How Transportation and Community Partnerships are Shaping America : Part 1 Transit Stops and Stations.

17 Pages·2003·7.9 MB·English

by  Project for Public Spaces, Inc.

How Transportation and Community
Partnerships are Shaping America
Project for Public Spaces, Inc.
Contents
2 Introduction
4 Rebuilding Neighborhoods, One Bus Stop at a Time
Los Angeles, California
Leimert Park Village
North Hollywood
6 Merchants and Transit Agency Link Commuters and
Commerce Woodbridge and Maplewood, New Jersey
Woodbridge Station
Maplewood Station
8 The Little Buses That Can —
Shuttles Fight Sprawl and Congestion With Service
Boulder and Durango, CO
GO Boulder
Durango LIFT
10 New Light Rail Stations Reveal Potential in Neglected
Neighborhoods
St. Louis, Missouri
Wellston Station
Delmar Station
12 Doing Development Differently as Light Rail Expands
Portland, Oregon
Jefferson Street Station
“TileLink” community tile project,
Orenco Station
Delmar MetroLink Station, St. Louis:
Artwork by Catharine Magel
14 Five Steps
to Getting Started
Leimert Park Village landscapers
with Bev Cashan, Executive Director,
Leimert Park Village Community
Development Corporation
Introduction
Transit facilities… Concerns about livability are shared by A New Era for Transportation:
every type of community, in inner cities, Partnerships Around Place
and transporations
small towns and rural areas. This booklet The case studies included in this booklet
corridors… are explores how people in these communi- address how transportation partnerships
ties are working in partnership with are re-shaping America. Each of these
natural focal points
transportation agencies on locally- partnerships relies upon the input of
for communities. initiated projects and programs to create those who use and experience a place on
transportation systems that enhance a
places. While this booklet emphasizes regular basis. The focus is not only upon
the direct relationship between communi- the bus stop, street, or station itself, but
ty reinvigoration and community- on how these facilities connect to the
supportive transit facilities, case studies surrounding districts and public spaces
also demonstrate how the sympathetic and make these areas more economically
design of roadways strengthens the stable, safe, and productive.
connection between the two. Although these projects occur at
Transit facilities, whether a simple the micro level, they are combating
bus stop or a major train station, and macro-level problems by:
transportation corridors, whether a main
•Creating strong town and neighbor
street or a boulevard, are natural focal
hood centers that act as an antidote
points for communities. To view them
to sprawl;
as catalysts for strengthening community
life necessitates a shift from the way •Increasing transit ridership to reduce
transportation has traditionally been con- dependency on driving and its
ceived. In this more holistic, “place-mak- negative environmental impacts;
ing” partnership approach, transit opera- •Reducing the need for costly
tors, traffic engineers, residents, mer- investments in new public infra-
In Somerville, Massachusetts,
chants, property owners, city agencies, structure, such as highway
subway construction was fol-
planners, architects, and developers, as construction and roadway widening;
lowed by streetscape improve-
ments, traffic calming measures well as community and faith-based organ- •Guiding private sector development
and an influx izations are demonstrating that through in a more sustainable, transit-
of new businesses which has these partnerships, they can bring togeth- supportive way.
revived Davis Square and made er the goals of transportation agencies
it a livability community. and the livability goals of communities.
Transportation partnerships, there-
fore, not only provide an opportunity to
pool resources and share responsibility
for implementation, but create a mecha-
nism to address broader “quality of life”
issues. This place-making process is
unlike the more typical approach to plan-
ning, whereby separate design profes-
sionals and city agencies carry out their
own isolated schemes, with little aware-
ness about where these projects may
lead.
Working Incrementally
Place-making is rarely accomplished
through a single, large-scale construction
project. In fact, many places are success-
fully improved in a very short period of
time with low- cost design changes. The
short-term projects featured in this book-
2 let took between two and twelve months
to implement, yet they are not interim partnerships established to help maintain Place-making calls
solutions. Rather they are stepping and manage a facility, the extent of its
for new ways of
stones within the context of a larger plan, impact on the economic vitality of its adja-
serving as catalysts for productive cent commercial districts, and the degree measuring the success
change, while providing immediate to which a facility functions as a commu-
of transportation
enhancement for communities. nity gateway.
