Snowfalls like this are a bit rare in the city – and also provide an interesting opportunity to reimagine public space. For the urbanists out there – have you spotted any good sneckdowns?

Of course, the weather also creates extra difficulties for people with mobility challenges – so let’s all do our part to keep sidewalks clear! (And yes, we do think this should be a municipal priority – but it’s also something that residents of the city can also take on!)

In January, a Council motion was introduced by Councillors Elizabeth Ball and Melissa DeGenova which called for focussed attention on the City’s pedestrian curb ramp program. This is the portion of the City’s budget that funds curb cuts and related improvements for older or sub-standard sidewalks and intersections. The motion, in particular, calls on staff to figure out ways to fund and complete needed improvements to the “approximately 6,000 locations throughout the City where they are still required.”

On one hand, it’s a commendable request, because making our walking infrastructure safer and more accessible for all residents is key to supporting a range of the City’s goals around health, sustainability and transportation.

Of course, the motion also implies some decisions around funding priorities – because 6,000 intersections (assuming they are of equal necessity) will cost a fair bit. So this means some significant funding will be required (in this case the motion points to the City’s 2019 capital budget… along – it is suggested – with “additional funding that could be leveraged from the Federal and Provincial governments, non-profit foundations, and corporate and community partners.”)

Setting the question of dollars aside, we feel the motion, with its call for a greater focus on pedestrian infrastructure, has merit. We also feel that it could be strengthened by being broader in its application. Yes, curb cuts are needed… but there’s actually an array of other pedestrian-focused improvements that are also equally important – so let’s not focus on just one. In fact, we think the motion could be expanded so that it directs staff to develop a Pedestrian Strategy similar to the sort that has guided civic policy and infrastructure investment in a number of cities.

We wrote a letter to Council on the matter back in January. The motion is being considered this coming February 21. Here’s an excerpt of what we said.

… Vancouver is overdue for the sort of comprehensive Pedestrian Strategy and investment plan that has successfully guided similar important investments in the cycling network. Currently, the City has a Pedestrian Safety Study that has focused on some critical hotspots in pedestrian areas; however, more is needed.

To that end, this motion suggests the potential identification of the nature and costs associated with one type of important pedestrian improvement (namely, curb cuts). This could also be an important way to advance city-wide discussion, policy framing, and investment in an array of pedestrian infrastructure improvements, including:

• Installation of missing sidewalks
• Key areas for curb bulges and raised crosswalks
• Sidewalk repair/edge grinding
• Clearer separation of shared pedestrian and bike paths
• Pedestrian safety improvements
• Other key types of pedestrian infrastructure (including seating, water fountains, etc.)

These and other pedestrian-focused considerations could then be rolled into the sort of Pedestrian or Walking Strategy that you find in cities such as Copenhagen, Berlin, Bristol, Calgary and Toronto. In each of these examples, a higher-level Transportation Policy has resulted in a more detailed policy document and action plan that aims to promote the overall walkability of the city. We feel that the City is part way there with Transportation 2040, and that its now time to take things to this next level.

We therefore offer our support for the recommendations of the motion that seek to daylight the overall situation and costs associated with curb cuts; however, we feel the motion should be broadened to encourage a more comprehensive identification of issues and opportunities for the pedestrian environment.

UPDATE: On February 21, 2018, Council deliberated on this motion. It passed unanimously, with no amendments. So, for the moment, no Pedestrian or Walking strategy. Whole the motion is a step ahead, we will continue to advocate for a more comprehensive approach that responds to the full array of pedestrian issues that require attention.

The intent is to reallocate a portion of one of the bridge’s southbound travel lanes (and south side off ramp) to create a southbound bike lane. This would create the opportunity for a separated bike lane and sidewalk on the west side of the bridge, while the east side would stay as it is. The approach would create improved separation between cyclists from pedestrians, enhancing overall safety. City staff suggest that the change would have a “minimal impact on motor vehicle capacity.”

