Each year, over 3,000 pedestrians and 850 bicyclists are hit by vehicles here in North Carolina, making our state one of the least safe states for walking and biking[i]. Last month, the UNC Department of City & Regional Planning and Collaborative Sciences Center for Road Safety were joined by Tom Flood of Rovélo Creative and Arleigh Greenwald aka Bike Shop Girl for a free, two-day workshop on addressing this crisis.
A “ghost bike” sits at Franklin and Graham in Chapel Hill, in honor of cyclist Nick Walton who passed away earlier this year (Source: author)
The April 22-23 Flipping the Script on Traffic Violence event featured a guided bike ride and walk, a facilitated discussion about marketing/storytelling, and a workshop to develop marketing content. Students, academics, professionals, and elected officials gathered together to learn how to better communicate the critical issue of traffic violence towards our most vulnerable road users.
Flipping the Script kicked off at 1 PM Friday with a casual bicycle ride through the streets of Carrboro, Chapel Hill, and the UNC campus. Participants covered ~4.5 miles and stopped to photograph and discuss traffic safety concerns along the way. This was followed by a one-mile walking tour of downtown Chapel Hill, for another opportunity to identify safety challenges for pedestrians and bicyclists in the area. The day concluded with a facilitated debrief of both tours and discussion of opportunities to advocate for and improve local road safety.
The bike route, starting at Wilson Park in Carrboro and ending at New East on UNC’s Chapel Hill campus (Source: author)
Walking tour participants critique a Chapel Hill pedestrian crossing (Source: Tom Flood)
Day 2 of Flipping the Script consisted of an afternoon hands-on workshop, where participants practiced crafting effective media messages about road safety challenges. The group developed messaging around the safety concerns facing pedestrians and cyclists to share with the public and local elected leaders in the hopes of making our streets safer for all.
Tom Flood shows participants the language used by the media to describe crashes resulting in injury or death (Source: Collaborative Sciences Center for Road Safety)
Thank you to Tab Combs, Seth LaJeunesse, Tom Flood, Arleigh Greenwald, and everyone else in putting on this fantastic event!
Featured image: Bicyclists participate in the 2022 Durham Ride of Silence to honor cyclists who have been killed or injured while cycling on public roadways, courtesy of author
This week Chapel Hill Transit celebrated Valentine’s Day by restoring several bus trips that had been removed at the beginning of the year.[i] Following an erratic Fall semester, the provider officially reduced its service in response to staff shortages. Beginning in January 2022, the A, CL, CM, CW, D, J, and N routes all had leaner schedules with the goal of “minimizing missed trips throughout the system.”[ii] Anecdotally, reliability did indeed improve; however, despite adjustments as “the number of callouts [started to] decrease,” conversations among frustrated UNC students on being late for class were replaced by those on having no choice but to be half-an-hour early instead.[iii] Even as route schedules continue to return to normal, expectations for service quality remain low.
The bus driver shortage is far from a unique problem for the Town of Chapel Hill. In October 2021, public transit employment was at 84 percent of pre-pandemic levels.[iv] Arguably the most heavily hit by the trend are schoolchildren: over 80 percent of school districts have altered their service since the outbreak of COVID-19, further complicating the learning of student cohorts already balancing blended instructional delivery modes.[v] More broadly, public transit disruptions have racial equity implications, as 60 percent of riders nationwide are people of color.[vi]
Other than food and agriculture workers, transportation operators face the highest risk of COVID-19 death of all employment sectors, so an individual’s cost-benefit analysis that produces a verdict that $16.50/hour is not worth jeopardizing her health or that of her loved ones is, perhaps, understandable.[vii],[viii] With that in mind, below I evaluate potential policy measures that Chapel Hill Transit and other public transit systems can consider to remedy the impact of bus driver shortages.