The successes achieved by the case facilities.
Measuring Success studies presented in this booklet are
Place-making also calls for new ways directly attributable to the skill and
of measuring the success of transporta- effectiveness of the partnerships
tion facilities. In the case of streets, suc- established to carry them out. These case
cess studies highlight specific projects that
is measured based upon how well addressed different transportation and
pedestrians, bicycles, autos, and transit livability concerns in a variety of
are accommodated and the extent to communities and among different
which a street reflects, preserves, and constituencies. Reading about these real
enhances a community’s unique personali- success stories will inspire transportation
tyand is supportive of local businesses officials and their many existing and
and residents. Transit service itself should potential partners to pursue, with fresh
not be evaluated only in terms of system conviction, the true potential that our
ridership and on-time performance, but nation’s transportation systems and
according to the number of community facilities offer to the communities
they serve.
Portions of this booklet were excerpted and adapted from the following publication: The Role of
Transit In Creating Livable Metropolitan Communities (TCRP Report 22), Transit Cooperative
Research Program, National Academy Press, Washington, DC (1997). It contains more infor-
mation about the following case studies: Woodbridge, NJ; the NJ Transit Station Renewal
Program; GOBoulder, Boulder, CO; LANI, Los Angeles, CA; Wellston Station, Wellston, MO; and
the “place-making” approach to transportation planning.
3
Los Angeles, California Rebuilding Neighborhoods,
One Bus Stop at a Time
Project Partners I hung colorful banners, redesigned their
n the wake of the civil unrest that
streets to be more pedestrian-friendly,
Federal Agencies gripped Los Angeles in April 1992,
and revitalized vacant lots as parks and
Transit Agencies Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan
community gathering places. As these
County Governments launched the Los Angeles Neighborhood
groups have matured, most have suc-
City Governments Initiative (LANI), a grassroots program
cessfully leveraged additional funding to
designed to restore people’s sense of
Mayors make longer-term improvements and
ownership over their neighborhood
Downtown Associations and become permanent organizations for
commercial districts. LANI focuses on
Chambers of Commerce community revitalization.
developing community plans for
Local Businesses LANI also helps put community plans
neighborhood main streets, beginning
Community and Non-Profit into action by streamlining the govern-
with pragmatic improvements to areas
Organizations mental approval process to reduce delay
adjacent to bus stops and rail stations.
and bureaucratic frustration. As a result,
They realized that transit stops can
LANI groups have been able to work as
also function as focal points for
partners with city, state and county agen-
shopping, community, economic,
cies to make these projects a reality. In
and social activities.
“What makes LANI addition, LANI staff uses their knowledge
In each of the twelve LANI neighbor-
and influence to assemble resources from
work is the fact that, to hoods, a local organization is given a
multiple federal, state, city, and private
grant to develop a bus stop area plan,
the greatest extent sources and pass them through to proj-
and responsibility for the grant’s
ects planned by local communities.
possible, we give con- administration. LANI then helps these
organizations to evolve a
trol and funding to the
shared vision for their
community to actually neighborhood. The
members of these
realize its vision. It’s
organizations, which
not just a plan that sits include local residents,
businesses, and communi-
on a shelf.”
ty groups, have planted
—Joyce Perkins, trees, installed and paint-
LANI Executive Director ed new streetlights,
Locally owned businesses sport new flower
“Without LANI, we would not have gone
as far or as fast as we have. LANI was the
wheel that started everything turning — not
only at the beginning, but on an ongoing basis.”
