Community Connectivity Analysisto Support Active Living

Brent Turley, PEBMPO Joint Policy Board/TAC Meeting

November 9, 2011

The Nexus?

• Connectivity: The quality of a network to facilitate travel between two points.

• Good connectivity means removed barriers to travel• Good pedestrian and bicycle connectivity means greater

opportunity for active living trips• Connectivity can be a performance or priority metric• Connectivity can be one of several metrics to evaluate

active living policies over time

Point-to-point GIS routing?

The direct measure of connectivity

B

A/B B

Route Directness

Index

71

Distance Decay Score

91

ViaCity Score81

A

Existing With Connectivity ProjectsExample

Other connectivity metrics?

Metric Constraint

HCM 2010 Multimodal LOS (NCHRP 616)

Facility based; Not sensitive to network systems, barriers, or key connections

Travel demand models Not scalable to pedestrian or bicycle level of detail

Walkscore (or similar web tools) Informational only; Not applicable for project planning

Intersection density Indirect metric; Not sensitive to projects

GIS buffering Ignores network completely

LOCAL EXAMPLESBMPO Analysis

Study Locations

• Downtown• Schools (2)• Parks (2)

Are these destinations well connected to surrounding areas?

Analysis Process• Select parcels/building within 0.5 mile buffer around site• Enhance street network to create pedestrian network• Assign pedestrian quality to each network link• Calculate connectivity metric (ViaCity score)• Review results, run/compare scenarios

Downtown

• Good sidewalk coverage

• Barriers: • River• Railroad• Yellowstone Hwy• S Boulevard

Downtown

• Scores:• Average = 65• Over 60 = 73%

• Problem areas:• Northeast• South• Southwest

Tautphaus Park

• Few sidewalks near park

• Barriers: • Rollandet Ave• S Boulevard• Park access points• On-site network

Tautphaus Park

• Scores:• Average = 53• Over 60 = 29%

• Problem areas:• Points west• Southeast• Adjacent streets

Sand Creek Middle School

• Set back from arterials

• Barriers: • Canal• Paved connections

to west• Arterials

Sand Creek Middle School

• Scores:• Average = 54• Over 60 = 32%

• Problem areas:• North (canal)• West (multi-family)

Iona City Park

• Recent pathways• Barriers:

• Some arterials sections

• No defined routes

Iona City Park

• Scores:• Average = 63• Over 60 = 56%

• Problem areas:• Defined routes

Eagle Rock Jr High School

• No sidewalk along collectors or arterials

• Barriers: • Broadway St• Skyline Dr• Pancheri Dr

Eagle Rock Jr High School

• Scores:• Average = 54• Over 60 = 49%

• Problem areas:• Crossing Broadway• Crossing Skyline

Eagle Rock Jr High School

Link Ranking• Another metric• Aggregation of

shortest paths from each parcel

• Potential high priority links

Summary Statistics

Average ViaCity Score

Percent Parcels > 60

Number Total Parcels

Downtown 65 73% 1,776

Eagle Rock Jr High 54 49% 1,514

Tautphaus Park 53 29% 2,024

Sand Creek Middle 54 32% 1,225

Iona City Park 63 56% 587

BEFORE & AFTERExamples

Eagle Rock Before

• Scores:• Average = 54• Over 60 = 49%

Eagle Rock After

• Scores:• Average = 57• Over 60 = 49%

• Project:• Crossing Skyline

Eagle Rock Change

• Parcels impacted:• Change > 5 = 163• Change > 20 = 132

Sand Creek Before

• Scores:• Average = 54• Over 60 = 32%

Sand Creek After

• Scores:• Average = 56• Over 60 = 35%

• Project:• Yard crossing

Sand Creek Change

• Parcels impacted:• Change > 5 = 113• Change > 20 = 66

Questions?

Brent Turley, PE

brent.turley@transpogroup.com

208-377-2345

Ross Racine