển tập truyen ngan về tình yêu, hay truyện cười cực vui nhộn, những điều thú vị, chuyện lạ,... được tổng hợp một cách chọn lọc!
    Chúc các bạn đọc truyện vui vẻ!
    Yến sào có nhiều lợi ích cho sức khỏe, Yến sào Bảo Gia đang có chương trình yến sào khuyến mãi với nhiều ưu đãi hấp dẫn!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thank you very much!
    Mai Thanh – Maketting online
    -------------------------------------------------------------------
    • Xem chi tiết về Dịch vụ trang trí đám hỏi tại nhà gồm những gì?
    • Hoặc Dich vu trang tri dam hoi tai nha gom nhung gi?

    ReplyDelete
  11. thiet ke noi that
    thiet ke noi that chung cu Great focuses you composed here..Great stuff...I think you've made some genuinely fascinating points.Keep up the great work.
    thiet ke noi that can ho
    thiet ke noi that van phong Thanks for sharing this interesting blog with us.My pleasure to being here on your blog..I wanna come back here for new post from your site
    thiet ke noi that phong khach
    thiet ke noi that shop wow good ctually how you are no longer really much more well-appreciated than you might be now. thiet ke noi thatthiet ke noi that showroom
    vit om sau, cach lam ga ran

    ReplyDelete
  12. công ty thiết kế noi thatoz chuyênthiet ke noi thatvathi cong noi that theo đề nghị của khách hàng.Chúng tôi luôn lắng nghe về những vânthi công nội thấtvà thấu hiểu những nhu cầu của các bạn của người dùng.Với các kỹ sư giỏi chúng tôi chuyên nhậnthiet ke can hova trang trinoi that can ho.liền kề đó chúng tôi còn chuyênthi cong shop,thi cong chung cutrọng gói chongười dùng. Ngoai ra chung tôi còn nhận tư vấn trang trí thiet kethi cong van phong

    ReplyDelete
  13. my pham gia si lê lương lậu siêng cung ứng và quăng quật sỉ linh kem tri seo biếu người mua trên tuyền quốc có các sản phẩm có dạng kết hợp với kem tri nam sàng lọc rành túy từ những tuyền chất tạo phải kem kem tri tan nhan cũng như kem tri mun có làm thức độc quyền giúp bạn giàu một là da sạch bóng song ko buộc phải cậy đến kem tri tham như những mẫu kem khác. bên cạnh đó chúng tôi còn có những loại kem Kem collagen white hàn quốc

    ReplyDelete
  14. thiet ke noi that dep va thi cong noi that là một trong những dịch vụ trang tri noi that thi công nội thât và trang tri noi that can ho nhằm đáp ứng phần lớn yêu cầu thiet ke can ho . và thi cong noi that shop hoặc thi cong shop cho người mua. ngoài ra OZ còn chuyên nhậnn thi cong noi that showrom , thi cong noi that can ho , và thi cong noi that nha hang cũng như, thi cong noi that van phong , trang tri noi that cua hang hay noi that nha hang cũng giống như noi that khach san ... ngoài ra ra chúng tôi còn thi cong khach san thi cong biet thu và trang trí thi cong van phong cũng như thi cong nha pho hay thi cong chung cu va thi cong can ho , thi cong spa cho khách hàng ngay sát đó oz còn cung cấp những bí quyết như trang tri noi that shop , triển khai noi that van phong đến với oz khách hàng sẽ có các dịch vụ trang tri noi that trong goi nhu noi that khach san hoac noi that resort cũng như pha chế nội thất noi that lounge hoăc noi that culb bên cạnh đó còn các dịch vụ làm đẹp như noi that spa noi that tham my vien

    ReplyDelete
  15. nội thất ô tô hà nội

    Nội Thất Ô Tô Hà Nội - Mua Nội thất xe hơi phụ kiện và các bộ phận trong Hà Nội. Chúng tôi cung cấp các phụ kiện và phụ kiện nội thất xe hơi tốt nhất tại Hà Nội, Việt Nam. liên hệ với chúng tôi - 0976.256.096


    to get more - https://hadoauto.com/danh-muc/noi-that-xe-hoi/

    ReplyDelete