—Beverly Cashen, Executive Director of the
Leimert Park Village Community Development Corporation
Leimert Park Village with new bus shelter
4
North Hollywood Transit Art Park - after with Pitfire Pizza
Leimert Park Village North Hollywood “What LANI
Leimert Park Village, built in the 1920s as For years, the old downtown of North
taught us was that
a planned community, is emerging as one Hollywood had been reinventing itself as
of Los Angeles’ premier African-American an arts and theater district, but progress if you make small
cultural centers and commercial districts, was slow. Leave it to a creative communi-
demonstrative and
and is home to over 125 businesses. The ty to jump-start the process by transform-
park at the center of the village holds ing a bus stop on a vacant lot into a quick improvements
more festivals than any other in the city “Transit Art Park.”
in an area, it unites
of Los Angeles. However, since the once- The North Hollywood Community
charming village center had deteriorated Forum (NHCF), which grew out of the the community and
throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, North Hollywood LANI community group,
generates the kind of
Leimert Park Village was selected as one has:
of LANI”s initial demonstration projects. •Transformed a city-owned vacant lot spirit you need to
Under the LANI initiative, the
that only had a “stick in the ground” move further.”
community has:
with a sign identifying it as a bus
•Planted trees and flowers; stop, by adding grass, trees, an art- — Ken Banks,
Director of the North Hollywood
•Installed banners and decorative trash poster-adorned information kiosk,
Community Forum
receptacles throughout the village; and a new bus shelter;
•Added three bus shelters with • Sublet the park from the Community
matching benches and a transit Redevelopment Agency to a new
information center; restaurant that moved into a building
facing the Transit Art Park;
•Received a $250,000 grant from the
Community Redevelopment Agency •Received $60,000 in additional park
(CRA) for facade restoration; landscaping and design improve
ments for the park from the restau
•Attracted $285,000 from the CRA
rant, which also maintains the park.
for streetscape improvements,
including a “Jazz Walk of Fame;”
As a result of the ongoing efforts of
•Enacted an assessment of property
the NHCF, the number of commercial
owners to pay for additional street
vacancies in the area adjacent to the park
lighting throughout the village;
has fallen by 30 percent, eight new busi- Contact
•Worked with the Los Angeles nesses have been attracted to the imme-
Joyce Perkins
Department of Recreation and Parks diate vicinity, and over $500,000 has
Los Angeles Neighborhood
on a $600,000 restoration of Leimert been invested in the properties adjacent
Initiative
Park. to Transit Art Park. 818 West Seventh Street
Suite 930
The Leimert Park Village Community Los Angeles, CA 90017-
Development Corporation, a permanent 3432
non-profit organization that evolved out of Ph: [phone]
the original LANI group, is now spear- Fax: [phone]
heading continuing revitalization efforts.
5
Woodbridge and Merchants and Transit Agency Link Commuters and Commerce
Maplewood, New Jersey
Project Partners C ly—the management of these commuter
all it an epiphany, or just a good
Transit Agencies idea, but it came upon the state rail
stations; to serve passengers more
State/County Transportation transportation organization all at
effectively; and to promote both public
Officials once, and with great force. Fifteen years
transit and economic development in the
City Governments ago, officials at New Jersey Transit
communities in which the stations are
(NJT) and the New Jersey Department
Mayors
located. NJT is in the process of expand-
of Transportation made the connection
Downtown Associations and ing this program into the Model Stations
between healthy transit systems and
Chambers of Commerce and Shelters Initiative, which will target 50
healthy downtowns.
Local Businesses stations and bus facilities for renewal and
Although many towns in New Jersey
Community and Non-Profit upgrade in its first year.
are graced with centrally-located 19th
Organizations The place-making approach, as
century train stations, after years of
developed with Project for Public Spaces,
neglect, many of these station buildings
is now a common practice at NJT.
were no longer lovely, and their
It consists of:
decay was not only hurting
transit ridership, but was prov- J Meetings with NJT management;
ing detrimentalto New Jersey’s JDetailed observations of passenger
downtowns as well. In partner- use of rail stations;
ship with Project for Public JSurveys of train passengers;
Spaces, Inc., NJT has been
J Interviews with nearby retailers;
experimenting successfully with
a place-making approach,based JStudies of passenger waiting and
upon the belief that circulation;
stations function as community JCommunity meetings with local
places as well as transportation residents, merchants, and city
facilities. representatives.
