City of Lansing

Mayor’s Task Force on Walking & Bicycling

2^nd Report – December 19. 2006

The Lansing Mayor’s Task Force on Walking & Bicycling was officially announced by Mayor Virg Bernero at a press conference in front of City Hall on October 20, 2006. Summaries of the October 17and November 9, 2006 planning sessions are offered in the first task force report. On December 6, 2006, the group convened to validate the findings from the November meeting, to provide additional details on their current involvement and interest in working on the task force action items, and to discuss next steps for implementation. The results of that process are outlined in this report, which will be used to build sub-committees/teams and work plans for the task force.

PROCESS

The process used to validate the action items from the first meeting included reviewing a total of 14 action items that were created at the November meeting. (Some of the 14 action items were a fusion of different, but very closely related items from the November meeting.) The meeting facilitator guided the group through each item, and asked for any changes or modifications to the action item that would help clarify it, or make sure it reflected the group ideas correctly.

After each action item was confirmed and/or clarified, participants were given a set of colored “dot” stickers. Each person got two yellow dots, two green dots, and one orange dots. They were asked to initial their dots and place them next to the action items as follows:

- Yellow dots on items that merge with or relate to something you are already working on.

- Green dots on items that merge with or related to the mission of our organization or your personal interests, and that you or someone else you work with could help with.

- Orange dot on something that is neither of the above, but which you see as critical to making Lansing a walk and bike friendly community.

Following the meeting, the “dot” responses were entered into a spreadsheet to show how items ranked out.

PARTICIPANTS

The following people participated in this session:

Alicia	Armstrong	Community Partners in Health and Playmakers Sports
Lyndon	Babcock	People for Transportation Options
Tom	Carmoney	NorthWest Initiative - Ex-Offender Outreach Program
Josh	DeBruyn	Michigan Department of Transportation - Non-Motorized and Governor's Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Action Team
Jane	Dykema	City of Lansing, Public Service Department
Dave	Emmons (Sgt)	Lansing Police Department
Eric	Glohr	Lansing Community College
Lina	Goodwin	NorthWest Initiative
Jen	Hoffman	Allen Neighborhood Center
Andy	Kilpatrick	City of Lansing - Parking and Transportation Office
Melissa	Lott	Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance
John	Lindenmayer	League of Michigan Bicyclists
Joel	Maatman	Lansing School District
Nicole	Mankowski	City of Lansing - Mayor Virg Bernero's Office
Tracy	Miller	Delhi Township
Sarah	Panken	Governor's Council on Physical Fitness
Tim	Potter	MSU Bikes
Nate	Rowen	Lansing School District
Bill	Savage	Tri-County Bicycle Association
Jamie	Schriner-Hooper	Old Town Commercial Association
Steve	Shaughnessys	Michigan Department of Transportation - East Lansing Transportation Service Center
Janine	Sinno	Ingham County Health Department - Environmental Health
Peter	Stoughton	Delhi Township
Chris	Thelen	Consumers Energy
Deirdre	Thompson	Michigan Department of Transportation, PE, and Governor's Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Action Team
Jessica	Yorko	Mid-Michigan Environmental Action Council

SYNTHESIS OF PRIORITIZATION/INTEREST PROCESS

Analysis of the “dot” process reveals that were five action items that ranked much higher than the others, and two very similar items that, when combined, also rank very high. These are:

1. INVENTORY AND PLAN of existing bike lanes/wide shoulders and sidewalks, and how they relate to neighborhoods/housing, destination points, and other municipalities non-motorized infrastructure. This item was combined with the “asset map” item, because they appeared to be highly interrelated and similar in what would be done to accomplish each item. (Additional detail below.)

2. ZONING AND MASTER PLAN CHANGES. Additional details given below. Note: Some zoning and master plan changes would need to be made following the “INVENTORY AND PLAN” step--- some could be made prior or concurrently to that step.

3. MARKETING AND MEDIA CAMPAIGNS focused on rights and responsibilities (to promote safety), and on the lifestyle of walking & bicycling. (Additional details below.)

4. BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN SAFTEY EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS. This could be combined with the “marketing and media campaigns” item, or kept separate, depending on how the task force members wish to proceed. It should be noted that there was a high level of interest in this item, but only three “dots” indicating that task force member are already working on this item. This response seems to indicate that additional partners are needed to bring this action item to fruition. Given the fact that children are largest group killed and injured in bicycle and pedestrian accidents, it would be a fitting role for the task force to start creating the partnerships to bring resources and partners to this action item. (Additional details below.)

5. COMPLETE STREETS RESOLUTION for endorsement/approval by the Lansing City Council. Additional details below.

The remaining eight items appear to be either smaller steps that can be taken on their own, or as a step or strategy of one of the higher ranking action items. In this report, they are grouped as smaller steps or strategies within the higher ranking items.

