So I'm at Lenox Mall the other day with a group of teenagers (or, rather, not with them, if you know what I mean), trying to occupy myself, which at malls, for me, means doing research about sustainability. Lenox Mall comes in last, in my assessment, with North Point in second and Perimeter in first, although, in general the malls seem to exist in an alternative reality frozen in time with no regard to environmental changes and consumer buying patterns elsewhere in society.
I see this police officer on a Segway and I get to thinking about transportation issues in Dunwoody. This is on the tails of reading the comprehensive plans of four neighboring cities and seeing this chunk of advice in one of the plans:
Standards for bicycle networks depend on the primary user. Skilled bicyclists prefer to travel on the street system along with automobiles, but they are a small percentage of all bike riders. Children and casual adult cyclists must be separated from high-speed, high-volume traffic or they will not ride; they outnumber skilled riders 20 - 1 (Ewing 1997, 63-64).1 These findings suggest that, if resources for bikeway improvements are limited, then planning bicycle paths that will accommodate children and unskilled bicyclists will be more responsive to demands.
Then, on Sunday, the New York Times Book Review section had an article about a new book titled Pedaling Revolution: How Cyclists Are Changing American Cities (by Jeff Mapes). According to the review, Mapes points out that when more women begin riding, that will signal a big change in attitude, which will prompt further changes in the direction of safety and elegance*. While at the mall, I saw the first sign of this, in a product called Go Green from a pretty cool company named Lush. This pot of essential oil fragrance is designed for "eco-commuters" to help them freshen up after bike-riding or riding on a crowded train.
As I was bike-riding shortly thereafter (I am a bike rider, not a cyclist. I go 2-4 miles in order to run errands, not to run races!), I had to admit that bike riding in Dunwoody is hard, with or without bike lanes. We have hills. We have blazing sun. We have sudden storms. These things are not going away. When we think about transportation in our city as part of our twenty-year comprehensive plan, I invite you to think broader than bike lanes. Think about not only making bike-riding easier for our citizens but also "clearing the path" (so to speak) for a diversity of options that can appeal to all ages and stages in all conditions at all times of the day and night.
Some ideas:
1. Multi-use trail system (pedestrians, bike riders, foot-powered scooter riders, roller skaters, you name it) under the power lines that connects neighborhoods and provides car-free pathways that don't currently exist. This trail could be bordered by community gardens or an urban farm.
2. Bike-sharing in peak traffic areas, and for specific populations. For instance, my daughter and I like to ride to school but then she usually takes the bus home. This requires me to drive by sometime during the day and pick up her bike. Walking to a "bike-share station," perhaps at the start of the "power line trail" (or Power Trail--sounds much better!) and borrowing a bike that she can then just leave at the school bike share station would work much better. Then, someone wanting to just ride home would have a bike to borrow. Also, people could ride just to or from work, or anywhere. You have probably heard about this system in Paris, but it was actually in Lyon, France several years earlier. Since that is a smaller city, that's the link I'm providing.
3. Alternative means of transportation. What about golf carts? Our side streets already have a speed limit of 25 miles per hour, and that's what these thing go. By allowing golf carts on our side streets, building lanes on the six or so major through-streets that are shared with bike riders, and designating space for golf carts as part of parking requirements, we could become a golf cart city like Peachtree City.
4. Trolley. Who wouldn't want to ride on a trolley? Kids would be begging to take the trolley instead of the car. It could do a loop around the center of Dunwoody (which, in all honesty, is what MARTA bus #150 does right now). Or, if we make Dunwoody Village a real destination, the trolley could just run around that little area and enable folks to leave their cars at home or park once and enjoy our city center car-less. And let's not forget a future tourism attraction. A quaint yet lively city center with fun car-free transportation options. If we can dream it, we can do it, folks.
5. Personal Rapid Transportation. Ya' gotta' see this. It is currently being installed at Heathrow Airport in London, and is being considered for the San Jose airport, Virginia, Santa Cruz, Alameda Point, Ithaca and PERIMETER CENTER! I am attending a presentation about it tomorrow.
All of these initiatives would provide new business opportunities here in Dunwoody, improve connectivity, reduce traffic, reduce air pollution, improve health and engage a wider population in active living (active living is a major theme in the City of Decatur's comprehensive plan). What's more, they would help position us as an innovative, forward-thinking city that will be better prepared for the increasing challenges of post-peak oil, population growth, and environmental change.
I guess, in short, the question about transportation for the future of our city is this:
Do we widen our roads and increase our current problems (cut-through traffic, speed, danger to walkers and bikers, marginalization of those with physcial limitations and the elderly) or do we widen our minds and come up with innovative, effective options that differentiate us as a city and ensure our long-term sustainability?
Get involved in the Comprehensive Plan public meetings (they kick off tonight at 7 PM at Dunwoody United Methodist), or you know what will happen? Nothing.
* although my friend Mitzie Goldman is regularly pounding out 100-milers up and down North Georgia mountains, and looking pretty elegant while doing it
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