Five train stations of
Through this process, a clear picture of
varying size, ridership levels,
how each station is used and perceived
and rider demographics were
evolves; participants identify their most
selectedfor the first phase of
pressing needs and concerns and make
Before - Pearl Street Entrance, the
suggestions for improvements to station
NJ Transit Woodbridge Train
Station Renewal Program.
buildings and adjacent area; and commu-
Station
Its goals were to improve the condition,
nities share responsibility for designing
appearance, use, and—most important-
“This train station is
about the public, about
our citizens; it is about
using our train sation
to attract people to our
downtown community.”
—James McGreevey,
Mayor, Woodbridge Township
6 After, NJ Transit Woodbridge Train Station
“What we did differently
with this project was to look
at these stations as a part
of their communities.”
—Rick Richmond,
Assistant Executive Director,
New Jersey Transit
Department of Engineering
Maplewood Station
and implementing station improvements rated the same design features into the
as well as for ongoing maintenance and station. Now that the station is rebuilt,
management of stations and adjacent the merchants association collects park-
public spaces. ing fees and oversees maintenance of the
Woodbridge Station station area to make sure it stays clean
Sorely in need of work, the train station in and attractive.
Woodbridge was little more than a graffiti-
filled, dimly lit tunnel through the side of a Maplewood Station
railroad viaduct at the edge of downtown. When NJT seeks to attract vendors and
Design improvements focused on ele- businesses to locate inside its stations, it
ments that would enhance the looks first to businesses in the immediate
presence of the station and link it to the vicinity or to small vendors who are given
surrounding area: the opportunity to market goods and serv-
•Clear directional signage; ices, or try out new product lines. At the
Maplewood Station, the Maplewood
• New entrance canopies;
Concierge Company offers the services
• Dedicated “kiss n’ ride” drop-off and products of nearly 70 local business-
areas; es — everything from car repair to take
• Two retail kiosks flanking the main home dinners — to the 2,000 commuters
entrance; who leave before and return after busi-
• An artist-created station map showing ness hours everyday. NJT worked with
transit, business, and cultural informa- the Maplewood Chamber of Commerce to
tion. convince area merchants to buy shares in
the for-profit concierge company.
Customers place orders in the morning,
NJT painted “Welcome to Maplewood Concierge Company
in person or by fax, and pick up their orders
Woodbridge” on the trestle over Main
in the evening at the train station, for retail
Street, in colors and typeface matching
cost plus a 10% surcharge. Service
those used by the Downtown Woodbridge
providers, such as accountants, insurance
Merchants Association; the sign also
agents, and housing contractors, advertise
directs people to the station and its park-
through the concierge service.
ing lots. Contact
Transit agencies from other parts of
While planning work was underway, L. Richard Mariani
New Jersey, as well as Chicago,
the merchants association was creating a New Jersey Transit
Baltimore, and even Tokyo and Berlin,
special improvement district to implement Headquarters
have expressed interest in starting their
streetscape enhancements. NJT incorpo- One Penn Plaza
own version of the Maplewood Concierge
Newark, NJ 07105-2246
Company.
Ph: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
E-mail:
[email protected]
7
Boulder and Durango, The Little Buses That Can:
Colorado Shuttles Fight Sprawl and Congestion with Service
Project Partners N with a “transit-
ot since the Gold Rush has
Federal Agencies Colorado faced an influx of forward” strategy.
Transit Agencies prospectors as large as the tens GO Boulder
City Governments of thousands of families who are moving In order to maintain its reputation as one
Downtown Associations and to the Rocky Mountain State to take of America’s most livable communities in
Chambers of Commerce advantage of its combination of jobs, the face of intense development, the
Traffic Engineers scenery, open space, and recreational Boulder City Council created GO Boulder,
opportunities. But Colorado towns are a city agency devoted specifically to pro-
Local Businesses
learning that growth has a price in moting transportation alternatives. In
Community and Non-Profit
terms of congestion, sprawl, and pollu- 1994, the new agency began developing
Organizations
tion, a price that can best be combated a master plan aimed at shifting, by
the year 2010, 15 percent of automobile
trips that people make alone to transit,
bikes and foot. However, the plan
required a tax to fund it; an unpopular ref-
erendum that failed the same year.
The city regrouped and, in 1996,
developed a new strategy that relied only
upon its regularly appropriated budget.
