Complete Streets - What Are They? Who's Going to Use Them? How Should They Be Implemented?

Something I do in my work is to look at the concept of Complete Streets and how it might be implemented into the context of Oklahoma City. Complete Streets is the concept of making roads that are equitable for all modes of transportation; cars, bikes, pedestrians, public transit, freight, etc. In addition to this, Complete Streets strives towards appropriate place-making such that street upgrades are not a blanket solution for all areas of a city, but are tailor-made to enhance the character and usage of a place. Complete Streets policies have been authored, adopted, and implemented all around the country, and Oklahoma City is working towards this goal as well.

Philosophically, I’m a big fan of Complete Streets as a method of improving the lives of everyone in the city. However, I do worry that adding bike lanes and sidewalks (I can’t believe we have to add SIDEWALKS in so many places) will not be enough to make the investment something that impacts the majority of Oklahoma City citizens’ lives. We have to create a culture that appreciates walkability, bicycling as a means of transportation rather than solely exercise, and areas that are vibrant, small-scale places with character.

 Local planners, such as Blair Humphreys have been planning the future of one street in particular, Western Avenue. It’s no wonder that it’s a popular street for upgrading as it stretches further to the north and south of the city than nearly any other street. Western could become the non-automobile transportation spine that provides access to east-west streets throughout the city. Western changes character in many different areas, so there is no single silver bullet change that could be implemented to be effective the entire length of the road: In downtown there are four car-traffic lanes, intermittent sidewalks, no bike lanes, and spotty land use ranging from commercial to gas stations (Figures 1 & 2); around N. 45^th Street you see a totally different character, with 2 car lanes, 2 better-defined sidewalks, (still no bike lanes), and a diverse mix of retail, commercial, and residential (Figures 3 & 4); further north you enter suburbia, and Western is stripped to two lanes of car-traffic and nothing else (Figures 5&6).

Figure 1 - Downtown Section View

     

Figure 2 - Downtown Plan View

Figure 3 - Urban (non-Downtown) Section View

Figure 4 Urban (non-Downtown) Plan View

Figure 5 Sub-Urban Section View

Figure 6 Sub-Urban Plan View

I’m working on Complete Streets examples at work to improve these areas, including different scenarios based upon the amount of money that would be invested in the projects. For now, take a look at the drawings below that were created on StreetMix.net. This is the same section of Western in the Downtown area as the previous pictures, but with the spacing reorganized to provide multi-modal usage. The 4-lane street has been diminished to a 3-lane street with a center turning lane; bike lanes have been added to both sides; a sidewalk has been added to the eastern side of the street; and none of this would require tearing up pavement. The initial width of the street is maintained, but the lines on the street have been re-painted. Obviously, paint costs money, but approaching streets in this fashion could help make the implementation of Complete Streets in Oklahoma City affordable, and would be a good selling point for those worried about the cost of upgrading.

 Existing

Complete

Adding the center turn-lane would actually make traffic more efficient as no travel lanes are blocked when someone wants to turn left, and the ADT of Western does not require so many lanes, particularly in the downtown area. This design already functions in other areas of Oklahoma City, the downtown and elsewhere, and is being promoted by the Complete Streets Coalition that came to speak with City and County officials and staff last week.

Lastly, to come back to the concept of creating a culture around alternative modes of transportation, I think that it the most effective way to implement Complete Streets would be to begin in districts that already see a lot of people: your Plaza Districts, Paseo Arts District, Stockyard City, etc. In addition, upgrading the streets between these districts to make a network of Complete Streets would create a network of bike lanes and sidewalks so that people could bike to and from the different districts. From there constructing sub-networks that connect to different sites around the city would create an organic system of complete streets that becomes easier and easier to fill in.

The City has allocated a good amount of money to the initiative of improving the transportation infrastructure of the city, and it is imperative that it serve everyone: from those who are currently underserved by the system, to those who have the choice of driving – we need a total buy-in from the community to make this a successful endeavor.

The Cost of Owning a Car vs. Going Car-less

So, I want to do a little comparison of what it costs to own a vehicle versus being car-less.

The Ford F-150 is the best selling car in 2013 (and most of the last 35 years), so it will be the perfect test subject.

