Move Commute Connect. How the Province is BC is prioritizing active transportation and road safety

Presenter

Brian Patterson - Brian is a senior transportation planner with Urban Systems. Brian has over 15 years of experience in multi-modal transportation, active transportation, and road safety. Brian leads Urban Systems’ active transportation practice across Canada. Brian has extensive experience combining his expertise in active transportation and road safety to improve safety for vulnerable road users. Brian has led several in-service road safety reviews with a specific focus on vulnerable road users, including in-service road safety reviews for both Calgary and Edmonton’s downtown protected bicycle lane networks. Brian also led the City of Vancouver's Pedestrian Safety Study and Cycling Safety Study. Most recently, Brian worked led the BC Active Transportation Design Guide for the BC Ministry of Transportation & Infrastructure, which had a specific focus on improving safety and comfort for people of all ages and abilities.

Title of Abstract

Move Commute Connect. How the Province is BC is prioritizing active transportation and road safety

Context

The Province of British Columbia is committed to promoting active transportation to help improve environmental outcomes, increase physical activity and improve public health, and improve road safety. The Province has developed the B.C. Community Road Safety Toolkit, which is an easily-accessible and electronically-searchable knowledge source about road safety designs and strategies that local governments can implement to improve road safety outcomes. At the same time, the knowledge in the toolkit is intended for all agencies with a mandate related to road safety.

In June 2019, the Province also released Move Commute Connect, B.C.’s new Active Transportation Strategy, which includes goals to double the mode share of active transportation and work towards Vision Zero. To help implement the Active Transportation Strategy, the Province also released the B.C. Active Transportation Design Guide, which provides comprehensive guidance on all aspects of active transportation planning, design, operations, and maintenance. The Design Guide is based on the latest international best practices and is one of the most comprehensive design guides developed on this topic, spanning 39 chapters and 576 pages. The Design Guide is evidence-based and informed by academic research on safety and preferences for active transportation, and has a specific focus on planning and designing All Ages and Abilities facilities. By promoting these design, the Province is providing communities across the Province with detailed, practical guidance based on international best practices on how to improve safety for vulnerable road users and increase the number of trips made by walking and cycling.

The Province is following up on the Design Guide with an Active Transportation Education Toolkit, which will be a companion document to the Design Guide focusing on education, awareness, and promotion of active transportation. In 2020, the Province will also be launching a comprehensive study looking at active transportation safety across the Province by analyzing pedestrian and cycling collision data across the Province to identify safety trends for vulnerable road users.

This session will summarize these initiatives that the Province is undertaking, with a specific focus on the Active Transportation Design Guide, which was recently awarded the 2019 Bill Curtis Award for Project of the Year by the Greater Vancouver section of the Canadian Institute of Transportation Engineers.

Objectives

Improving the design of active transportation facilities across the Province to increase safety and comfort for vulnerable road users and increase the number of trips made by walking and cycling.

Target Group

All design professionals across the province of BC. The Design Guide has also been downloaded over 6,500 times since its released in June 2019, and spanning the globe, including Australia, New Zealand, Israel, and Europe.

Activity(ies)

The Design Guide was developed based on a comprehensive review of national and international best practices in active transportation planning and design, as well as stakeholder engagement across the Province to ensure it was locally relevant to the BC context.

Deliverables

The Design Guide was published on 2019 and has been downloaded over 6,500 times across the world. The a province is encouraging municipalities to follow the Design Guide in their designs, and is incentivizing the use of the Design Guide through an Active Transportation Infrastructure Grant Program, with a applicants required to follow the Design Guide.