Moving to the Next Level, November 20, 2013 Gateway Bike Plan Implementation Workshop Session: State of Biking in the Region: Progress Made

1. The State of Biking
in St. Louis
Rhonda Smythe, MPH, MS, RD
Policy & Advocacy Manager

2. Where We Started

3. History

4. Ballot Measure
2000
Prop C
Clean Water, Safe Parks and Community
Trails
1/10th cent tax = $10 million/year
(only Missouri)
Votes
- St. Louis City: 76.6% Y, 23.4% N
- St. Louis County: 69.6% Y, 30.4% N
- St. Charles County: 56.7% Y, 43.3% N

5. Prop C - The River Ring

6. Trailnet Initiatives
Planning:
Bicycle and pedestrian plans
Policy/Advocacy:
Safe Routes to
Schools
Federal, state
and local
Events:
Programming:
Creating social networks
around physical activity
TravelGreen:
Education and
encouragement
Regional Trail
System:Collaborating on regional
efforts

7. Gateway Bike Plan
2005
First 20 miles of Bike St. Louis (Phase 1)
2008
Additional 50 miles added (Phase 2)
2009
Funding allocated by Great Rivers Greenway
for comprehensive plan to create a system of
bicycle routes between communities, transit,
greenways and trails

8. Gateway Bike Plan
2011
Coordinated planning effort completed with
GRG, MoDOT, EWG, Metro, Trailnet, and
municipalities
2013
St. Louis City receives $1.4 million STP grant
to update 60 miles of bicycle facilities and add
40 new miles (Phase 3)
2014
Phase 3 implementation

9. Biking Trends

10. Where We Are

11. Biking Trends

12. Biking Trends

13. Education & Encouragement

14. Political Support

15. Bike Counts
2012
50 locations counted
Bikes: 2,811
Pedestrians: 6,129
Total: 8,940
2013
50 locations counted
Bikes: 2,536
Pedestrians: 5,795
Total: 8,331

16. Where We’re Going

17. Streets for Everyone

18. Four types of bicyclists
Geller R. Four types of cyclists. PDOT. 2006.
18

19. Four kinds of bicyclists
Dill, J. Categorizing Cyclists: What do we know?
19

20. Four kinds of bicyclists
Dill, J. Categorizing Cyclists: What do we know?
20

21. Evidence Base
Dill, J. "Bicycling for transportation and health: the role of infrastructure.” Journal of Public Health
Policy (2009): S95-S110.

22. Evidence Base
Higher levels of bicycle infrastructure are positively and
significantly correlated with higher rates of bicycle
commuting.
Dill, J, Carr T. "Bicycle commuting and facilities in major US cities: if you build them, commuters
will use them." Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research
Board 1828.1 (2003): 116-123.

23. Evidence Base

24. FHWA Support
FHWA supports a “flexible approach” to bike/ped
facility design. It urges transportation engineers to
use, as their primary resources, two guides as they
plan, design, operate, and maintain bicycle and
pedestrian facilities. They are the Urban Bikeway
Design Guide issued by the National Association of
City Transportation Officials (NAACTO) and
Designing Urban Walkable Thoroughfares from the
Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE).

25. Tremendous potential
Of all trips . . .
39% 17%
47%
are less than 3 miles
are driven
are less than
1 mile
of these trips…
National Household Travel Survey (2009)
25

26. People want transportation
choices
66%
of Americans want more transportation
options so they have the freedom to choose
how to get where they need to go.
73%
currently feel they have no choice but to drive
as much as they do.
57%
would like to spend less time in the car.
Future of Transportation National Survey (2010)

27. Implementation
Does not require additional funds, new
Right of Way, or new projects
This is about changing
the way
we do businessso that existing
resources are used to create transportation
options for Saint Louis residents.

28. Thank you
Rhonda Smythe, MPH, MS, RD
Policy & Advocacy Manager