Pedestrian advocacy nonprofit Feet First is joining forces with the City of Bellevue to bring you two walking audits of downtown Bellevue on Thursday, December 1 & Saturday, December 3.

Each walk will take about 90 minutes and will begin with a short presentation by Feet First to describe the purpose of the walk and how to contribute ideas.  If it’s raining, bring a poncho or umbrella as the walks will go rain or shine!

Along the way, attendees will be encouraged to provide feedback and make suggestions to city transportation planners as they begin updates to the Downtown Bellevue Transportation Plan with the intention of improving the pedestrian experience.

The lunchtime walk on December 1st will begin at 11:45 a.m. in the Key Center Building lower lobby (601 108th Avenue NE), and last until approximately 1:15 p.m.

Saturday’s walk will commence at 9:00 a.m. at Top Pot Doughnuts (10600 NE 9th Place) and last until approximately 10:30 a.m.

The City can’t adequately plan without your input, so please join for what will be fun and enlightening afternoons! RSVP to Kevin McDonald, senior planner at the Bellevue Transportation Department at kmcdonald@bellevuewa.gov.

The Downtown Bellevue Transportation Plan Update is a focused, 18-month planning effort just getting underway, intended to update transportation plans and projects that will accommodate the growth that is expected in our city between now and 2030.  As part of their outreach efforts, the City of Bellevue recently hosted a series of bicycle rides, as well as an open house at City Hall. For further information visit www.bellevuewa.gov.

The Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System, or SCATS as it’s more commonly known, continually obtains traffic data from all lanes in order to determine traffic light cycle length, eliminating inefficient cycle time and providing extra time when needed. You’ll see it in full effect in downtown Bellevue at the intersection of NE 8th Street and Bellevue Way, as well as NE 8th Street and 112th Avenue NE and myriad intersections further east.

Bellevue has the distinction of being the first city in Washington to implement the system, and to impressive results: where it has been deployed locally, SCATS has shown to reduce delays by an average of 10% throughout the day, and as much as 20% during rush hour. Or, to put that in more concrete terms, it produces an average 70 second reduction in individual wait times, or saves 6,400 aggregate hours for drivers over the course of a year.

But perhaps you don’t drive? The system dazzles with benefits for pedestrians, as well. SCATS has the capability of producing a walk sign midway through the cycle at the press of a button. Since implementation at NE 8th Street and Bellevue Way, there has a 8% increase in pedestrian opportunities, and this function will be extended to more intersections in the future.

SCATS can also respond to accidents and disruptions in real-time (something that was nearly impossible to do with CompuTran – the former signaling system) and comes complete with the flashing yellow arrow function, which enables it to change left turn rules based on traffic conditions.

SCATS is currently in effect at 28% of the intersections in Bellevue, and partially in effect at 51%. Implementation will continue in phased rollouts until 2015, or until a new technology comes along that knocks us off our feet again. Such is the cycle.

The Downtown Bellevue Transportation Plan Update is a focused, 18-month planning effort just getting underway, intended to update transportation plans and projects that will accommodate the growth that is expected in our city
between now and 2030.

There are two main objectives for this meeting: to provide information to a broad section of the community about the purpose of updating the Downtown Transportation Plan at this time; and to receive comments and suggestions regarding specific transportation issues that affect Downtown mobility and livability.

Following an overview presentation in the Council Chambers, those in attendance will be invited to the Concourse to join in small group conversations with City staff focused on specific mobility modes such as pedestrians, bicycles, transit, and roadways. In this format, the City hopes to hear from the community about the transportation system issues that concern them and their ideas for improvements. People are encouraged to visit more than one of the mobility display tables to help in the challenging task of planning for a multi-modal transportation system in a complex and dense urban environment.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Bellevue City Hall – Council Chambers and Concourse
450 – 110th Avenue NE

For further information, consult the web site: www.bellevuewa.gov/downtown-transportation-plan-update.htm

You may also contact the project manager, Kevin McDonald at 425-452-4558, or kmcdonald@bellevuewa.gov.

See you there!

Deric received his Masters in Public Administration from the University of Washington, and has lent his expertise to a diverse array of organizations, including the Sightline Institute, the Puget Sound Regional Council, and the Trade Development Alliance at the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce.

In just one year at BC, he has already spearheaded a successful movement to bring Metro bus route 240 to campus, heightened the campus sustainability web and social media presence (see Facebook and Twitter pages), as well as instituted a college-wide paid parking program that began this fall.

