TRANSIT-WALKABILITY LEADS THE WAY IN WILKES-BARRE...

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America Walks is a nonprofit naonal organizaon empowering communies to create safe, accessible, and enjoyable walking condions for all. W ith a nickname like The Diamond City, it’s no surprise that county seat Wilkes-Barre in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania holds some desirable qualies. Located in scenic Northeastern Pennsylvania, Luzerne County is a gem of an outdoor desnaon, robust with forests, parks, and bustling walkable downtowns. As an older city, Wilkes-Barre has the walkable foundaon of it’s solid, old bones to stand on with a strong residenal presence downtown and connecons to surrounding neighborhoods. This foundaon has grown to include enough office, shopping, dining and service acvies that 40% of citywide jobs are located downtown, which enjoys the added benefit of having two colleges serve as bookends. As a whole, Luzerne County faces challenges that many communies across the US would recognize. The legacies of a mining-centric, rust-belt town exist—giant suburban industrial parks where an increasing number of low-income residents are employed, lack of adequate transportaon opons for those who commute from outside the city or to and from industrial parks, and a lack of resources at the government level to support major change. That’s where Live Well Luzerne (LiveWell) and Diamond City Partnership (DCP) come in, two key groups working with the Luzerne County Transit Authority (LCTA) to fill transit and accessibility gaps in the last few years. The primary concern for all pares is how to improve LCTA’s systems and networks, and the me between services, to make using the bus a more viable opon for more people. At the beginning of these efforts, the bus in Luzerne County was seen as the last resort and primarily used by low-income populaons. A second goal was how people could safely and easily go from one walkable area to another without having to get in a car. ABOUT DIAMOND CITY PARTNERSHIP • Downtown Business Improvement District in Wilkes-Barre • Started working with LCTA more intensely in 2016 • De facto downtown planner • Funcons as a full-service place management organizaon ABOUT LIVEWELL LUZERNE • Health promoon non-profit • Main partner with LCTA for walkability iniaves • Housed within county-wide YMCA organizaon • Received Community Change Grant to promote walking to transit TRANSIT-WALKABILITY LEADS THE WAY IN WILKES-BARRE Nighme aerial view of downtown Wilkes-Barre's Public Square. LUZERNE COUNTY TRANSIT AUTHORITY STATS • 18 routes total • 93% of LCTA riders walk • 15-20 minute headways in Wilkes-Barre • Scranton to Wilkes-Barre, hourly service • Moving towards regional system • Moving from coverage to producvity system

Transcript of TRANSIT-WALKABILITY LEADS THE WAY IN WILKES-BARRE...

Page 1: TRANSIT-WALKABILITY LEADS THE WAY IN WILKES-BARRE Wamericawalks.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/TWC...• 15-20 minute headways in Wilkes-Barre • Scranton to Wilkes-Barre, hourly

America Walks is a nonprofi t nati onal organizati on empowering communiti es to create safe, accessible, and enjoyable walking conditi ons for all.

With a nickname like The Diamond City, it’s no surprise that county seat Wilkes-Barre in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania holds some desirable qualiti es. Located in scenic Northeastern Pennsylvania, Luzerne

County is a gem of an outdoor desti nati on, robust with forests, parks, and bustling walkable downtowns. As an older city, Wilkes-Barre has the walkable foundati on of it’s solid, old bones to stand on with a strong residenti al presence downtown and connecti ons to surrounding neighborhoods. This foundati on has grown to include enough offi ce, shopping, dining and service acti viti es that 40% of citywide jobs are located downtown, which enjoys the added benefi t of having two colleges serve as bookends.

As a whole, Luzerne County faces challenges that many communiti es across the US would recognize. The legacies of a mining-centric, rust-belt town exist—giant suburban industrial parks where an increasing number of low-income residents are employed, lack of adequate transportati on opti ons for those who commute from outside the city or to and from industrial parks, and a lack of resources at the government level to support major change.