Improvements to various connections at the north and south ends of the bridges are also discussed in the report (and in some cases already underway). To this end, we suggest that upgrades to existing bike lanes should also be considered as part of this initiative. In particular, the recently installed Smithe Street lane, with its partial separation of bikes and cars, and its blended bike/right turn lanes, can feel especially unsafe.

:: Read the City of Vancouver report – Cambie Bridge Interim Active Transportation Improvements

Photo by Gary Howe, Flickr, MyWheelsareTurning.

In a nutshell, the temporary path will be paved, and will have separate tracks for cyclists and pedestrians. In some sections, the City will also pilot a parallel pathway of mulch, to give jogger, naturalists and others the option of a more naturalized pathway. These updates are all consistent with the VPSN’s earlier recommendations.

For pathway design and consultation feedback, you can view the City’s information boards (which include the temporary design) and workshop summary report (PDF). Of note: participants consistently emphasized the values of accessibility, inclusion and safety.

Concept Image – Arbutus Greenway at West 43rd

We also used the Oct 15 session to ask the Engineering Department about the long-term prospects of a streetcar on the Greenway. As many of you will know, there’s no immediate plan or timeline because the streetcar isn’t funded; however, our question concerned technical feasibility related to the width of the right-of-way. In response, we were told that where the greenway is 20m wide, this would allow for 10m for people plus 10m for a streetcar. Where width is insufficient, the City would look into utilizing more of the adjacent street for purposes of accommodating track.

The next steps, according to the City:

• Goal: Usable path along the corridor by year-end;
• Intersection improvements and connections to other paths also by year-end;
• Benches installed in spring. Lighting options to be explored at select locations.
• Public engagement on permanent greenway to start in early December.

The VPSN will continue to be involved in discussions on this important space. In the next few weeks, we’ll be visiting spots along the greenway to see the designs as they roll out piloted. We’ll also be looking ahead to the next round of engagement and providing our input as needed.

As you’ve probably heard, a sizeable component of the discussion is devoted to several new bike lanes that are proposed for the City, including a number in the downtown core.

This is an important step forward for biking in Vancouver, offering further legitimacy and support to cycling as a mode of transportation. However, it also, indirectly, raises some interesting questions about the City’s attention to pedestrian issues and pedestrian infrastructure.

But before we get to that, let’s start by noting some of the many generally favourable articles and posts written about the bike lanes, including CBC and Metro and Vancity Buzz, among others. It’s perhaps equally telling to make note of the articles that aren’t being written. Whereas previous bike lane discussions (Burrard, Hornby, Dunsmuir) have generated all sorts of froth, it’s good to note that the backlash against bike lanes appears to have quieted. Maybe not everywhere, of course, but in a lot of corners. Even former opponents, like the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association, have now come out in support. Cycling infrastructure is rolling forward indeed.

So, we’ll happily go on record noting our support as well. And we will be writing to Council to say as much. For us the new bike lanes do a number of things:

• Increase the accessibility of safe, health-promoting, all-ages, cycling infrastructure for residents and visitors.

• Enable more room for growth. As the numbers show, we continue to see an upward trend in the use of our bike lanes – and more and better infrastructure will propel further increases. Biking is becoming more of a norm for more people.

• Strengthen the network. The focus on improving the connections between already existing routes is key. Fewer ‘gaps’ means better overall connectivity, better access to key destinations, and a resulting increased efficiency for cycling as a mode of transportation.

• Support more spot improvements to elements of cycling infrastructure that need a ‘quick fix.’ (One suggestion: we’d love to see a transparent and trackable means for the public to identify needed improvements).

• Present a well-conceived choice of routes. The choice of future routes – both downtown and city-wide – reflects good planning around design and location.

But, let’s bike-park the cycling question for the moment.

We also think this is the right opportunity to raise a note of concern about the “Five Year Update”. And it’s not a small note. It’s a fundamental one.

Active transportation is supposed to be about cyclists and pedestrians. With that in mind, the staff report being considered on Thursday, should outline a five year plan for both of these modes of transport – and everything else self-propelled and ‘active,’ including wheelchairs, skateboards, push scooters and more.