We chatted with Deric about organizing, land use, making biking “cool,” and what’s next for Bellevue College.

CYWB: Can you begin by telling us a little bit about how you came to work at Bellevue College, and what you do there?

Deric: I began working at Bellevue College in September of 2010, following a year of traveling through the Middle East and Southern Africa by bike on a fellowship through the University of Washington. The first thing I was tasked with was tackling the longstanding transportation issues on our campus. I quickly helped to develop a task force comprised of students, faculty and staff that served as a platform for ongoing discussions about how we continue to grow mindfully while remaining an accessible institution for everyone.

CYWB: We hear you’re a something of a community organizer—would you mind telling us the happy story of bus route 240?

Deric: Earlier this year, I worked with student groups in an effort to get the Metro bus route 240 to make a stop at the Eastgate Park and Ride, the closest transit station to the College. We determined that 23% of Bellevue College students come from areas that would be served by this route, and that the cost of this change would be a mere five minutes for some commuters, but would save our students about a half an hour. We encouraged students to send letters and emails of support to the King County Council, and they went and testified before Council about how critical the bus service was to them. Their testimony tipped the scales, and as of October 1, the 240 now stops at Eastgate. Students often don’t count as much as jobs in transportation route planning, but they matter just as much, which I’m glad the Council recognized.

CYWB: Bellevue College has also been in the headlines lately for their new paid parking program, which is quite a change for the suburban-style campus where about 70% of the students and faculty drive alone. Can you explain how this came about?

Deric: We’ve long offered subsidized ORCA passes for our students, but with sharp increases in the cost of the pass, we realized we wouldn’t be able to continue to make the numbers work without a funding source for both parking and ORCA. We hired a consultant to conduct a parking study for us as a requirement of a new building we have permitted, and they issued the recommendation that charging for parking was the best solution to maintain accessibility of our campus. Furthermore, we determined that 75% of our emissions are commute related, and we want to reduce this by 10% over the next 5 years as part of our campus Climate Action Plan.

CYWB: Parking is often a contentious topic—how did you win the support of the campus community in this process?

Deric: The student government came out in support of it after a long review and deliberation—we have a very active student body and strong leaders on campus. The toughest sell was some of the employee union groups—they’ve long considered free parking to be one of their benefits. The whole bargaining process took a good 6 months. But in the end, the students were able to make the case to the Board of Trustees that we would never have a different future if we didn’t make this change now. It was approved in June of this year, and we began implementation this fall. The rates aren’t prohibitively high—$65 a quarter for students, less if you drive less, and just $15 a quarter for faculty and staff.

CYWB: If you could explain why institutions should charge for parking to the unconverted in just a few sentences, what would you say?

Deric: People need to understand that parking is not a free resource, and at Bellevue College, we’ve decided that we’d rather put our resources towards the students. Parking costs about $500 annually per stall, so it’s really a trade off when you think of it like that. As an institution, we want to become mode neutral and not subsidize one commute method over another. We want to always give people the element of real choice.

CYWB: Transportation and land use is often thought of something separate from sustainability efforts—often organizations that have recycling and energy saving programs don’t even mention transportation. Why the disconnect?

Deric: There’s always the fear factor of engaging around commute issues—it’s a very personal thing to people, with often intangible manifestations. It also takes work to organize non-drive-alone commutes, which is why before we enacted the paid parking scheme, we set up 5 informational booths around campus with representatives from King County Metro and the City of Bellevue and other students to help people plan their new commutes. That way it became more tangible, and manageable. Interventions like (PARK)ing day can help to make physical effects of parking more visible, as well. That’s something we might try on campus.

CYWB: Do you have any thoughts or tips for other institutions (schools, hospitals, etc) who might want to shift to paid parking?

Deric: Do the analysis to find out the true cost of parking on your institution and explore whether subsidies for parking are more than your subsidies for other modes and consider if that is fair.  In times of tight budgets consider your priorities.  Once you’ve done that analysis bring the findings to your employees and clients.

CYWB: How will you be able to tell if the new paid parking program has been a success?

Deric: We’re planning to do parking counts and a transportation survey but we haven’t decided whether it’ll be the spring or fall. Sales of parking passes and ORCA cards are going briskly, as expected—we’ve actually sold out of the cheaper ORCA pass—and we will continue to help with individualized commute planning through our SHIFT partnership and RideshareOnline. The parking program is a biennium, so we’ll re-evaluate it in 2013.