That’s where Live Well Luzerne (LiveWell) and Diamond City Partnership (DCP) come in, two key groups working with the Luzerne County Transit Authority (LCTA) to fi ll transit and accessibility gaps in the last few years. The primary concern for all parti es is how to improve LCTA’s

systems and networks, and the ti me between services, to make using the bus a more viable opti on for more people. At the beginning of these eff orts, the bus in Luzerne County was seen as the last resort and primarily used by low-income populati ons. A second goal was how people could safely and easily go from one walkable area to another without having to get in a car.

ABOUT DIAMOND CITY PARTNERSHIP

• Downtown Business Improvement District in Wilkes-Barre

• Started working with LCTA more intensely in 2016

• De facto downtown planner• Functi ons as a full-service place

management organizati on

ABOUT LIVEWELL LUZERNE

• Health promoti on non-profi t• Main partner with LCTA for

walkability initi ati ves• Housed within county-wide

YMCA organizati on• Received Community Change

Grant to promote walking to transit

TRANSIT-WALKABILITY LEADS THE WAY IN WILKES-BARRE

Nightti me aerial view of downtown Wilkes-Barre's Public Square.

LUZERNE COUNTY TRANSIT AUTHORITY

STATS

• 18 routes total• 93% of LCTA riders walk • 15-20 minute headways in

Wilkes-Barre• Scranton to Wilkes-Barre, hourly

service• Moving towards regional system• Moving from coverage to

producti vity system

Page 2: TRANSIT-WALKABILITY LEADS THE WAY IN WILKES-BARRE Wamericawalks.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/TWC...• 15-20 minute headways in Wilkes-Barre • Scranton to Wilkes-Barre, hourly

America Walks is a nonprofit national organization empowering communities to create safe, accessible, and enjoyable walking conditions for all.

When the effort to replace mining started in the 1950’s and 1960’s, the response was to create giant industrial parks which were built outside Wilkes-Barre around the regional highway network. Now, about 70% of Wilkes-Barre's working residents reverse commute to work outside the city every day. The challenge is to connect these employers and employees with a bus route that boasts strong usability through frequency and options, and to address the issue of the first and last mile.

“These distribution centers sit on parcels containing buildings that are often up to a million square feet in size. So the bus is going to drop you off somewhere . . .in an environment that is the opposite of walkable,” says Larry Newman, Executive Director of Diamond City Partnership. Newman’s professional background is one of a downtown planner and previously would not have considered this part of his work but he says enhancing the health of the county means addressing transit- walkability issues like this one.

The business parks are not the only areas demanding attention. Downtown Wilkes-Barre is the primary office location in the region and the largest single employment center in Northeastern Pennsylvania, with more than 11,000 people working downtown. Surveys show that most of these people are coming from outside of the city. The challenge here is how to get more downtown workers, those who live outside the city in particular, to use the bus as an alternative to driving.

THE TRANSIT EQUITY ISSUE OF INDUSTRIAL & BUSINESS PARKS

THE SOLUTIONSFOR INDUSTRIAL PARK COMMUTERS AND

THE ANTI-WALKABLE LAST MILE

LCTA, in conversation with DCP, LiveWell, and local Business Parks, is activating solutions that include and have included:

• A Transit Equity Summit that sparked planning around the industrial park transit-equity issue

• Surveying shift times of business park workers

• Re-evaluating routes

• Running van like shuttle buses in the parks to deal with last mile issues

• Installing sidewalks from drop off points to the buildings

• Installing new bus shelters

Hanover Industrial Park has a walk score of 10. Luzerne County has applied for a state multi-modal grant to add sidewalks and bus shelters.

Page 3: TRANSIT-WALKABILITY LEADS THE WAY IN WILKES-BARRE Wamericawalks.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/TWC...• 15-20 minute headways in Wilkes-Barre • Scranton to Wilkes-Barre, hourly

America Walks is a nonprofit national organization empowering communities to create safe, accessible, and enjoyable walking conditions for all.

A COMMUNITY GETS INTO ACTION: BUS STOP ASSESSMENTS

SHINING UP THE INFRASTRUCTURE

When Luzerne County Transit Authority took over ownership of the bus shelters in 2017 they quickly realized that they needed to be updated in terms of safety, connectivity, and meeting ADA compliance. Kathy Bednarek, Planner and Grants Coordinator for LCTA, says it was the perfect opportunity to partner and dig into what really needed to be done around improving transit amenities. In partnership with LiveWell Luzerne, LCTA participated in bus stop walkability audits made possible in part by a 2016 America Walks Community Change Grant award.