Its revealing, then, that the aforementioned report uses the word “pedestrian” only twice in its 16 pages. “Walk” or “walking” fares a little better, showing up 17 times in total. Compare “cycling” (59 uses) and “bike” (66 uses) and you get a sense of the report’s priorities.

There’s more. The word “sidewalk” appears eight times, and if you look at how this term is used, the sense of priorities crystallize a little further. Almost inevitably the references talk about the benefits of bike lanes as a way of improving walkability – because they will, in theory, take bikes (and now skateboards) off of the sidewalk. Now, this is good move, to be sure – but there is a lot more that needs to be done to improve pedestrian infrastructure than just the subtraction of cyclists from city sidewalks.

With very few exceptions, everyone uses pedestrian infrastructure – including cyclists, transit users and car drivers – and we think the present report ought to go further and spell out a more tangible action plan for the most essential, most universal, mode of transportation. There’s much that a ‘5 year Action Plan’ might conceivably say about pedestrians; this present report misses an important opportunity.

Which brings us to a more fundamental discussion taking place at Council on today: on the subject of the 2016 Budget. It’s at this meeting that Council will deliberate over the allocation of hundreds of millions of dollars in capital and operating funding, covering every aspect of municipal operations.

Despite the fundamental – even existential – nature of pedestrian mobility, and notwithstanding the fact that pedestrians are prioritized in the City’s Transportation 2040 plan, the actual municipal investment in qualitative and quantitative improvements to pedestrian infrastructure has flat-lined in recent years. Last year, the City’s budget for sidewalk rehabilitation was a paltry $1million. This year, the figure is the same… and that’s a million that is meant to fund repairs to a civic asset that is 2,100 kilometres in length.

Of course, there are other line items that support walkability. The 2016 budget proposes $875,000 will go to new pedestrian and cycling signals. An additional $325,000 is allocated for new curb ramps. But at several thousand a pop for either of these types of infrastucture, the budgeted funds will not last long. The curb ramp budget, for example, will cover approximately 60 of the 6000 ramps that are estimated to be needed across the city.

The same story holds for the $275,000 in new sidewalk construction funds. The amount sounds like a lot at first blush, but it actually only means between 3-5 kilometres of new sidewalk will be built.

This is problematic enough for safety reasons. Our pedestrian infrastructure may not need to be perfect (a few cracks, a bit of warping from tree roots and you get the addition of character), but it could certainly stand to see more investment. Character aside, the city does have a lot of pedestrian spaces that are in need of real improvement. The annual budgets have been granting very limited means to meet this need.

Finally, there’s yet another angle to consider: the opportunity – the real possibility – to think of our sidewalks as critically important public spaces, not just corridors for people movement. Key sidewalks, especially on our extraordinary high streets ought to be places for gathering. They ought to be beautiful. They should be a key part of making our civic spaces sparkle.

The City’s Transportation 2040 Plan speaks eloquently about the need to make walking “delightful.” That’s a wonderful word for policy… and we should have sidewalks every bit as worthy of that aspiration.

Alas, if we’re after sidewalk widening and the more generous ‘complete street‘ designs that many city’s are experimenting with, the opportunities presented in both policy and budget are likely be constrained, and driven largely by redevelopment opportunities than a more proactive, city-led approach. Similarly, if we want something more than minimalist concrete, a $1 million “rehabilitation budget” means we can kiss any hope of pavers, cobblestone and decent design treatment goodbye. There are exceptions, of course, but the dollars-and-cents reality of the sidewalk budget makes this an impossibility on any decent scale.

It doesn’t have to be that way, of course. We think it’s time to see Active Transportation priorities (and the associated capital allocations that sustain them) focus more meaningfully on the pedestrian realm. Not at the expense of cycling infrastructure, but as a proper compliment to it.