Partner with Rideshare Companies
At the beginning of the 2021-22 school year, Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago proposed rideshare companies as a potential stop-gap for bus driver shortages caused by mass resignation over Chicago Public School’s vaccine mandate.[ix] The idea would be to strike an agreement with Uber, Lyft, or a similar company to fulfill the transit needs of the city’s school children. Although no deal was made, the suggestion no doubt tickled the fancies of transportation engineers. Can mass transit need be fulfilled by a fleet of personal automobiles operated by gig workers?
Uber certainly seems to think it has a role to play; the company is positioning itself as a new public transit option, suggesting that replacing 1 to 6 percent of bus trips with their ridesharing services could result in a 15 to 30 percent cost reduction per trip for transportation agencies.[x] Putting aside that Uber almost exclusively cited data from “Uber analysis” in its report, the conclusion is not illogical: ridesharing’s variable cost structure is inherently more responsive to demand than is the fixed cost structure typical of public transportation agencies. In Uber’s vision, if it were to integrate into a public transportation system, tax-payer money would go directly to its corporate headquarters instead of toward financing bus routes; so, if ridership decreases, cost would too. The simple beauty of this measure is that the more thoroughly a local government commits to it, the less consequential the shortages become. Running out of bus operators? Cut some lines, throw subsidies at Uber, and save some money.
Potential Impact of Policy on Chapel Hill Transit
+ Point-to-point service would improve first- and last-mile connectivity; blind allegiance to the Invisible Hand would restore patriotism to Orange County.
– The rush of developers hoping to revitalize defunct bus stops could cause speculation.
Uber’s intricately detailed explanation of economics to local government. Source: Uber
Induce Demand for Operators
Historically, transportation planners have either misunderstood or chosen to ignore “induced demand.” This economic principle states that if a good that people value is provided at no cost then demand will meet the supply.[xi] The frequently referenced (and even more frequently witnessed) scenario is that of highway expansion; local governments try to alleviate traffic by building new lanes, thereby attracting more car drivers to the road and instead increasing congestion.
Cries for officials to recognize this trend are only growing louder, and opportunity awaits those that do. Not only can planners reverse their auto-centric policies and reduce congestion and emissions, they can mitigate bus driver shortages as well. Following the above logic, if public transit providers construct buses and allow people to drive buses free of charge, the demand of people willing to drive buses will meet the supply of buses. In theory, this policy could maximize the potential of induced demand in transportation, as bus operators are paid – imagine how many cars would be on the road if drivers earned money to be there? It remains a personal curiosity and frustration of mine that so few planners have a working understanding of induced demand.
Potential Impact of Policy on Chapel Hill Transit
+ Surplus bus drivers can be retrained as bus conductors, adding new jobs to the economy and reinstating a sorely missed pillar of 1970s European society.
– Building more buses may contribute to sound pollution by also inducing demand for young mothers singing “The Wheels on the Bus.”
Highway expansion is often used as an example of how planners have traditionally ignored induced demand theories. Source: Steve Davis
Force Passengers to Say Thank You
Doug Conant, former CEO of Campbell’s Soup, wrote 30,000 notes to his employees between 2001 and 2009, each one thanking an individual for a specific contribution; in that time, the company transformed from one with falling stock to one outperforming both the S&P Food Group and the S&P 500.[xii] Many understand the power of the words “thank you” on an intuitive level, but thinking about the phrase as having economic value is not so widespread.
As mentioned above, many former or potential bus operators do not see the pay as worth the risk of transmitting COVID-19, but the increase in gratitude that a thank-you-mandate would provoke would effectively add an additional wage, thereby encouraging more drivers to work for public transit providers.
Potential Impact of Policy on Chapel Hill Transit
+ Bus operators will feel so valued that Chapel Hill will never have to worry about collective bargaining.
– If saying thank you is forced, there is an outside chance it will come across as disingenuous thereby having the opposite effect.