CYWB: What’s up with biking on the Bellevue College campus? You’d think it would be the perfect demographic for it.

Deric: Anecdotally, I’ve seen more bikes this fall than ever before. We’re installing covered bike parking, and our gym is free to use for showering purposes. We’re in the process of setting up a maintenance facility, and working with the Bicycle Alliance of Washington to organize safety and maintenance classes that will train our faculty and staff so that they can offer classes on campus themselves.

In the longer term, I want to work to make biking “cooler” on campus. That could look something like organizing something to coincide with the Tour de Fat (beer tour) or a “pimp yo bike” ride, or bike swap similar to the annual one in Seattle.

CYWB: What are some other forthcoming projects at Bellevue College that you’re excited about?

Deric: We’re starting a carshare service with WeCar, a service of Enterprise sometime this fall, which will help those traveling the 5 miles between our two campuses, as well as to our newest location in Issaquah in the future. We’re also researching the idea of installing trip planning electronic kiosks similar to the ones in South Lake Union.

CYWB: What does Bellevue College 10 years from now look like to you?

Deric: A campus that uses of land, energy and material resources only to the extent necessary to advance College goals.  A campus that’s easy to access to bicycle, transit, and personal vehicles.  More space for learning and campus life due to a drop in demand for parking.

The survey was taken by 394 individuals, 61% of whom were commuters to downtown Bellevue, 37% of whom were downtown residents that commute to other locations, and 2% of whom who both lived and worked in downtown. The survey went out in postcard form to all residents of downtown Bellevue, was posted in commercial buildings and was live on the Choose Your Way Bellevue website May 1 through June 14, 2011.

The majority of survey respondents commuted to work by driving alone (44.8%). In explaining their top reasons for doing so, respondents listed that were no reasonable transit options, they require the use of a car for errands before and after work, and because it saves time.  37% of this population reported that increased bus service would motivate them to ditch their vehicles, though in an illuminating statistic, 22.7% of drivers indicated that nothing would encourage them to change their habits.

Riding the bus was the second most cited commute method, comprising 21% of the mode-share, followed by carpool at 10.4%. The top reason for using both these modes was cost savings. Respondents also cited stress reduction, time savings, convenience and an employer subsidy for doing so. 5.5% of respondents walked to work, and 2% of respondents reported cycling to work.

When respondents were asked about general motivators contributing to their choice of commute mode, the top three reasons were convenience, cost savings and time savings. The top impacts to commute mode choice were transit service levels, traffic levels, and gas prices.

Respondents were also asked the minimum monthly financial incentive that would encourage them to try a non drive-alone mode. The majority of people indicated that $50 would help them make a change, though $100 was the second most oft-cited amount.

These results are quite illuminating as Choose Your Way Bellevue moves forward in branding, messaging and programming efforts directed towards downtown residents and employees. It is clear that we are working with a primarily drive-alone population, and there are some major obstacles to overcome to change these habits.

Considering that neither Sound Transit or King County Metro are in a financial position to expand service in the near future, we will not be able to use that as a motivating factor to encourage non-drive alone habits. Furthermore, there is a segment of the population who claims they would never change their method, which is understandable given that the ample amount of free parking in Bellevue keeps the actual costs to drivers down.

But perhaps we could do a better job at quantifying the cost savings, stress reduction and health benefits of participating in alternate commute modes. Driving eats up a large portion of American’s annual budget, and is the second highest cost behind housing,  but because driving has become so normalized in our culture, these costs remain invisible to many people. Whether it’s getting people excited about what they could do with the money saved by not driving, or demonstrating how often during peak travel times, driving isn’t actually faster (which my anecdotal evidence on I-90 overwhelmingly supports), there must be a way to show it visually, either through infographics or videos.

Additionally, walkers and cyclists overwhelmingly report being happier and healthier commuters, so we ought to encourage them to be more vocal (though not evangelical!) about their commute stories. Cycling burns an average of 300 calories per hour, and walking burns 136. Compare that to the 80 or so you burn while sedentary (car commuting) and active transportation starts to look like a winning option, eliminating the need for extra time at the gym and requiring no monetary contribution beyond start up costs.

But the reality is that most people live far enough away from their jobs that walking or cycling is not a viable option—only 6% of workers in Downtown Bellevue report actually living downtown, and the average commute distance is 14 miles. There’s always the possibility of combining active transportation with public transportation, and 7% of our respondents indicated being multi-modal commuters. But commuters tend to dread transfers, which add stress and uncertainty what can often be a lengthy commute.

