Why bicycle and pedestrian accommodations are necessary in the urban core

The Community Advisory Group for the $250 million Paseo Bridge project invited me to give a presentation to the committee about the need for bicycle and pedestrian accommodation in the Paseo corridor, which is in Kansas City's urban core.

Downtown Kansas City consists of disconnected 'bike/ped islands

The powerpoint presentation I used summarizes why bicycle and pedestrian accommodations are necessary in the urban core, why an urban freeway needs to be planned to accommodation bicycle and pedestrian movement along and across the freeway corridor, and how the lack of good bicycle and pedestrian connections is costing Kansas Citians.

A few highlights:

Need:

• No Driver's License:

>25% of Missourians
>13% of adults

• No automobile

8.3% of Missouri households
13% of KCMO households

Kansas City:

•Highest single occupant vehicle use of any U.S. city
• 2nd highest transportation cost
• Lack of good walking, bicycling, transit is costing Kansas Citians more than $700 million per year.
• Rate of walking and bicycling = 50% of national average
• Why? Lack of bike/ped connectivity--“Bike/ped islands”

The situation--and the solutions--are the same in many Missouri cities. Cities across the country have been able to double the amount of walking and bicycling in a relatively short amount of time--10 years in the case of Portland--by following these simple steps to create real bike/ped connectivity across the city:

• Bridge major barriers for bicyclists and pedestrians
  
• Connect the bike/ped system to those "bridge points"
  
• Adopt "complete streets" policies to routinely accommodate bicycling and walking and all new and improved roads
  
• Create programs to promote, encourage, and teach safe walking and bicycling