blog
November 2023
Mobility / Public Spaces
A New Tool for Transparent Decision-making About how we Use Space on Streets
Every street is the result of numerous choices and assumptions. How a community allocates space on its roadways is the truest reflection of its priorities, but design choices don’t always align with stated preferences and policies. Furthermore, the trade-offs between different ways to organize space are often difficult to articulate to the public and other stakeholders. Private car parking or a dedicated bus lane? Landscaped median or protected cycle lane? Support the success of local businesses or reduce carbon emissions?
Making these choices isn’t easy, but there is a new tool available to help shed light on the process. The Transportation Research Board is offering a sneak peek at National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 1036: Guide for Roadway Cross Section Reallocation (see below!). The guide offers a practical step-by-step decision-making process, case studies, and other tools for transportation professionals and policymakers working to maximize the potential of their streets with honest, transparent dialogue about the pros and cons of different design choices.
As part of a team led by Kittleson and Associates, Mobycon authored a chapter and contributed key research on international best practices for safe street design to the project.
Every street must find a balance between competing priorities. Practitioners in the United States now have one more tool to guide decisions about the future of streets with clarity and confidence.
Zach Vanderkooy
Integrated Mobility Advisor
‘Dutch urbanism may seem like magic at first glance, but it’s the result of courageous (and replicable) choices made by human beings. Experience from the Netherlands has tremendous power to inspire and inform the creativity we need to build more resilient, safe, equitable and prosperous communities.’