Better Alternatives to Automobile Transportation

Definition: Includes improved public transportation system, bicycle and pedestrian friendly streets, improved roadways (landscape, lighting, sidewalks, bus stops), and promotion of alternatives to the automobile

What the community said:

• "Address traffic problem with the goal to make the city more children, pedestrian, and bicycle friendly."
• "Provide better and more frequent public transportation."
• "Focus planning on a neighborhood level. We should encourage more neighborhood friendly transportation modes such as cycling, bus, and walking."
• "More tree-shaded off-street pedestrian and bike paths."
• "We need to learn from our Phoenix neighbors what to avoid when planning growth, roads, and highways. Tucson needs to do it better."
• "Stop designing the city primarily for the automobile. Shape the urban environment to be more friendly to pedestrians, bicyclists, and users of mass transit."

City Department/Office Support for this Goal:

• Intergovernmental Relations - working on legislation to bring additional federal and state transportation funds to Tucson
• Special Projects - overseeing the Civano development, a pedestrian-oriented new community
• Human Resources - supporting and facilitating training for the Employee Telecommuting Program
• Planning - promoting alternate modes through neighborhood and area planning and comprehensive plan policies
• Transportation - administering programs that promote the use of mass transit, bicycles, and walking, and constructing sidewalks, pedestrian crossing devices, sidewalk landscaping, bike paths, and bus shelters

Key Indicators of Progress:

1. Use of alternative means of travel Determining how many people are getting around town without a car, and how often, is a way to determine how well our neighborhoods are designed to promote these alternatives. To measure this people will be asked in a survey how often they use alternative travel means of travel, including biking, walking, bus, trolley, and other public transit.

Based on the 1980 census, 66 percent of the population in Pima County drove to work alone, while 21 percent carpooled. Eleven percent used other means to get to work, such as public transit, trolley bus, walking, and bicycling, while 2 percent worked at home. In 1990, in Pima County 72 percent drove alone, and 15 percent carpooled. The remainder either used other means to get to work (10 percent) or worked at home (3 percent)

Source: Pima County Association of Governments/Transportation Planning Division

2. Ratio of miles of quality pedestrian and bike paths and bus routes to total lane miles of roads This indicator describes how well people can circulate throughout the community without reliance on cars. It focuses on urban paths and trails, rather than those in open desert areas.

Total number of lane miles for the City of Tucson, 4,000

Total number of street miles for the City of Tucson, 1,480

Total number of bicycle route miles for the City of Tucson, 600

Total number of bus route miles for the City of Tucson, 550

With 38 routes; buses run an average of 27,000 miles weekdays, and 7,110,000 miles annually

Source: City of Tucson Transportation Department

3. Number of days you can see Rincon Peak from Tumamoc Hill Looking from mountain peak to mountain peak across Tucson is a simple way to determine the clarity of our air, including the amount of pollution from auto emissions, which account for up to 75% of Tucson's air pollution.

Pima County Department of Environmental Quality, in conjunction with Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, monitors visible air pollution (urban haze) continuously using a video camera from partway up Tumamoc Hill oriented toward the Rincon Mountains (and also from a second site atop the County Health Building oriented due east). Video from Tumamoc Hill may be put on PCDEQ's website, and the Livable Tucson website in the near future.

4. Number of pedestrians in neighborhoods Counting the number of people out in neighborhoods is one indication of people walking or biking instead of driving. We would expect more people to be visible in neighborhoods as it becomes more appealing to walk and bike places. The number of pedestrians and cyclists can be measured by counting the number of people seen at certain times in randomly selected areas throughout the year.

Source: Trained observers from community organizations can help conduct these "people counts".

The Livable Tucson Goals provide a shared vision of the future and a common framework for action, as expressed by the community. At the policy level, these Goals are helping to shape the City’s annual budget and the programming of City departments. City employees and citizens can improve our quality of life and our legacy to future generations. These examples show how individual actions support this effort.

What YOU Can Do

• Ride the bus
• Carpool
• Bike to work, the store, etc.
• Walk to work, the store, etc.
• Work a compressed work week (four 10-hour days)
• Work at home, communicating through e-mail and telephone
• Travel during hours other than rush hour

Featured Project for this goal indicator.