Recently released 2009 National Household Travel Survey from the Federal Highway Administration documents transportation mode choice trends. From 2001 to 2009, the percentage of biking, walking, and transit trips have increased while vehicle trips have fallen.

According to the Mobilizing the Region web site:

Of course, the good news for walking, bicycling and transit use may reflect fluctuating gasoline prices and the current economic recession (respondents were surveyed between March 2008 and April 2009). But when asked to interpret the findings, FHWA staff told MTR that “the general public is more aware of the need to walk and bike for environmental and health reasons, thus they make more of those trips and they report more of them in our survey.”

What we have found in Metro Detroit is traffic engineers assume there will be increased vehicle traffic, even in cities which have undergone drastic populations drops like Royal Oak and Detroit. (Note that according to U.S. Census data, Royal Oak’s population decline rate is slightly higher than the city of Detroit’s since 2000.)

Assuming increased vehicle travel often means our roads are wider than they need to be — width that could be converted into bike lanes.

Washington Boulevard in Royal Oak

For example. last year we tried pushing the city of Royal Oak to change Washington Boulevard before it was repaved between Lincoln and Woodward. We asked for a 4 lanes to 3 road diet which would have added bike lanes while increasing safety for all users. We were told that the city was projecting an increase in vehicle travel on Washington over 20 years and therefore could not reduce the number of lanes.

This projected increased was standard practice but completely unrealistic given that:

• Washington Avenue north of Lincoln had already been road dieted from 4 to 3 lanes.
• Woodward vehicle traffic was declining.
• Royal Oak’s population is dropping.

(Of course what’s ridiculous is that the road diet could have occurred for the time being. If that vehicle traffic did return, the road could be re-striped. In the meantime, there would be increased safety for all travel modes. Clearly safety was not the highest priority in this decision making process.)

I-94 Expansion in Detroit

Another example is the planned expansion on I-94 through Detroit. MDOT is still forecasting increased vehicle traffic even though the actual numbers show no increase.

On the other hand, MDOT decided to remove two pedestrian bridges after concluding they weren’t justified given the existing pedestrian and bicycle traffic. MDOT did not project any growth for biking and walking on these bridges despite the US DOT policy statement that such projects “should anticipate likely future demand for bicycling and walking facilities.”

Their bias is apparent.

We need to ensure that Metro Detroit transportation projects realistically and consistently forecast traffic for all modes.

From MDOT:

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is hosting an open house-style meeting to provide an overview on the upcoming construction work on the I-275 Metro Trail in Wayne County. The project includes reconstruction of the bike path between US-12 (Michigan Avenue) and Edward Hines Drive. Interested stakeholders will have the opportunity to learn details and provide feedback regarding this project.

Scheduled to begin this spring 2010, MDOT will reconstruct approximately 7 miles of the Metro Trail, rehabilitate pedestrian bridges, install signals at certain intersections and upgrade signs.

WHEN: Tuesday, March 2, 2010, 6-8p.m.

WHERE: Canton Township Administrative Building, Freedom Room, 1150 Canton Center Road, Canton
(Special accommodations: 734-394-5100)

You can optionally RSVP for this event on Facebook.

The recent Cleveland protests over the Ohio Department of Transportation ignoring cycling certain echoes recent experiences with MDOT. From their Fort Street project to a Michigan Avenue repaving to the I-94 expansion, MDOT is ignoring Detroit’s non-motorized transportation master plan — a topic on the agenda for the next MDOT Metro Region non-motorized meeting in March.

But back to Cleveland, their protest has a cool video and song. Maybe that’s what we need to better get our basic message out.

We don’t need non-credible excuses or a willingness to listen. We need a consistent commitment to make Detroit a better place to walk and bike.

MDOT is hosting four meetings to discuss their plans to rehabilitate widen I-94 through the heart of Detroit.

Yes, they basically ignored non-motorized transportation when initially designing the project.

Yes, they are permanently removing bridges (e.g. John R) that are critical to Detroit’s non-motorized transportation plan.

No, they are not willing to remedy this issue in the Midtown area.

The project’s price tag? $1.7 billion. That’s billion with a “b”.

We will post more on this projects’ deficits soon, but here is MDOT’s meeting schedule:

Eastside meetings

(Co-sponsored by Wayne County Commissioner Bernard Parker and the Detroit Eastside Community Collaborative)

Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010
2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m.
Wayne County Community College District ? Cooper Conference Room
5901 Conner Road, Detroit

Midtown meetings

Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010
9-11 a.m. and 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Cathedral Church of St. Paul ? Barth Hall (parking in back)
4800 Woodward Ave., Detroit

Special accommodations: 313-922-3311

There are many planning firms in Metro Detroit that bid on non-motorized planning projects.

Some are highly qualified, well-versed in best practices, and are responsible for the great projects within the area.

And there are other planners that ignore best practices and AASHTO — and as we’ve seen, they often bid low. They give us projects like the proposed transit center in Troy and Birmingham which mixes bicyclists and pedestrians on narrow winding sidewalks with 90 degree blind turns. Or a non-motorized plan in Oakland Township where the topic of bike lanes “never came up.”

To many local governments, price and familiarity are major determining factors in selecting planners. Local officials typically do not have the experience to determine which planners have the competency to do a non-motorized project.

As far as we know, there is not a relevant certification for non-motorized planning.

One option is to have a database of planning project reviews. MDOT has an internal database for their construction projects which rates projects and helps boost the more qualified contractors. It seems Metro Detroit could benefit from a similar public system where city officials and bicycle advocates could get unbiased reviews of area planners. It could help cities disqualify bids from planning firms that ignore best practices for non-motorized projects.

Does this already exist nationally? That would be optimal as regional and national firms often bid on local projects as well.