In the past several years, Council has turned the wheel forward with some incredible investments cycling infrastructure and policy. It’s now time to make similar strides with the same rigorous and game-changing investment in our pedestrian realm.

More information 

:: City of Vancouver: Active Transportation Update and Pilot for Skateboarding in Protected Bike Lanes
:: City of Vancouver: 2016 Budget and Five Year Financial Plan

VPSN volunteers Celia Chung and Karen Quinn Fung give a presentation describing the connection between enjoyable walking experiences and public transit, at the Pecha Kucha Night Richmond event on November 29, 2013. A video with the slide show and audio from the presentation is now available online.

This presentation was very enjoyable to put together, giving the presenters the chance to learn more about public art in Richmond. It was also an entertaining event to attend — the evening also featured presentations on public art at the Vancouver Airport; wayfinding on TransLink from Jeff Deby; and the work of Instant Coffee, an art collective who installed works on the #3 bus and at bus shelters on Main Street back in 2008. (See a picture below; you may recall them!)

Afghan art on TransLink Bus from Instant Coffee, 2008.

Many thanks to the Richmond Public Art program for the invitation to participate in their PechaKucha night! The next volume of PechaKucha Night Richmond is happening on February 20, on the theme “What’s your story?” at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Richmond campus. It’s an excellent event and opportunity to see and support the awesome work of those innovating throughout the region.

The Vancouver Public Space Network has been participating as a stakeholder in the City of Vancouver’s Transportation 2040 Plan Update process. Since spring of 2011, City of Vancouver staff have been thinking hard about the goals set for transportation by the City in its 1997 Transportation Plan and considering how to set the bar even higher now that we’ve achieved many of our previous targets. The City is now last steps of the plan process, with the draft plan going before council for adoption.

One thing notable about the plan (which you can read in its entirety from the Talk Vancouver Transportation website) is that there’s a sizable section on public space. This strikes us as a very sophisticated approach — in many North American cities, a great amount of space is devoted to transportation uses via roads and parking, often to the detriment of a high quality public realm — yet many of our great public spaces often also serve many transportation functions, like transit interchanges or major destinations. Robson Square — a space we are very enthusiastic about — is designated within the plan as a special study area, and we are glad that Council is giving the area more consideration.

Check out our letter to Mayor and Council (included below), which highlights other noteworthy pedestrian, cycling, transit, and education/enforcement actions described in the plan.

Dear Mayor Robertson & Members of Council,

We are writing on behalf of the Vancouver Public Space Network (VPSN) to express our support for the draft Transportation 2040 Vancouver Transportation Plan Update. We feel that this plan, with its hierarchy of transportation modes, and related strategies and actions, adequately balances the needs of movement for a diverse array of travelers, alongside the everyday reality of residents living, working and thriving within the city’s limits and beyond.

In no particular order, we consider the following elements of the Plan particularly noteworthy for their contributions to improving Vancouver’s public realm:

Pedestrian space and public realm

• We wish to underscore the significance of the plan’s overall safety vision for eliminating all traffic fatalities. In the wake of several recent deaths of pedestrians interacting with other vehicles, no lower goal would be acceptable or in keeping with Vancouver’s reputation for livability. We hope the City will also consider the potential gains in pedestrian and cycling safety that could be made through greater use and enforcement of 30 km/h speed limits beyond neighbourhood greenways, such as on popular downtown streets and key routes, in addition to designs that promote slower vehicle speeds.
• The emphasis on providing strong pedestrian connections throughout Vancouver is very welcome. A vibrant pedestrian realm fosters a sense of place and provides an engaging urban experience.
• The city’s identification of potential public gathering areas (mini-plazas, etc) is to be commended. This shows an important recognition that public space isn’t just a place to move from A to B, but also a place to gather, meet friends, experience events, socialize and more.
• We support actions pertaining to the creation of (a) plazas and parks throughout the city; and (b) temporary street closures. We also offer further support for this via a one-day intercept survey we did this summer – administering a lunchtime survey at Robson Square. We asked participants whether they supported the Transportation 2040 directions pertaining plazas and temporary spaces. In both cases, support for these two directions was extremely high (98% in both cases).