Campbell’s Soup was the inspiration for one of Andy Warhol’s most famous pieces – could Chapel Hill benefit similarly? Source: The Museum of Modern Art
Wait for the “Thin Air Phenomenon”
Perhaps by virtue of its Big Bang ancestry, the world has a habit of conjuring something where nothing came before it. From monoliths to Beanie Babies, Jesus to Eminem, unexplained phenomena can be found throughout human history. American democracy has often relied heavily on the “Thin Air Phenomenon” to drive much of its national agenda. Trickle-down economics, good-guy-with-gun theory, and clean coal initiatives have all successfully informed government officials that doing nothing is often the best way to achieve desired results. Waiting might be transportation providers’ best option.
Potential Impact of Policy on Chapel Hill Transit
+ Easy, no cost to tax payer
– Can the Town be trusted not to abuse handouts?
Immaculate conception has a strong political tradition in American democracy. Source: Garrett Parker
Pay Bus Drivers More
The least likely measure that I shall not waste time articulating.
[vi] National Campaign for Transit Justice Alliance for a Justice Society Labor Network for Sustainability TransitCenter, Invest in Transit Equity, Invest in Transit Workers.
James Hamilton is a first-year Master’s student with the Department of City and Regional Planning whose interests center on urban design in relation to community marginalization, environmental justice, societal cohesion, and suburban retrofit. He studied public policy and economics at Duke University and has since worked in New Orleans and New York before circling back to the triangle. Never happier than when he is hiking up a mountain or traveling on a train, James fails to commit enough time to his average writing collections, ambitious reading list, and lifelong rugby enthusiasm.
Edited by Amy Patronella
Featured image: A Chapel Hill bus advertises for new operators. Courtesy of the Town of Chapel Hill.
With the introduction of new technologies and the pandemic forcing many people to work from home, the media has increasingly used the term “smart cities.” There will be more smart cities worldwide in the coming years, from Toyota’s Woven City to Copenhagen Connecting. However, some have also been scrapped, like Google’s Sidewalk Toronto project, due to the economic uncertainty caused by COVID-19.[i] So what are smart cities? The term is a buzzword, but most people are not sure what it means. Does it simply mean that smart cities are more intelligent than previous cities? What does it mean to be smart? Is Chapel Hill a smart city?
Smart City Example: Toyota’s Woven City
Many institutions have come up with different definitions. Urban planning news site Planetizen states, “A smart city uses information and communications technology (ICT) to enhance its livability, workability, and sustainability.”[ii]Moreover, smart cities bring technology, economy, mobility, environment, people, and government together.[iii] This technology includes apps for real time data, such as leaf collection or free public Wi-Fi. The concept of smart cities encompasses the use of technologies in cities to increase connectivity in various sectors.
Cities have been eager to implement new technologies due to the benefits of efficiently connecting different city sectors,[iv] reducing environmental footprints,[v] improving public transportation,[vi] and increasing economic development,[vii] digital equity,[viii] and more. However, there are also concerns related to smart cities. Some significant issues are surveillance,[ix] security,[x] data bias,[xi] and the digital divide impacting smart city residents.[xii] Cities also have difficulty creating and connecting infrastructures, consistently updating new technologies, and collaborating with the private sector.[xiii], [xiv]
The Town of Chapel Hill is also envisioning itself as a smart town, and has embedded parts of the smart cities initiatives into projects such as the technology solution business plan and the West Rosemary Street Development.[xv] The Town has also participated in AT&T’s Spotlight City project to develop a smart cities framework, and encouraged North Carolina Science Festival participants to use the iNaturalist app to identify plants and animals in Pritchard Park and share knowledge on insects in Chapel Hill. Additionally, Chapel Hill uses sensors to offer real-time, mobile-friendly data on adverse weather activity, leaf collection, and street maintenance. The Town continues to further smart city initiatives by providing internet access for residents and businesses, adding electric vehicle charging stations, implementing parking deck sensors, increasing cyber asset security, and more.