Stay tuned—our next post will be about programs around the country that are encouraging people to live closer to where they work, which will help to alleviate some of the necessary driving wrought by extended distances between home and work.

Photo by TransportationCamp on Flickr

We at Choose Your Way Bellevue are geeked (literally) to report back from Transportation Camp, which took place in San Francisco this past weekend. A great mix of entrepreneurs, transit nerds, policy makers, activists, and students assembled under a disco ball to tackle the question: How can we use data to improve our cities and transportation systems?

Sponsored by Open Plans and the Rockefeller Foundation, Transportation Camp is a relatively new concept referred to as an “unconference”(also popular in the tech world because they reflect the culture of the industry) with a hands-on, flexible, a little casual but very hard working and fun to the extreme approach. Instead of a set schedule and droning speakers, every attendee at Transportation Camp had the opportunity to suggest or lead a breakout session, panel discussion or Q&A, and was encouraged to be as creative as possible.  Topics up for discussion ran the gamut of “sexy transit,” “building apps for livable streets,” and “the perils of privatization,” which resulted in delightful and sometimes unexpected conversations. Questions like, what makes a liveable street? Can mobile applications be built that facilitate street life? What are the best practices being deployed by transportation demand management groups across the globe? and How can social media be leveraged to generate more on the ground involvement? were asked.

The majority of the sessions were geared towards addressing the current reality: with accelerating technology and recent census figures pouring in, many municipal governments have unprecedented access to data sets and are trying to figure out what to do with them.  Attendees had the goal of brainstorming how to package this information in a way that is transparent, accountable, and efficient.

While attendees may not have arrived at any answers, there were definitely some concrete conclusions. Consensus abounded that information should be and wants to be made public, and that in order to facilitate and maintain democracy, it should be shared in a thoughtful and meaningful way. Attendees also agreed that nonprofit groups are essential at bridging the divide between public and private entities, and are well positioned to introduce new technologies to a diverse range of constituencies. Everyone acknowledged that web developers are notorious for existing in silos, and deemed it integral that they be encouraged, maybe even incentivized, to talk with citizens about how to build apps that would actually be useful and valuable to them. Groups like Code For America, which collaborates with selected cities throughout the United States to transform data into something which encourages citizen participation and civic building, were featured. 

What are your reactions? Could access to data really improve the transportation system? Are there mobile applications that would make you more likely to use transit? Would knowing the transportation habits of your co-workers make you want to change your behavior? Do you think real-time ridesharing could work in our region? What about connecting your transit pass to a carsharing service? The possibilities are as endless as a data set:  Share your thoughts below!

Currently drive alone? Pledge to try a new way of getting to work and take these steps:

1) Fill out and turn in the Way to Work Bellevue sign up form.

2) Look for your sign up confirmation email containing a promotion code. 

3) Register on RideshareOnline.com.

4) Join the Way to Work Bellevue network. Search “Way to Work” under “Profile > My Networks” on RideshareOnline.com. Enter promotion code to join.

5) Begin logging your non-drive-alone commute trips on RideshareOnline.com’s trip calendar.

Just for pledging to try a new commute and registering on RideshareOnline.com, you will automatically receive a $10 gift card! Log 25 days or more of round trip non-drive-along commutes and you will automatically receive a $25 gift card! Monthly drawings for $50 gifts will also be made in February, March and April for those who continue to log their trips at least 3x per week. 

Already ride the bus, carpool, vanpool, bike or walk to work? Pledge to continue commuting the way you do:

1) Fill out and turn in the Way to Work Bellevue sign up form.

2) Look for your sign up confirmation email containing a promotion code. 

3) Register on RideshareOnline.com.

4) Join the Way to Work Bellevue Commute Pros network! Search “Way to Work” under “Profile > My Networks” on RideshareOnline.com. Enter promotion code.

5) Begin logging your non-drive-alone commute trips on RideshareOnline.com’s trip calendar.

Just for pledging to stick to your non-drive-alone commute and registering on RideshareOnline.com, you will automatically receive a $10 gift card! Monthly drawings for $50 gifts will also be made in February, March and April for those who log their trips at least 3x per week!

So what are you waiting for - sign up for Way to Work Bellevue today!

Catch a ride: There are over 20 Metro and Sound Transit bus routes coming into the Bellevue Transit Center daily.  Try parking your car at one of the nearby park-and-ride lots such as the South Bellevue, Eastgate, or South Kirkland Park and Ride and take a bus the rest of the way.  Visit tripplanner.kingcounty.gov for trip planning assistance.