Public Gathering Areas – in particular Robson Square

• As you know, the VPSN has been particularly supportive of the City’s work to create a pedestrian-only space at Robson Square. In 2008-9, the Vancouver Public Space Network held an international design competition to solicit ideas and spur excitement about the concept of a public square in Vancouver – and the 800-block of Robson featured prominently in many of the ideas that were submitted. In 2011, we initiated two petitions to gauge support for keeping this space closed to vehicles. Approximately 1800 people supported this initiative, while only three dozen were opposed.
• We note that there are issues (transit, access to the West End, etc.) that need to be addressed as part of any decisions that are made, but we also feel that these are manageable issues, ones that can be resolved via the application of some creative problem-solving. The benefits of creating an enhanced public gathering area in this space will be a legacy for present and future generations.

Cycling

• We support the various actions related to improving cycling infrastructure as well as the directions on education and enforcement. Improved end-of-trip facilities, in particular, will make it easier for more people to choose cycling either for the entire length of their trip or as part of a multi-modal trip. We expect multi-modal trips to become more common with bike-sharing coming to Vancouver and we support the creation of infrastructure that benefits cyclists with varying degrees of experience, or cycling for recreational, utilitarian or commuting purposes.
• We are supportive of the City’s move to follow in the footsteps of many other cities, including our Canadian neighbours to the east, in creating a public bike share program, as we believe increasing the numbers of people using sustainable modes will result in higher quality of life in both neighbourhoods and public spaces.

Transit

• The emphasis on transit-oriented development complements the direction to make a transit-supportive public realm for people of all ages and abilities. Some of the city’s most vibrant and diverse public spaces serve important public transit functions, and we expect this to become only more important as Vancouver experiences a shift in demographics between now and 2040. Improving these spaces will be vital in achieving the growth in public transit mode share desired by the City.
• We support the City’s recognition of Broadway as Vancouverite’s top transit priority and forward-thinking in seeking to improve reliability and capacity in specifying an underground extension to the Millennium Line.

Parking

• The VPSN supports the city’s direction with parking policy on both the supply and demand sides. Reducing supply makes sense in the face of declining car use — a trend observed both regionally and across the continent — and means more space for the services and public areas that make cities livable and enjoyable places to be in. We particularly support the elimination of minimum parking requirements, which impose significant development and housing cost and can result in excess parking capacity — both of which can be detrimental to area residents (with regards to safety) and housing ownership. This frees up both space and resources which could potentially be used on public space amenities. We would, however, prefer that some mechanism be put in place to ensure that there is some oversight into whether these public space amenities are truly public in nature, rather than being publicly accessible private spaces, as the former promote a broader sense of connection and openness than the latter.
• We also support the unbundling of housing and parking, which recognizes that in Vancouver, housing affordability is often balanced with the ease of access to frequent transit enjoyed by residents. The action to approach parking as a shared district resource is also appreciated for this reason, by allowing prior developments with more parking to work in tandem with newer developments with less.

Safety

• We support an approach to enforcement of road rules that protects the road’s most vulnerable users. We would also support that enforcement approaches be developed in close collaboration with active transportation advocates as well knowledgeable users of other modes such as electric scooters or skateboards, as rule-breakers of all modes put other road users, regardless of mode, at risk as well.

We wish to draw Mayor and Council’s attention to two other items that we feel should also be considerations during the implementation of the Transportation Plan.

(1) Data-Gathering & Dissemination. We appreciate the City’s continued investment in evidence-based planning to guide City decision-making, and to support the positive choices that are being made. It can’t be emphasized enough that tracking and monitoring allows both the City and its partners to make decisions confidently for the future. Current data-gathering efforts (e.g. usage figures for separated bike lanes, pedestrian counts) have invited a wealth of perspectives based on insightful analysis — a conversation that can only happen when everyone is on a level playing field.