Chapel Hill’s Mobile-Friendly Street Maintenance
As cities and towns become “smart,” resident participation is vital in order for any plans to incorporate their concerns and ensure an equitable approach. Several cities are committed to developing smart city plans with equity goals, such as Portland’s Smart City PDX.[xvi] As the future of Chapel Hill moves towards a smart city model, it will be necessary to start talking about digital equity in order for Chapel Hill to become the next smart equitable town.
If you would like to know more about smart cities and Chapel Hill’s smart cities initiatives, or want to offer input, please visit Smart Town.
[ix] Zoonen, Liesbet van. 2016. “Privacy Concerns in Smart Cities.” Government Information Quarterly, Open and Smart Governments: Strategies, Tools, and Experiences, 33 (3): 472–80.
Jo (Joungwon) Kwon is a Ph.D. student in the Department of City and Regional Planning. She hopes to interweave various data sets and narratives of housing and communities together with new digital technologies. With a background in Statistics and English Literature, she received her M.A. in Computational Media at Duke University. In her free time, she enjoys watching indie movies, going to live performances, and drinking good coffee.
As a design and development practice, New Urbanism (NU) emerged in response to widespread suburban sprawl across the United States. The movement seeks to create vibrant, healthy, and sustainable communities through human-scale urban design. NU’s fundamental tenants include walkability, connectivity, mixed uses, architectural diversity, green infrastructure, and increased density. But it’s rise in popularity since the 1980’s has not been without controversy. Critics of NU have argued that the approach does little to alleviate our pervasive reliance on cars, and that the faux architectural diversity feels contrived, even creepy.
Land Use map of Southern Village, a New Urban neighborhood in Chapel Hill, NC. Credit: Chapel Hill Planning, 2005.
I spend a good deal of time debating the merits of NU, but have never really considered it as an option for myself. I don’t own a car, and despite their best efforts, New Urbanists have yet to convince me that these developments are sufficiently walkable, bikeable, and accessible via transit. But life is strange, and two months ago I found myself moving into a New Urbanist apartment, on a New Urbanist street, in a New Urbanist neighborhood. Because I am a plannerd, I decided to use this as a research opportunity. I have spent the last couple of months conducting a series of (qualitative) (spontaneous) tests in order to evaluate my assumptions about NU, and to get a feel for the lived experience of the thing.
Test # 1: Get Milk (Amenities)
Weaver Street Co-Op Market located at the village center. Photo Credit: Mia Candy.
My litmus test for the convenience of a place is how easily I can purchase milk at moment’s notice. A local grocery or convenience store is an indicator more generally of the level of commercial activity in a neighborhood. NU communities are designed with mixed use as a core principal, and my neighborhood boasts a grocery store that sells milk until 10pm every day. The grocery store is an expensive, organic co-op. It is walkable from my apartment complex, but not for the larger houses on the periphery of the neighborhood. Overall, the retail and restaurants in this development are not particularly affordable or accessible by foot. I give it a milk score of 3 out of 5.
Test # 2: Get Around (Transit and Access)
Driveway. Photo Credit: Mia Candy.
I don’t own a car. I am reliant on public transit, my semi-trustworthy 1970’s Panasonic road bike, and really generous friends/chauffeurs. I was curious to establish whether owning a car is a prerequisite for living in this particular NU community. The short answer is, unfortunately, yes. There are two regular and reliable (free!) bus lines that access downtown, and for the serious enthusiast, it is possible to commute by bike. Within the neighborhood, connectivity is generally good, with minimal suburban dead-ends, and a network of lovely bike/ped trails. But the bicycle, pedestrian and transit networks ultimately fall short. Buses don’t run on evenings and weekends. Bike lanes traverse large highways and gnarly intersections, and end abruptly. There are no sidewalks outside my apartment, just an expanse of parking lot. I give this NU development a getting around score of 2 out of 5.
Test # 3: Get Lost (Connectivity and Orientation)
Walking trail. Photo Create: Mia Candy.