The strategy ensured that transit routes
served the most popular destinations city-
wide; improved the design and comfort of
the buses; and made service more direct
and frequent. An additional goal was to
maintain automobile traffic at 1994 levels.
These revamped services are called
the HOP, SKIP and JUMP:
• The HOP is a bus that follows a route
connecting the town’s three major
activity centers: the downtown busi-
ness district, the University of
HOP Shuttle
“After the failure of the transit tax incentive in 1994,
citizens and staff realized that the only way to achieve our
transit goal and raise the money necessary to implement it
was to increase ridership purely on the basis of innovation.”
— Penny Puskarich,
GO Boulder’s Transit Projects Coordinator
GO Boulder Poster
8
Colorado’s (CU) main campus, and
a major retail area. The shuttle is
dramatically different than anything
Boulder residents had seen before.
Instead of traditional 40-foot diesel
buses, the HOP is a small, brightly-
colored shuttle, which comes every
six minutes, not every fifteen, and
burns clean, low-sulfur, diesel fuel.
• SKIP is a high-frequency bus route
that serves the Broadway corridor, a
busy artery connecting Boulder’s
northern- and southern-most neigh-
borhoods and the commercial centers A Durango LIFT shuttle
in between. A partnership between
the university and the city keeps the P.O. Box 791 “My hope is that LIFT
buses running until 3 a.m. when Boulder, CO 80306
will spur the creation
school is in session; the university Ph: [phone]
covers the cost of the night service. Fax: [phone] of a regional transit
E-Mail: [email protected]
• JUMP, a high-frequency, high-volume system for
Durango LIFT
bus service slated to commence
operation in 2000, will connect the Although it serves only the 17,000 western Colorado.”
cities of Boulder and Lafayette with residents and students of Durango, the —Jan Choti,
high-frequency transit for the first Durango LIFT logged an astonishing Durango LIFT’s Executive Director
time. 220,000 transit trips in 1998. Incredibly,
passengers paying the 50 cent fare enjoy
GO Boulder also developed unlimited-
“route deviation service,” meaning buses
access transit passes that are purchased
will drop off or pick up passengers
at a discount by employers (the “ECO
anywhere along designated bus routes.
Pass”) and student organizations (the CU
The LIFT is a small “feeder and loop”
bus pass) on an annual basis for all
system, comprised of seven mini-buses
employees and students. Their price was
and three trolleys. Like GO Boulder’s HOP
based on a “revenue-neutral” goal in
and SKIP services, a college pays for
which revenue from the group pass pro-
evening service during the school year.
gram equals
Other partnerships with organizations and
previous farebox revenue from the same
businesses have contributed dramatically
market.
to LIFT’s ridership. For example, down-
The results of the program have
town businesses buy transit tokens from
been substantial: studies have revealed
banks at a discount and give them out to
an increase of up to 300% in ridership
their customers to ride the trolley, or feed
among groups using the bus passes;
parking meters.
officials estimate that HOP and SKIP
The disabled and senior communities
provide service to well over two million
also partner with LIFT to ensure that bus
riders a year, making them the most
routes serve the destinations these riders
productive routes in Boulder. Three-
need to access most — senior apartment
and-a-half years after it began, HOP
complexes, hospitals, grocery stores, etc.
welcomed its three-millionth rider.
The LIFT also operates an Opportunity
According to GO Boulder’s Penny
Bus, which provides door-to-door service
Puskarich, “From traffic counts over the Durango LIFT brochure
to those who are physically incapable of
past three years, trends indicate that we
using the regular service.
are beginning to achieve our goals, with
Because LIFT generates only 10-12
vehicle miles traveled leveling off.”
percent of its $600,000 annual budge Contact:
from fares and advertising, the city coun- Jan Choti
Contact:
cil covers the balance. This commitment Durango LIFT
Penny Puskarich
alone demonstrates how much the city 949 Second Avenue
City of Boulder
values the service that LIFT provides to Durango, CO 81301-5109
Department of Public Works,
its many transit dependent citizens.
Transportation
Ph: [phone]
1739 Broadway, 2nd Floor
Fax: [phone]
E-Mail: [email protected]
9