The Journey: Helping Lyft Create a Vision for Resilient Streets in Washington, DC

This post is part of our comprehensive look at how COVID-19 is reshaping the mobility landscape.  For more original research, project work, and thought leadership from the Sam Schwartz team, visit the COVID-19 Response + Analysis center.

By Bree Mobley, PE, Senior Transportation Engineer; Joe Iacobucci, West Coast General Manager + Director of New Mobility; Mike Flynn, Director of City Strategies; and Po Sun , Senior Urban Planner

Introduction 

At Sam Schwartz, we have been fortunate to collaborate with clients and partners to make a compelling case for safe, equitable, sustainable transportation options both in response to the immediate challenges of COVID-19 and as part of the solution for cities’ long-term recovery.   

For the foreseeable future, social distancing will remain a basic requirement of daily life. If this reality results in a prolonged drop in transit ridership (due to perception of risk if not actual risk, or due to a funding crisis leading to drastically reduced service) and more use of private vehicles, even a moderate return to daily activities could lead to severe traffic congestion, a disastrous trajectory for greenhouse gas emissions and a restarting of the economy with travel habits that may be hard to reverse. Perhaps most importantly, getting around will become much harder for those without access to a personal automobile.  Therefore, a vision for safely and affordably moving the greatest number of people in a physically distanced way is needed to allow a resumption of economic, educational, and social activity in our cities.     

During the COVID-19 pandemic and mandates of social distancing, Lyft engaged with Sam Schwartz and Street Plans to assist with technical analysis and guidance for how to transform public space to ensure efficient, active, and equitable transportation options in urban areas.  The concept, Resilient Streets, builds on the Open Streets pilots that have launched in cities around the world to connect people to opportunities and to minimize congestion and emissions as stay-at-home orders are lifted.   

Simply put, Lyft is building on the momentum of slow streets/safe streets programs and making the case for expanding the programs and making these new facilities permanent through a concept called Resilient Streets.  

Resilient Streets: 

• Provide dramatically safer and more comfortable routes to attract more trips by sustainable modes (walking, biking, scooting, transit)​ 

• Create better connectivity to jobs, transit, and bike/pedestrian routes​ 

• Facilitate affordable commuting options for everybody, and in particular, for vulnerable communities and essential workers​ 

• Reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) at a time when congestion is beginning to spike​ 

• Reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and support climate action goals​ 

Our team supported Lyft in the effort to make the case for Resilient Streets through three example corridors in Chicago, New York City, and Washington, D.C. in order to identify (1) the impacts of reopening urban areas without new Resilient Streets and (2) the benefits of creating Resilient Streets in cities.   

This blog post is the last in a series of three, focusing on creating Resilient Streets in Washington, D.C.’s Ward 8 and our work creating a customized model in order to identify the need and benefits of Resilient Streets. 

Ward 8, Washington, D.C. Case Study 

Proposed Resilient Street Corridor in Washington, DC

In Washington, D.C., transit, biking, and walking are critical to keeping the region moving to jobs, education, and other destinations. During normal times, 58% or 1.1 million commute trips in Washington, D.C. are made using a sustainable mode (transit, walk, and bike) every day.  This includes 970,000 daily on Metrorail and Metrobus trips and over 100,000 daily walking or biking trips.  

Sam Schwartz looked at the study area in Ward 8 and performed a series of analyses to identify the impacts of the pandemic on commuting and how travel choices have changed.  As a first step to quantifying the impacts of a Resilient Streets corridor connecting Ward 8 to the Navy Yard, our team researched existing, pre-COVID-19 travel trends to understand and estimate the total number of people traveling on sustainable modes under typical conditions on selected corridors. 