Related to this, we support the City’s work with TransLink to provide open data for real-time transit information infrastructure, and would encourage the City to go one step even further and to prompt other transportation service providers (public or private), such as taxis, on-demand sedan services, and water-based transportation providers, as well as regional transit partners such as BC Ferries, to follow the city’s lead. These tools make an enormous difference when it comes to helping people choose sustainable transportation modes confidently, and to get a positive experience from doing so.

(2) Continued Engagement of Stakeholders. We can’t emphasize enough that almost all transportation decisions the City is involved in will require working with partners of all stripes. We believe that the achievement of our 2040 goals will, even more than previously, require the active engagement and participation of individuals and community groups at multiple levels, be it provincial, regional or the neighbourhood. We hope that the City will continue to expand efforts towards proactively and meaningfully engaging the public, and to bring that spirit of openness to any process in which they have a say.

Thank you for the opportunity to provide input on this important policy document. If we can be of any further assistance, please contact Leonard Machler or Karen Quinn Fung by e-mail.

Signed,

Leonard Machler
Board Member
Vancouver Public Space Network

Karen Quinn Fung
Public Transit Project Lead
Vancouver Public Space Network

Summer’s here and the weekend is only a few hours away. Weather aside, things are lining up nicely for some seasonal fun in the city’s public realm. Ready, set, go!

A few quick updates about some upcoming activities that you may be interested in:

• Robson Square Summer Plaza – Update on the 800-block!
• Starting July 5 – Lunch Meet! Long Table Action on Abbot Street
• Transportation Plan – Public Space Ideas
• Grandview-Woodland Community Plan
• St. George Street Rainway – Street Mural Painting

Robson Square Summer Plaza – Jazzing up the 800-block is just the beginning!

For the second year in a row, the 800-block of Robson Street, between Hornby and Howe, will be closed to through traffic. Like the Granville Street pedestrian mall around the corner, the expanded Robson Square will play host to a variety of street level activities through to Labour Day.

The closure begins tomorrow, June 23, and coincides with the Jazz Fest (check out their schedule for an awesome selection of free shows at this site and elsewhere). A few weeks hence the installation of Pop Rocks – a very cool outdoor seating installation – will take place. And if that wasn’t enough, look for other fun activities – including VPSN-led laser graffiti, speakers’ corner and public karaoke installations – to animate the space over the coming months.

As many of you know, the VPSN is quite supportive of the expansion of Robson Square. Our survey last summer saw an overwhelming number of people support the creation of a larger public gathering area in this space… and the current closure gives us yet another opportunity to see how the space supports public life in the city.

That being said, we know that there are a lot of different opinions on the space… and we want to hear your side of things too. To this end, we’ll be doing some evaluation work throughout the summer.

Please take a moment to let us know what you think of the expanded space. Send your photos, ideas, thoughts, concerns and ideas our way – we want to hear from you!

:: Feedback – robsonsquare [at] vancouverpublicspace.ca

Starting July 5 – Lunch Meet! Long Table Action on Abbott Street

And speaking of street closures… can we invite you to lunch in July? LUNCH MEET is a new City-sponsored initiative that we’re running every Thursday of the month. The 300-block of Abbott Street will be transformed into a place for people, with a long table and music provided by local artists. Grab a bite to eat from a local business, food cart or bring your own lunch and meet a neighbour, friend or work colleague.

The event kicks off on July 5th and we’re looking for a team of volunteers to help with event-related activities. Most volunteer tasks are 1 hour in duration, and would take place from 10:30 am to 2pm.

:: Lend a hand – contact adam [at] vancouverpublicspace [dot] ca

Transportation 2040 Plan – Public Space Ideas

The City is in the process of updating their Transportation Plan. The new policy document, called Transportation 2040, will provide a vision for the next 30 years and guide transportation decision-making for the next 15 years.

The draft document has been released, and the City is looking for feedback on a range of ideas – everything from improvements to pedestrian areas, bike lanes, public transport and more. This is a great opportunity to weigh on a number of important ideas.

