Category: Transportation / Parking (Page 3 of 10)

I read an article recently about the challenges faced by urban planners, when it comes to meeting transportation needs of a growing city. Some of it came as a real surprise to me.  For instance, what would you think would be the most significant issue for residents?  Traffic congestion?  Wrong.

Residents rate affordability (“price of travel”) as their biggest concern.

When asked to rate the importance of six transport problems (safety, congestion, price of travel, availability of public transit, and lack of walkways or sidewalks), surveys show that residents rate affordability (“price of travel”) as the most important.

Transportation is second only to housing as the largest expense for a family, costing more than food, clothing and health care.  The vast majority of this money (98%) is for the purchase, operation, maintenance and parking of automobiles.

We’ve all observed the trend of the last decades which has led to making roads wider and faster in order to move traffic.   But of course wider and faster roads come at the sacrifice of other modes of transportation (walking, cycling, public transport) that offer the best way to lower transportation costs.

How are Raleigh planners responding to this critical challenge?

This conflict calls for new approaches to shaping our expectations and lifestyles to reduce our dependency on cars.

Ken Bowers (Deputy Director of Planning) and Eric Lamb (Transportation Planning Manager) explained how the new NCDOT Complete Streets Policy and the city’s recently adopted Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) are changing the rules to encourage more walkable streets and transit oriented development.

Complete Streets policy accommodates bicycles and pedestrians.

Eric: “Complete Streets represents a substantial paradigm shift for the transportation department and how they approach projects.”

Ken: “The UDO street topologies all qualify as complete streets; all have sidewalks and all have bike lanes except for minor streets where such facilities are not needed.”

Eric: “The palette of street types and street designs are a dramatic improvement in the UDO, with better sidewalks and bike provisions.”

Zoning codes encourage transit oriented (compact, mixed, multi-modal) development.

Eric: “Before the UDO, our old development code really didn’t allow for this type of development pattern very well.  The UDO fixes this problem and promotes compact mixed-use development.”

Ken: “The UDO will make it easier to build denser, walkable development, hence in the future there should be more stuff within walking distance of other stuff, which is good for walking and biking.”

Eric: “In order to create walkable environments, people require destinations.  Large swaths of homogeneous zoning uses (i.e., big neighborhoods with exclusively single-family development patterns) don’t provide good opportunities for reducing distances that people have to travel, no matter how many sidewalks or bike lanes we build”.

Less parking requirements reduce building costs and help alleviate sprawl.

Ken: “The UDO reduces parking requirements for most types of developments, and for all developments building with a pedestrian-friendly form in more urban locations. This reduces the cost of development (parking spaces cost $3,000 – 5,000 at grade, $16,000 – 20,000 in structures).”

Ken: “The UDO still requires off street parking for most uses, but reduces the amount compared with the current code. Small apartment buildings (16 units or fewer) and ground floor retail are exempt from parking in urban locations. At this point, most developers are exceeding the city’s minimums.”

Car sharing provides an alternative to owning a car.

Eric: “Car sharing (and bike sharing for that matter) are both terrific options.  Sometimes you just need a car for certain functions (e.g., big flatscreen TV’s don’t transport well on bike or bus), and a service like Zipcar fills that need as an economical shared resource.

Ken: “Municipal governments maintain vehicular fleets, a portion of which could be replaced by a contract with a car sharing service. The City of Philadelphia did this to help jumpstart Philly Car Share. And with the city’s new partnership with Zipcar, Raleigh is starting down the same path.”

I’m happy to live in a city where planners envision a pedestrian friendly urban environment.  This enhances a healthy lifestyle where neighbors greet each other on the streets and buy local goods at nearby stores.  It represents a simplicity that makes sense for family finances, reducing each person’s carbon footprint, and building community.  We are definitely moving in the right direction in Raleigh, thanks to active residents, a proactive city council and planners like Eric and Ken.

Related posts:

Carsharing is back in downtown Raleigh. Sign up here ot be a Zipster!

The No-Longer Hidden Cost of Parking in Downtown Raleigh

Coming Soon” New Rules for Development in Raleigh

New UDO Zoning District “Downtown Mixed Use District” will soon become the law

Mitch Silver, Raleigh’s Planning Director, says it best : “It’s Raleigh’s turn…It’s Raleigh’s time…our own Grand Central Station, and we’re excited to see this happen.” (See this recent video.)

Click to enlarge

You’ve been hearing the talk about this station, but with the federal grant that was awarded to Raleigh last September (read our previous post), this project is clearly moving into the action phase.

The City of Raleigh and NC Department of Transportation (NCDOT) are set to construct this new passenger train station in downtown Raleigh at 510 West Martin Street.  This is the site of the former Dillon Supply viaduct building that has been vacant since 2005. The 26,000 square foot building will provide 7,950 square feet of passenger waiting area, quadrupling the waiting area of the existing Amtrak Station on Cabarrus Street.