Below are the rankings and groupings of all of the action items created by the task force:

1. INVENTORY AND PLAN of existing bike lanes/wide shoulders and sidewalks. Inventory to show current infrastructure and condition. Inventory can then be used as the basis for creating a bike and pedestrian facility plan centered on creating safer routes for bicyclists and pedestrians to access destinations and connect to adjacent municipalities’ non-motorized infrastructure. (4 said relates to something they are doing, 7 said it relates to their personal or organization’s mission, 1 said neither but critical. Overall score = 12. When combined with the rankings for the Asset Map, numbers become 8, 9, 2, and 19, respectively.)

Another related item which ranked similarly is a destination and facility based Asset Map. A web-search reveals many different definitions for asset maps, including:

- The purpose of an Asset Map is to identify critical and unique ingredients in the community that help local, primary firms compete in the global marketplace and offer a competitive advantage – as compared to other communities - to attract and expand new emerging growth companies.

- Social asset mapping creates an in-depth understanding of a community by identifying local resources, networks, places of importance, prevalent issues, how these are already connected, and where potential connections exist. Such an understanding creates numerous possibilities for new and innovative approaches to community empowerment that are compatible with the maintenance of healthy environments.

Give the similarity of these items, it is advisable to combine the Asset Map action item with the Inventory & Plan item.

“Smaller steps” which relate to this item but which received rankings under 6 points include:

Amass case studies and examples of best practices, things to avoid, design guidelines. (IE. Active Michigan Community Design Guidelines, Greenway Collaborative documents; MDOT’s report on St. Clair County approach.) (3 said it relates to what they do now, 2 said it relates to organization or personal mission, 1 said critical = 6 total.)

Increase bike parking – create more at schools, businesses, etc, and make more secure. (4 said it relates to what they do now, 1 said it relates to organization or personal mission = 5 total.)

Improve curb cuts and sidewalks – condition, ADA requirements, etc. (2 said it relates to what they do now, 1 said it relates to organization or personal mission, 1 said critical = 4 total.)

Improve snow removal/ create more efficient removal: sidewalks, bike lanes, shoulders. (2 said it relates to what they do now, 1 said it relates to organization or personal mission, 1 said critical = 4 total.)

2. ZONING AND MASTER PLAN CHANGES focused on creating destinations within walking distance of adjacent neighborhoods; implementing context-sensitive, multi-modal design practices; requiring bike parking at new and existing buildings and in parking garages, lots, etc; and conducting walk-ability reviews for site plans and master plan. (9 said relates to something they are doing, 3 said it relates to their personal or organization’s mission, 4 said neither but critical. Overall score = 16)

3. MARKETING AND MEDIA CAMPAIGNS focused on rights and responsibilities, and on promoting the lifestyle of walking & bicycling. (9 said relates to something they are doing, 4 said it relates to their personal or organization’s mission, 2 said neither but critical. Overall score = 15.)

“Smaller steps” which relate to this item but which received rankings under 6 include:

Educate residents on safety/responsibilities, stewardship of right of way, reasons for bike lanes, and why they should support of additional infrastructure. (5 said it relates to organization or personal mission, 1 said critical = 6 total.)

Help businesses understand how they benefit from a walk and bike friendly Lansing. (1 said it relates to what they do now, 1 said it relates to organization or personal mission, 2 said critical = 4 total.)

Help “invisible cyclists” = “necessity cyclists”, by providing safety training information, bicycle repair/maintenance training and equipment assistance, helmets, safety vests and flags, and lights. (2 said it relates to what they do now, 2 said critical = 4 total.)

Organize walk/bike days for elected officials and department heads, where they must get around as a pedestrian, bicyclist, or handicapped or visually impaired person. (1 said it relates to what they do now, 1 said it relates to organization or personal mission, 1 said critical. = 3 total.)

4. BIKE AND PEDESTRIAN SAFETY EDUCATION THROUGH SCHOOLS. Specific strategies included offering bicycling and pedestrian safety training as part of driver’s education; working with community resource officers to educate children; and working with parent teacher organizations, specifically to introduce the Safe Routes to Schools concept, toolkit, and funding opportunities. (3 said relates to something they are doing, 8 said it relates to their personal or organization’s mission, 2 said neither but critical. Overall score = 13.)

Note: Based on the rankings, it appears that new partners, resources, etc, need to come together to begin working on this action item.

5. COMPLETE STREETS RESOLUTION: a resolution to be adopted by Lansing City Council that would provide a commitment to integrating bicycle, pedestrian, and handicap considerations into all road construction projects. Many templates are available from other cities, and a list of these with websites had been provided to the task force. (4 said it relates to something they are doing, 7 said it relates to their personal or organization’s mission, and 1 said neither but critical = 12 total).

CONCLUSTIONS ABOUT NEXT STEPS

Based on the groupings above, and on the action items in which people expressed interest, it would be advisable to organize the next meeting into two sub-committees:

This organization is based on the “dot” placement of each individual, and is a suggested sub-committee grouping. This division creates equally balanced teams. Task force members will be offered to option of “trading” from one committee to another if they can find a person willing to take their place.

At the next meeting, scheduled for January 9, 2007, sub-committees will begin working on action plans for accomplishing the action items of their group.