Leave it up to Austin to show Texas how to reduce its auto-oriented infrastructure. A project to replace on-street parking and traffic lanes with dedicated bus and bike lanes is the result of a partnership between bike and transit planners.
"When Capital Metro, Austin's transit agency, lined up a long-awaited plan to put dedicated bus lanes on Guadalupe and Lavaca, bike planners at the city saw something else: a chance to use Austin's political support for good transit to mend a broken link in the city's bike network," writes Michael Andersen. "Transit planners, meanwhile, saw a valuable ally for one of their own goals: removing the lane of paid auto parking that ran between the dedicated bus lane and the sidewalk, blocking bus loadings and slowing transit travel times in each direction."
"The result is under construction now: not only are two 11-foot traffic lanes turning into the first dedicated bus lanes in central Texas, but the 8-foot parking lanes will be two of the state's most useful buffered bike lanes."
FULL STORY: IN AUSTIN, A BUS-BIKE ALLIANCE PAYS OFF
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
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