This will be much more than a replacement for the existing Amtrak Station.

Raleigh Union Station will accommodate inter-city passenger rail service, commuter rail and local/regional buses. (See the Wake County Transit Plan.) The station will also eventually be linked through pedestrian walkways to the future high speed rail and light rail stations to be located a few blocks north.

The project is expected to transform the Warehouse District by creating new places to live, work and play, as well as providing a great connection between downtown, Glenwood South and neighborhoods located just west of the city.

The DLA was invited to attend a stakeholders meeting a few weeks ago to talk about some of the plans for the design of the station.

Click to enlarge

Grand Waiting Hall to be centerpiece of the station 

What did we find particularly exciting? Plans call for a new “front door” building that will provide access to the station from the east side of the tracks facing West Street.  Ideas include the development of a large covered outdoor plaza adjacent to the building to support new retail opportunities and public interactivity through participatory art and a large projection screen.

Now you can share your ideas.  Raleigh Union Station Public Workshop – March 6

The general public will have a chance to learn more and weigh in on some of the design ideas being considered at the upcoming Public Workshop on March 6th.

When: Wed., March 6th, 6-8pm

Where: Meymandi Concert Hall Lobby, 2 East South Street

For more on the workshop, jump over to The Raleigh Connoisseur and read Leo’s latest post.

You’ll agree with Mitch Silver. “It’s Raleigh’s time” in so many ways.  Having Union Station promises to turn the key for increased support for public transit, an improvement that will create possibilities for all of Raleigh from downtown to the suburbs – and back.

There’s a trend that many downtowners are embracing as they streamline their lifestyles.  They realize that there’s a freedom in dropping the old idea that there needs to be a car in the garage for every adult in the house.  Recognizing this orientation and its benefits to residents, as well as the environment, the city made the announcement today that zipcar will be a new part of the downtown urbanscape.  David Eatman, City of Raleigh Transit Administrator, said, “This will be a huge asset for our growing residential community in downtown Raleigh”.

So why did it take so long?

If you’ve been around DLA for long, you’ll remember that we helped bring WeCar, Enterprise’s car sharing service to the downtown Raleigh market back in July 2010.  This is what we said back then.  Unfortunately, WeCar left the market after about a year, unsuccessful in expanding beyond residents into the nearby universities. At the same time Zipcar won the RFP and became the city’s preferred vendor.  So there’s been a reshuffle, which will bring more support to this car-sharing opportunity.

Cars parked in Glenwood South

Zipcar will initially offer 2 cars, both parked in dedicated on-street spaces in Glenwood South on the corner of Glenwood Avenue and West Lane Street, adjacent to the 222 Glenwood Building.  This should be a good location, given the proximity to the R-line stop.  Zipcar already has cars at Meredith College and NC State, so it also makes sense that they would want to be on the west side of Downtown.

How it works

You can read the details on Zipcar’s website at www.Zipcar.com/raleigh.

• Available on demand and accessed at any time
• Cars reserved for just an hour, or multiple days ($69 per day)
• Cars returned to the same spot where they were picked up
• $7.50 per hour includes gas and insurance (up to 180 miles per day)
• $25 application fee, $50 annual fee

Why it works

Last year, about 800,000 people belonged to car-sharing services in the United States, representing a 44 percent increase from the prior year.  Car sharing is particularly popular in urban areas, where access to public transit enhances the benefits for residents who find they only need a car part-time, avoiding the hassles and cost of owning a second car.  Improved mobile technology also makes renting a car for quick errands very convenient (get the smartphone app or rent via Facebook), and it fits into the general trend for people wanting to ‘pay for what they use’.

The DLA embraces this development as one more example of how the city is responding to the needs of downtowners.  Are YOU ready to be a Zipster? . . apply here.

Not if you know where to park!!!

It’s tough to find an on-street parking spot these days.  Don’t waste your time searching and head to one of many downtown parking lots or garages.

Use this link for a map of the downtown parking locations.

http://www.godowntownraleigh.com/get-around/parking

Many of the parking garages near Moore’s Square are free after 5pm and on weekends. The other downtown lots and garages charge a minimal fee ranging from $3 to $5.

Make sure to look at the parking signs on the streets. Some have time limits.

Did you know that it could cost you over $100 if your car is towed in downtown and they only take cash!! Scam…probably but what can you do about it? I had my car towed 3 blocks and it was $90 to free it. I had to find the towing company, walk back to find a cash machine and then walk back to the towing company.

Don’t forget to check out the real time R-Line route, as it may be easier to find a parking near one of the stops at the edge of downtown and take the bus to your final destination.  Many visitors tell me they find spots in the west end of downtown and then ride the bus into the Fayetteville Street District or Moore Square.

[Article reposted from May 2009]