Non-motorized Deficiencies
Background
This is 2050. Non-motorized travel is an essential part of the transportation system, providing both daily travel alternatives and recreation opportunities. A quality, connected non-motorized network
benefits the community by generating:
Health benefits including reduced obesity, reduced cases of asthma/heart disease/cancer, and increased safety.
Neighborhood design that features higher density, pedestrian and transit oriented design, connected to employment centers and other destinations (transit depends on non-motorized access)
Travel demand management alternatives to motor vehicle travel through improved access to schools, parks, and recreation and community facilities
Non-motorized Need Criteria
WATS collects available data on non-motorized facilities across the County and used the following criteria to identify deficiencies in the non-motorized network.
Urban Area Deficiencies
Federal Aid road segments are considered deficient where there is no appropriate facility in the urban area. For pedestrians, this includes sidewalks and shared used paths; for cyclists, bike lanes, shared use paths, sharrows, or wide shoulders. Many segments have facilities on only one side of the road. WATS utilizes SEMCOG’s inventory to display the presence and type of non-motorized facility.
Potential Rural Area Needs
Rural Federal Aid road segments could be deficient where there is no shared use path, sidewalk, or wide shoulder available. Since, in most segments, the level of pedestrian activity in the rural area is much lower than that of the urban area, additional evaluation for adding facilities is warranted. WATS utilizes SEMCOG’s inventory to display the presence and type of non-motorized facility.
These maps are meant as a high-level review of the presence of non-motorized facilities, and do not account for the context of each road segment. For example, some of the facilities identified as deficient on one side may, in practice, be contextually appropriate for the level and pattern of non-motorized activity in those areas.