A key signifier of a good place is that it allows you to get lost, without ever truly being lost. Wandering aimlessly through a neighborhood is one of the small pleasures in life, and a great way to get to know a new environment. But to wander aimlessly requires streets, sidewalks, and trails that are interconnected. The endless cul de sacs1 that characterize traditional suburban subdivisions do not make for pleasant wandering. It is well known that good urban form, whether planned or organic, requires a system of paths, districts, edges, nodes, and landmarks. Or, in non-planner jargon, things in the physical environment that help us navigate the world and develop a strong memory of a place in our minds. It is these mental mapping tools that allow us to wander, and orient ourselves, in equal measure.
So I set out to get lost in my new neighborhood. I found myself able to wander for an hour through the streets, discovering convenient shortcuts and trails, all the while, aware of my general position in relation to the town square. The chapel at the center of the development serves as a convenient landmark–situated on a hill, its spire is always peeking through the trees. Despite one or two frustrating dead ends, I was pleasantly surprised by the level of connectivity. Until I emerged onto a highway and had to turn back. I give this development a wanderers score of 3 out of 5.
Test # 4: Get Locked Out (Community)
This is not a test I recommend trying on purpose. But when I accidentally locked myself out of my apartment, it turned out be a useful exercise on the importance of community. Standing on a balcony, barefoot, and in my pajamas at 7:00am on a Wednesday morning, it occurred to me that I needed to be rescued. Luckily, my balcony faces the bike/ped trail that is densely populated by runners, dog walkers, and parents with strollers, pretty much throughout the day. What I needed in that moment was not only someone I could call out to for help, but a group of strangers willing to arrange a ladder, lend me their cell phones, and offer me something to drink while I waited for a locksmith. I needed community, and New Urbanism provided. I give this neighborhood a helpful neighbor score of 5 out of 5.
Final Thoughts
What has surprised me most while living here is the level of diversity I have found in streets, and parks, and houses. I am certain that when the community was built 20 years ago, the faux architecture appeared creepy and contrived. But two decades of real, lived experience in the place has given it an almost natural feel. I discovered homes, weathered over time, paint chipping, and gardens overgrown with wildflowers. It felt – and I have no doubt that the homeowners associated would disagree with me on this – real, and lived in, and only a little bit like pleasantville.
Mailbox outside one of the homes in Southern Village. Photo Credit: Mia Candy.
Footnotes
1The actual plural for ‘cul de sac’ is ‘culs de sac.’
Featured Image: Row houses in Southern Village. Photo Credit: Mia Candy.
About the Author: Mia Candy is a recent graduate of UNC’s planning program, and an editor emeritus here at Angles. She grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, where she first developed an interest in urbanism and the complexities of urban development in emerging cities. Mia is a placemaking consultant, and a planner at Renaissance Planning Group. Her lifelong dream is to write a children’s book.
How should we use public space in downtown cores? What is the social role of parks? What form can community action take?
Angles sat down with environmental studies and city planning student Caroline Lindquist, a senior undergraduate at UNC-Chapel Hill, to find out. We discuss the parklet she and her friends designed, built, and enjoyed on September 16th, known fondly by guerrilla urbanists throughout as “PARK(ing) Day”.
Angles: What is PARK(ing) Day?
Caroline Lindquist: PARK(ing) Day is an “annual open-source global event” where citizens transform parking spaces into temporary public spaces or parklets for the day. The event began in 2005 in San Francisco with a design studio called Rebar, that created its own parklet for a day. The mission of PARK(ing) Day is “to call attention to the need for more urban open space, to generate critical debate around how public space is created and allocated.”
A: How did you set up the park? Did you need permission to use the space?