“We took some measurements, looked at crosswalks, gathered public opinion, and examined the built environment around it, taking a look at the surroundings,” says Bednarek.

The surveys showed that some of the shelters, particularly a couple in front of major amenities, have scarce sidewalks, are too close to traffic, or are hard to get in and out of. Further assessments will continue next year and LCTA hopes to leverage all the data gathered to gain funding to replace and improve transit surroundings.

THE SOLUTIONS:

• Central parking

• Traffic calming projects

• Crash-prone intersection research

• One way to two way conversions

• Traffic tables for safer pedestrian crossings

• Complete streets

• Sidewalk construction

• Improved wayfinding

There are a number of activities being done to create an even more walkable downtown Wilkes-Barre. The community is rethinking mixed use properties, addressing street speeds, and performing traffic calming projects. The city knows this will help improve walkability in the same way it did when design workshops and community surveys led to a lot of walkability work in previous years.

Page 4: TRANSIT-WALKABILITY LEADS THE WAY IN WILKES-BARRE Wamericawalks.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/TWC...• 15-20 minute headways in Wilkes-Barre • Scranton to Wilkes-Barre, hourly

America Walks is a nonprofi t nati onal organizati on empowering communiti es to create safe, accessible, and enjoyable walking conditi ons for all.

“I rode the bus my whole life, and one of the ways I always viewed transit is that it’s community development…. I really sought out partners in both the health and economic development world, and it’s been great for the growth of both LCTA and for them,” says Bednarek.

That community development is starti ng to show in Luzerne County. The LCTA, LiveWell Lucerne and Diamond City Partnership all agree that a healthy and functi oning transit system is part of the recipe for a healthy and functi oning walkable community. Achieving this goal as a transit-walkability team makes them all the more equipt for getti ng there faster.

“Besides recognizing inclusion and connecti vity, we recognize the systemati c role of transit. Off ering all sorts of ways for many people to get around,” says Schasberger.

Newman agrees. Specifi cally, he says perfecti ng these partnerships is important in ensuring that the transit system becomes a larger part of the soluti on in connecti ng low-income people with opportunity in the form of jobs that increasingly happen to be found outside the city and outside of walking distance.

“I recently heard transit described, at its best, as being a pedestrian accelerator. When it works that way, transit allows you to get to a new place where you can walk to a whole new range of acti viti es without having to get in a car.”

TRANSIT-WALKABILITY TAKEAWAYS:

• Transit-walkability can be visionary when the transit agency works to partner with community organizati ons that prioriti ze pedestrians

• People-fi rst infrastructure projects can both acti vate park and walk behavior and open new doors for diff erent populati ons to positi vely experience transit

Beyond the bits of beauti fi cati on and usability to att ract more residents to the idea of walking, bussing, and making the choice to simply drive less, DCP, LiveWell and LCTA focus on interacti ve educati on and inclusiveness. Together, they’re getti ng folks to experience the built environment from the perspecti ve of a pedestrian, by actualizing walkability as an idea and word that melts into the communiti es collecti ve consciousness and vocabulary. They’re also creati ng priceless connecti ons for Luzerne County residents to access trails and state parks.

Hosted by Wilkes-Barre Family YMCA, Y Walk Wednesdays is a series of free, guided, evening summer walks that feature downtown neighborhoods, history, walking and health, architecture, wildlife, nature and new development in Wilkes-Barre. Michele Schasberger, Healthier Communiti es Coordinator at LiveWell Luzerne/Wilkes-Barre Family YMCA, says the events truly get people walking. Community members are inspired by seeing historical architecture and hearing stories about what downtown is now, what it will be, and how things are changing. Leaders say it’s about changing people’s minds and creati ng a consti tuency of transit-walkability advocates.

Larry Newman leads a Y Walk Wednesday walkability audit in Wilkes-Barre.

INSPIRING WALKING

LESSONS LEARNED AND FUTURE COLLABORATION