Among other things, there’s a chance to have your say on a few aspects specifically focused on public space. Including a series of strategies and actions around

• Enabling and encouraging creative uses of the street; and
• Creating public plazas and gathering spaces throughout the city.

You can read more on these and other ideas on the City’s webpage (see below). There’s also a survey you can complete in order to share your feedback.

Stay tuned for a VPSN event on these items as well. We’ve got a small event in the works right now and will be announcing details shortly.

:: City of Vancouver Transportation 2040 webpage

:: VPSN Transportation 2040 Activities – Info – quinn [at] vancouverpublicspace [dot] ca

Grandview-Woodland Community Plan

Are you a resident of the Grandview-Woodland neighbourhood? Like to hang out on the Drive? Work in the hood?

Anyone interested in the future of G-W is invited to lend their voice to the Community Plan work that’s going on in the neighbourhood right now. There’s a Community Questionnaire and photo contest that is running through to the end of next week. Among the themes of planning work – public space (including parks, streetscapes and more).

:: City of Vancouver Grandview-Woodland Community Plan webpage

St. George Street Rainway – Street Mural Painting

The St. George Street Rainway Committee, the False Creek Watershed Society, the City of Vancouver Viva program and the Mount Pleasant Elementary School have partnered to create a street mural painting party and you are invited!

The community was consulted on the creation of this mural at various events and by door-to-door surveys (see a sample of this beautiful mural on the right!). Preliminary design work will happen on the 27th and on the 28th in the morning. Please join us on June 28 from 3:00 – 8:00 PM to paint the mural. The party will go from 6:00 – 8:00! Location: St.George Street, between E. 7^th and E 8^th Ave

:: More info – Shahirastgeorgerainway [at] gmail.com or City

Pedestiran Scramble in Toronto

Exciting news for all you pedestrian enthusiasts out there! A Pedestrian Scramble Intersection has been approved in Stevston for the busy intersection of Moncton and Number 1 Road.

What is a Pedestrian Scramble you might ask? Well, a Pedestrian Scramble (also known as a “Barnes Dance”) is a type of intersection treatment whereby an additional signal phase is added such that all vehicular traffic stops and pedestrians are free to move about the intersection however their hearts desire, including diagonally.

Pedestrian Scrambles are found in busy intersections all over the world. Perhaps one of the more famous examples is that of Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo where an almost unimaginable stream of humanity is unleashed every few minutes. From a Canadian perspective, Toronto’s busy Yonge and Dundas was converted to a Pedestrain Scramble a couple of years ago. Vancouverites traveling down to Seattle may be familiar with some of the scrambles there, such as the one at Pike and First Avenue.

It may surprise you to know that the Branes Dance is not new to the Lower Mainland. In fact, Vancouver was one of the first cities in the world to use the innovative infrastructure, and the intersections of Granville and Georgia as well as Granville and Hastings used to have a scramble phase back in the 1950s

Hastings and Granville 1952

The City’s Transportation Plan indicates that pedestrians are supposed to be at the top of the transportation hierarchy. One of the interesting things about scrambles (aside from their utility and safety functions in busy intersections) is that they send a message that pedestrians are in fact a mode of transportation that has a significant value, as opposed to simply allowing them to cross when it doesn’t pose an inconvenience to vehicular traffic.

Vancouver has previously considered bringing Pedestrian Scrambles back into the downtown, and it seems to us to be a proposal which merits further investigation.

What do you think?

And here’s a picture of the backside from a wayfinding kiosk at another location, if you’re curious what’s on the back…

Wayfinding Kiosk at Commercial and 13th. Photo: Roland Tanglao.

We first mentioned these kiosks last when they first went up just prior to the Games – and remarked on the fact that they were long-overdue in the City. And yes, despite what follows, we’re still glad they’re here.