At a high-level, the model combined pre-COVID-19 travel trends with global research producing two scenarios that models transit commuting behavior changes and mode shifts due to COVID-19. The model assumes the continuation of preference for part of the population to avoid crowded subways or buses as the City returns to pre-COVID-19 activity levels.  This was coupled with factors that accommodate an increase in teleworking, flexible work schedules, and continued higher-than-normal unemployment. Assumptions of mode shift also included greater adoption of electric-assist bikes (e-bikes) to make longer trips by bicycle possible for a greater number of people and the creation of “bicycle superhighway” treatments to prioritize and speed-up micromobility trips in comparison to other modes.  

 The following specific elements were included as part of this analysis:  

1. Two factors were considered to determine COVID-19 travel preferences: 

• Transit capacity reduction factor (range 50% - 100%) - Train and bus capacity recommended by operators to maintain social distancing 

• Transit desire factor (50% - 80%) - Portion of commuters who feel comfortable taking transit considering perceived virus risk 

2. Travel time for commute trips within 1-mile radius of the proposed resilient street corridor was used as a proxy for trip distance. Trip distance was used to guide mode choice. 

3. Displaced transit commuter volumes were re-assigned to bicycle, e-bike, and pedestrian trips based on trip distance, sister-city mode splits, and proposed resilient streets facilities. Commute trips not accounted for in the sustainable modes listed above were considered to work from home, commute off-peak, or switch to auto trips. 

4. Peak hour volumes were adjusted using local commute trends to represent daily volumes.  

Primary Results 

No Action Scenario 

An estimated 9,000 morning commuters in Ward 8 will be looking for another option as Washington, D.C. reopens.  If no action is taken and streets remain as they are today, only 15% of displaced transit riders (1,200) would walk or bike.  As a result, thousands of single occupancy vehicle (SOV) trips would be added to Washington, D.C. streets. 

Resilient Streets Scenario: 

Before and After: M St. SE. Developed by Street Plans. Note: this image is a proposed rendering and not a final design. It is merely illustrative and is not intended to replace the full community engagement process.

An estimated 9,000 morning commuters in Ward 8 will be looking for another option as Washington, D.C. reopens.  Building a Resilient Streets Corridor connecting Ward 8 to the Navy Yard would:   

• Accommodate over 18,000 sustainable trips daily, including: 

• 5,000 bike trips daily 

• 7,000 E-bike trips daily 

• 5,000 walk trips daily 

• Save 54,000 VMT daily 

• Remove 6,000 metric tons of C02e annually 

People and Community Impacts 

Using available demographic and commute data for the areas surrounding the corridor, we conducted an equity analysis to estimate the project’s benefits by income, race, and job classification including consideration of the additional benefit that such socially-distanced transportation may provide to those who cannot work remotely and must report to work in person.  The end-result of our analysis provided the specific concepts and backup calculations to quantify the impacts and distribution of the improvements.    

The figure below shows the breakdown of household incomes below the national poverty line that would benefit from Resilient Streets.  

Washington, D.C.’s oldest community, Ward 8 is known for its historic neighborhoods Anacostia and Congress Heights and vibrant Black community. The area relies on access to sustainable transportation modes with 52% taking transit, walking, or biking on their commute. Building Resilient Streets in this region has the potential to benefit many, especially those who are most vulnerable: within 1 mile of the proposed Resilient Street, over 17,000 households do not have access to a car and 26% of the population is in poverty.  

Finally, 26,000 people work in essential industries such as education, healthcare, warehousing, transportation, and utilities, which represents 55% of total workers in the study area.  

Conclusion 

There are dozens of examples of cities across the world who are adjusting their streets to better suit their citizens needs amid this global pandemic. With the COVID-19 virus disrupting traditional travel patterns and commuting peaks, Resilient Streets can be the answer to diversifying and maintaining travel while reducing dependence on low capacity and emissions-heavy autos.  

Stay in touch with our blog posts and Lyft’s project page to learn more about the project and future case studies. 

Our project team included Bree Mobley, Henry Hammel, Joe Iacobucci, Kate Sargent, Michael Groh, Mike Flynn, Po Sun, with advisory from Richard Retting and Stacey Meekins. 

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