Go with a friend: If you have two or more people in your car be sure to utilize the direct access ramp at NE 6th Street off of I-405, as well as the HOV lanes on I-405, I-90 and parts of SR-520.

Avoid popular roads: Driving to the Bellevue Collection?  Save time by skipping the NE 8th Street exit off of I-405 and try the NE 4th Street exit instead.  Or try NE 2nd and NE 10th to avoid backups.

Park “right” at the Bravern: If the Bravern is your destination, be aware that you can only make right turns into the parking garage entrances on 110th Avenue NE (valet only), NE 8th Street or 112th Avenue NE.  If you are traveling west on NE 8th Street, you can legally make a u-turn at the 110th Avenue NE intersection.  Coming from 4th Street, take a right onto NE 10th Street to make a right turn into the garage. 

Park near the park: Free on-street parking is available for up to 2 hours on Main Street in Old Bellevue.  You’ll be just steps from your favorite shops.

Be safe: With even more people out and about, please use caution when making turns and avoid pedestrians.

For information on holiday events in Downtown Bellevue, visit magicseason.com.

In concurrence with the increase of better pedestrian and biking options around Bellevue, Choose Your Way Bellevue recently updated the Downtown Bellevue Pedestrian Guide Map. You may download and print a copy on the ChooseYourWayBellevue.org website, or stop by one of the following locations to pick up your own pocket-size hard copy:

• Commuter Connection (In the Rider Services Building at the Bellevue Transit Center; Monday-Friday, 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.)
• Service First Desk at Bellevue City Hall (450 110th Avenue NE; Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.)
• Bellevue Downtown Association (500 108th Avenue NE; Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.)

Other cities in our region are equally concerned with their pedestrian environments. Some are even launching safety campaigns. The Portland Bureau of Transportation released a short animated film about Oregon crosswalk laws. The film, “Every Corner Is A Crosswalk”, graphically illustrates responsibilities that both drivers and pedestrians have to make our roadway safer for everyone. Should the City of Bellevue or other organizations create PSA’s like the video done in Portland to further increase pedestrian safely? Check out the video below:

What do you think about Bellevue’s environment for pedestrians, specifically in downtown? Is it meeting the needs of the 45,000 workers and 6,500 residents currently circulating in the downtown core on a day-to-day basis? What pedestrian or bike friendly projects would you like to see move forward on the priority list? Comment on this post below and let us know your thoughts.

-Jordan

Given the location of the world’s petroleum reserves, when Americans pull out their credit cards at the gas pump, they indirectly fund the economies of countries like Iran, Venezuela, Libya, Sudan, and not to mention Al Qaeda (whose financial backers include many who are in the fossil fuels business). Even if the oil sold in the US comes from Alaska, Texas or allies like Norway, American demand drives up the price of the commodity, thereby pumping huge flows of dollars into the treasuries of its enemies. If Americans start thinking about their dependence on oil as equivalent to providing assistance to our enemies, more citizens would be open to looking for and practicing alternatives.

Dujarric doesn’t believe we should throw out the environmental arguments altogether. He instead believes supporting them with a new patriotic message might do the trick to cutting down our oil consumption. What motivates and inspires you to decrease your carbon footprint? Is it saving endangered species and improving air quality or is it protecting US borders? Let us know your thoughts about the climate change debate by submitting a comment below. Also, be sure to calculate your own carbon footprint on our carbon emissions calculator. You may be surprised at what you find!

-Jordan

-Melissa

• Official Website of International Walk to School Month
• Walking School Bus
• School Programs with Feet First: A local organization with the mission of building walkable communities
• Washington State Department of Transportation’s Safe Routes to School Program

-Jordan

Over the years Downtown Bellevue has become quite a “walkable” city. I routinely walk to the mall, the bank, to lunch and to meetings during my work day. Not only does the fresh air help to clear my mind, but walking those few extra times throughout the day has really benefited my health and fitness routine. Rumor has it the average office worker only takes about 3,000 steps per day so increasing my count to 10,000 was quite the test! Of course the amazing weather we’ve had this summer really helped my cause to get outside and walk.

The campaign’s overall step count will be announced at a Celebration Day during this week’s Live at Lunch Concert on Thursday, September 3, noon-1:30 p.m. at Bellevue Galleria, featuring Beatles cover band Creme Tangerine. Be sure to walk on by, listen to some great music, and help us celebrate an active Downtown!

-Jordan