But upon scrutinizing what’s actually displayed, I found myself grimacing a little. The middle panel with the copious amounts of text under the headline “Mount Pleasant” is a listing of all the businesses in the area, sorted by category (such as “Restaurants”), along with their address and phone number. The aesthetic and presentation of the directory is clearly reminiscent of that used on signs in malls.

I sent and commented on the above photo to Twitter, and received a couple of replies questioning my discontent:

Both valid points, certainly, which encouraged me to revisit why the retail-heavy content felt inappropriate and out of place for me. To expand upon my initial ideas, which I tweeted to Seth from Edmonton, I believe it is because my feeling about neighbourhoods is profoundly different than the one I have for malls.

Whether it’s Main Street or Hunt’s Point in The Bronx, neighbourhoods are, first and foremost, venues of daily life. Their features reflect the sum total of life having unfolded, and continuing to unfold, over time and space. Buildings get old, are vacated, renovated, rejuvenated, modified and, sadly for this and other older districts, burned down; new buildings find their legs in the spaces between older ones. Malls are in many ways the antithesis of this; they are ahistorical in their presentation, focused on birthing the buying moment, unless nostalgia is part of the sell. They reflect the desire to produce a highly controlled and curated environment, which keeps at bay the difficulties associated with weather, multiple modes of traffic, the ravages of time and the challenge of competing interests in limited spaces. They seldom seem to age well, propped up by the building equivalents of Botox.

Wayfinding is undoubtedly an important contribution to the pedestrian experience, for it guides us by helping us form expectations of said experience. We might say a city or neighbourhood is “legible” or” understandable” through the way it is laid out, which helps someone traveling on foot to understand where you are and where you want to go. Malls are laid out and designed with anchor tenants (such as department stores or supermarkets) at the ends of its corridors and certain arrangements to maximize retail frontage values, as well as to expose foot traffic as much as possible to all the stores in between. The mall directory helps you navigate what is typically a non-linear layout. They make sense when you consider that distinguishing landmarks might be restricted to store signage features, or that layout of a mall happens over multiple floors, which can only be accessed by elevators and escalators located in specific spots. Its legibility is certainly challenging to a first-time or infrequent visitor.

Main Street is comparably simpler and easier to understand — it’s a linear corridor in a grid with evenly spaced-out regular intersections. For this reason, the store-directory-as-wayfinding-kiosk almost seems like a bit of overkill. Designed in this fashion, it strikes me that the sign tries hard but ultimately missed the mark; the authors haven’t created a kiosk that gives pride of place to the sort of stuff that would help a visitor discover the essence of the place… just a sector-specific portion of it. Getting to the essence, i think, is the sort of thing that would come with asking a broader question like: what is interesting about this neighbourhood? Not: where can I buy shoes? While retail information has it’s use, a good info post would ideally give you access to details on a range of items: local pointsof interest, bathrooms, community policing, pay phones, maybe a 24 hour eatery… and the sorts of other features that make the neighbourhood different from a trip to Pacific Centre.

Now, to be fair, the kiosk does retain perhaps the most important elements from its use as Olympic wayfinding, such as important transit routes and connections, and it does feature a smaller section on ‘Neighbourhood Destinations’ (out of frame further down on the second picture above). In the Main Street case, it lists landmarks and notable spots like Queen Elizabeth Park and Heritage Hall.

Fundamentally, there is a line to walk between promoting the businesses to make the street and the neighbourhood welcoming and accessible, and providing actual utility to newcomers through the features of the sign. Given that the local Business Improvement Association sponsors the sign, I understand the push. They’re fulfilling their mandate by promoting the shops and businesses along this corridor, supporting the local economy and so forth. All good things. So the issue to me is more about balance in content. Personally, I think show-casing a complete range of community amenities would probably support the local economy more in the long run. (And in the grand scheme of things, this sign is still a step-down in my mind, from the corporate logos gracing the wayfinding signage in the Olympic Village).

No doubt, translating this notion of balance into the design and presentation of the information, while remaining equitable to all businesses, is a formidable challenge. The presence of these information kiosks is good, but the content elements shows signs of needing a bit of a re-think.