Page 22 - The City of Greensboro Conditions and Trends

CITY OF GREENSBORO COMPREHENSIVE PLAN CONDITIONS & TRENDS

buses. Helsinki Finland currently has a 9-passenger bus that operates on regular city streets, and successful trials have been
conducted with similar buses in London and Las Vegas.
A Growing Preference for Non-Automotive Transportation

A National Association of Realtors survey in 2015 of the 50 largest metropolitan areas shows a growing interest in having
more access to walking and cycling for transportation and in neighborhoods that provide sidewalks and amenities within
walking and cycling distance. These trends are particularly strong among millennials.

Vision Zero

At the national level, traffic fatalities and serious injuries over the last decade have improved less in the US than in Europe,
Australia, and Japan, and over the last two years have actually increased in the US. Vision Zero is an international effort to
improve traffic safety and eliminate deaths and severe injuries resulting from road traffic, while increasing safe, healthy,
equitable mobility for all. The Vision Zero Network is a forum for best practices and resources for communities. Over a
dozen US cities have announced Vision Zero initiatives, and both North Carolina and Greensboro have adopted Vision Zero
policies.

Context Sensitive Designs and Complete Streets

Traditional transportation design focused almost exclusively on how many cars could safely move along a given street as
quickly as possible. Currently it is more the norm to consider the impact of road design not just for cars but also for
pedestrians, cyclists, and nearby residents and businesses. Transportation professionals have created two complementary
approaches: Context Sensitive Solutions (CSS) and Complete Streets. Though very similar, CSS focuses on how a road
interacts with adjacent homes, businesses, and offices, while Complete Streets focuses on the road itself.

The Federal Highway Administration defines CSS as “a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach that involves all
stakeholders working together to develop a transportation facility that fits its physical setting and preserves scenic,
aesthetic, historic, and environmental resources, while maintaining safety and mobility.” CSS is an approach that considers
the total context within which a transportation improvement project will exist.

NC Department of Transportation’s (NC DOT) Complete Streets design guidelines were adopted in 2009 and define the
policy as the state’s “approach to interdependent, multi-modal transportation networks that safely accommodate access
and travel for all users.” NC DOT’s guiding principles for CSS are:

to produce solutions that address the transportation need;
to be an asset to the local community; and
to be compatible with the natural and human environment.

What This Means for Greensboro

Many of the new technologies will be rapidly changing and Greensboro will need to position itself to adapt. The effect of
new transportation technology on mobility and parking should be a part of the conversation about investments.
Greensboro’s transportation challenges include neighborhood traffic perceived as unsafe to residents; commercial corridors
in decline; and a backlog of trail and sidewalk construction needs. If used intentionally and systematically, the new tools
described here could offer solutions to these problems and better ways to use our existing infrastructure.

DRAFT -22- March 15, 2018