CL: To build the Chapel Hill parklet, we gathered our group of friends who studied sustainable community design through the Burch Study Abroad Seminar in Spain and Germany in 2015. We all brought different items from our houses such as carpets, plants, chairs, sofas, tables, anything that we thought could help make a fun public space. We then bought two big rolls of astroturf and rolled them out to lay the groundwork for the parklet (because what’s a park without some green?) After arranging basic seating, we drew a checkerboard on the pavement with chalk and added a little putt-putt green to encourage activity in the space.
The parklet on Franklin Street in downtown Chapel Hill, NC. The park included household furniture, a putt-putt green, and potted plants. Photo: Caroline Lindquist
Did we need permission? Technically no. The original creators of Parking Day, looked at the zoning code in San Francisco and other cities and saw that as long as you pay the parking meter, you can use the space however you want. The Director of the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership, Meg McGurk, was extremely supportive and encouraging of PARK(ing) Day. Meg went out of her way to reserve parking spots for us, pay the meter, and even provide Starbucks gift cards for anyone who visited the park to use.
A: Who were some of the people who visited the park?
CL: The type of people who used the park varied throughout the day. In the morning, the parklet was mainly occupied by our set-up crew, some folks experiencing homelessness who helped us set up the parklet the year before, moms with young kids, and coffee shop patrons.
In the afternoon, our friends stopped by, along with other UNC students, and those who heard about the event through social media or word of mouth.
By the evening, the sidewalks were heavily populated, since there was a home football game the next day. That was when more families and adults visited the parklet.
Early in the day, the parklet was hosted a variety of activities. People conversed, played music, and read. Photo: Caroline Lindquist
A: How was the space used throughout the day? What was the space like at 9am compared to 5 in the afternoon?
CL: Throughout the day, the space changed based on the sun orientation and the people who used the parklet. At 9am, the space was very basic with a few spots for seating, a picnic table, some couches, a bench. At mid-morning, we added balloons on the ‘No Parking’ cones to make the space more celebratory and inviting. We also added sidewalk chalk, which attracted some of the younger children walking by. In the afternoon, a friend brought by a foosball table and a soccer ball. We turned the astroturf section of the parklet into a mini soccer field using the ‘No Parking’ cones for goals.
A: What do you hope creating the parklet accomplished?
CL: I think this parklet showed people how much public space is devoted to the automobile (the sheer size of a parking spot is statement enough). Many people could not believe that all the parklet space was just two parking spots.
The parklet was a testament how public spaces strengthen community by encouraging interaction between different members of society (students, children, professionals, homeless, elderly) that may otherwise never meet.
The park also encouraged people to take more ownership of their city by transforming spaces to better reflect community values.
By the evening, the parklet truly evolved into a social space. Photo: Brian Vaughn
Ghigo DiTomasso, a professor of mine at Berkeley is another major source of inspiration. He works for Gehl Studios, a world-renowned urban design firm, on activating public spaces and using tactical urbanism.
Lastly, Thomas Woltz, a landscape architect has inspired me with is urban design projects (such as the Hudson Yards project in New York City) because of the way he focuses on revealing the intersection between landscape ecology and cultural history with his work.
A: What projects are you working on right now?
CL: Right now, I am doing an independent study on the psychology of biophilic urban design. My work is focused on understanding the mental health benefits of integrating nature into cities as well as the psychology behind designing successful public spaces. I am using Dix Park in Raleigh as my case study, which was a mental health hospital before the land was bought by the City in 2015. I am also serving on the Dix Park Master Plan Advisory Committee, where I have the opportunity to help with the planning process and design of the new park.
Dix Park in Raleigh. Credit: City of Raleigh Parks & Recreation
About the Author
Caroline Lindquist is a senior at UNC majoring in Environmental Studies and minoring in City and Regional Planning. Her primary interests are biophilic design, tactical urbanism, and landscape architecture. She has spent the past two summers studying renewable energy in Spain and Germany and studying Urban Design at UC Berkeley. Caroline currently serves on the Dix Park Master Plan Advisory Committee for the City of Raleigh.
