From Good to Great! Taking Active Transportation to the Next Level

Intended for attendees whose communities already have some active transportation initiatives underway, the session will help them recognize common challenges and solutions, innovative assessment techniques, and evaluate alternative strategies to fast forward effective solutions. 

More and more cities and towns across Texas are embracing true active transportation, taking that next step beyond thinking about sidewalk and bicycle planning independently.

Defined as “human powered transportation that engages people in healthy physical activity while they travel from place to place,” active transportation encompasses not only bicycling, but also walking, using wheelchairs/mobility devices, micro-mobility options, and skateboarding and roller-blading. Whether for large cities or small, for pedestrians or bicyclists, young or older users, everyone recognizes the many benefits of active transportation, but the trick is how to get there while balancing the needs of our current auto-centric transportation world here in Texas.

But in Richardson, as in many Texas communities, the easy, low-hanging infrastructure and policy efforts have been implemented. So how do we now advance our active transportation efforts to create safe and comfortable routes that really swing the pendulum and actively encourage more walking and bicycling? Richardson’s new Active Transportation Plan creates a strong blueprint with tangible and practical steps that can inform many other communities as they work towards creating a truly walkable and ridable city. It also answers a key question that every city faces – how do you successfully introduce or retrofit true active transportation initiatives into fully built-out areas of a city?

Richardson has been a leader in active transportation in Texas for quite some time. Achieving bronze level status as a bicycle friendly community from the League of American Bicyclists in 2015 and again in 2019, Richardson was the first so designated communities in North Texas and still only one of 13 cities in all of Texas. The City has an amazing 95% of all roadways having sidewalks, and over 110 miles of on-street and off-street bicycling facilities, sidepaths and trails. Today, Richardson is setting its sights on achieving a Silver designation, one of less than a handful of similar cities in Texas. Richardson is well on its way to creating a truly connected community.

So what can Richardson’s story teach other Texas communities who want to take that first step or next step, who want to develop a stronger and more effective active transportation network?

There’s a lot that many mid and smaller sized communities in Texas and beyond can learn from Richardson and how the city is purposefully implementing active transportation. With core high-density activity areas, many lower-density neighborhoods, the presence of arterials and freeways that create barriers, concern about making sure that vehicular modes are not unduly impacted, and competing budgetary needs, Richardson has a lot in common with many other communities throughout Texas.

Using innovative and yet simple assessment techniques, measurements and facility typologies, Richardson has created a well-thought out and achievable active transportation strategy that will make it one of the most connected communities in Texas. Using intersection evaluations, vulnerable populations mapping, pedestrian crossing and bicycle level of traffic stress analyses, the city developed a strong understanding of where it should focus its efforts over the next few years. The plan sets its sights high, using new strategies to define critical components that will create both an essential active transportation network as well as a network that works for all ages and abilities.  It lays out transportation typologies and classifications that mesh with existing standards, but that emphasize a more selective and individualized approach to key corridors. And it goes well beyond infrastructure considerations, addressing micromobility and autonomous vehicle policies and looking to entice the addition of private sector funding for active transportation needs as the city evolves.

This session features presenters from both the City’s perspective, and from both engineering and planning points of view. Presenters all have extensive experience and an understanding of the most up-to-date trends and best practices in active transportation, and are leaders in this highly specialized field. With easy to incorporate techniques and analyses, practical implementation strategies and measurable goals, Richardson’s active transportation efforts and lessons learned can provide strong insights for many other communities across our region as they seek to advance active transportation.