The average price to purchase the vehicle is right around $35,000 (Source). Let's assume that you've had another F-150 for 10 years, if you've  kept it in good condition driving an average of 15,000 miles per year, you can expect to get a trade-in value of $4,100 (Source). So that brings your price down to $30,900. Let's say you've also got good credit and are able to make a 20% down payment. So you'll put down $6,180, bringing your car debt down to $24,720. As I mentioned, you've got good credit, and you want to finance your car through your credit union for 48 months. Right now you can expect an interest rate of 3.95%  (Source). This comes out to a monthly car loan payment of $563.92. So, you've committed to paying $27,068 over the next four years to pay down the car debt. In the meantime, you've got other expenses to worry about: Taxes and fees, fuel, insurance, maintenance, and repairs (speeding and parking tickets if you can't follow the rules). Working with the 15,000 miles driven per year figure, you can expect to pay $2,151 in Taxes and fees, $29,452 in fuel costs (wow.), $20,506 in insurance costs, $8,720 in maintenance costs, and $1,774 in repairs. (Source). Now, there are 41,000,000 traffic tickets given out each year in the country, and 196,000,000 drivers, so let's say the average American will get 2 tickets over the lifespan of their car. With an average ticket cost coming to $152, you'll spend $304 on citations. (Source). If you live in a city, you'll have to pay for parking as well, but that's a little more difficult to calculate.

I think that about covers it. I'm not going to calculate depreciation, because I've factored in a trade-in.

So the initial price of the car is $35,000. What do you actually spend over the car's lifetime?

$4,100 trade-in
$6,180 down payment
$27,068 loan repayment
$2,151 in taxes and fees
$29,452 in fuel costs
$20,506 in insurance costs
$8,720 in maintenance costs
$1,774 in repairs
$304 in citation costs
-------------------------
$100,255 over 10 years.

That comes out to a cost of $10,025.50 per year.

Okay, calculating the cost of being car-less will be simpler since it doesn't have to be calculated over a specific timespan. For this we'll include walking, biking, and public transit, as these are the three major modes of alternative transportation in OKC.

It costs no money to walk. That's easy, but there are costs for taking public transit (not everywhere, but in OKC). A monthly bus pass costs $50. Which comes out to $600 per year. Purchasing a bicycle can set you back anywhere between less than $100 to several thousand dollars, but let's assume the user is a commuter and not a bicycle enthusiast. $300 will be our purchase cost, and we'll say the average user spends $80 a year on tune-ups and maintenance. (Source) I refuse to account for theft as a cost, because a car could also be stolen, and if a cyclist locks his bike up, it shouldn't be a problem. $150 for gear includes a helmet, reflective gear and a lock, and let's make that a recurring cost every five years, so $300. I don't really think winter clothing should be calculated for biking and walking because having a car doesn't preclude you from participating in a cold climate.

So for 10 years:

$6,000 in transit fare
$300 for a bike
$800 in maintenance
$300 in gear
-------------------------------
$7,400

That comes out to a cost of $740 per year.

This is 7.4% the cost of car ownership, and you have three modes of travel included compared to one. So, if you only used a bike and walking, you would spend $140 a year. If you only used transit and walking, that would be $600 a year. If you only walk, well, you spend nothing on transportation other than buying new shoes slightly more often than other people, but you'd really have to be walking a lot for it to be a big deal.

So I'll break this down for comparison by year:

Car
$10,025.50

Transit/Bike/Walk
$740

Transit/Walk
$600

Bike/Walk
$140

Walk
$0

This is why walkability is so important. You can save literally 10s of thousands of dollars by not owning a car. If extrapolate the cost of owning an F-150 over 60 years of driving, you're looking at more than $600,000 spent on transportation. I can think of a lot of things that I would like to spend that on other than a vehicle. Our cities should be designed so that people have the option not to spend this kind of money on something that they don't necessarily need.

Oh, and by the way, the average American family has 2.28 cars (Source). So the average family, driving the most common car for 60 years of driving (this obviously isn't the case for EVERYONE), will spend nearly $1,400,000 on cars. I think I'd rather have that for retirement, thank you.

edit: A friend of ours has brought to our attention that the $1.4M is under-shooting the true savings over time:

"I would add that even though the $400,000 (pre-post edit, now $600,000) over 60 years figure is significant and calls for a change in behavior, you have ignored the impact of investing these savings and the power of compounding interest. If you were to invest this roughly $7,000 per year in a low-cost, low-maintenace index fund at 6% annual interest (a fairly conservative assumption over the long run), you would have saved over $3.7 million during this 60 year period. This is savings that CANNOT be ignored."

This is valuable information (which kind of blew my mind) that shows how empowered people can be by not buying into the automobile cycle. More to come on this subject.

Upcoming Experiments: Uber and TIMECAR

The last week has been great for Carless in OKC. We've seen a steep increase in views, and have received many great comments from people in the area who are interested in the idea of being less dependent on motor vehicles. In the upcoming two week we'll be doing a couple of experiments to test out alternative methods of getting around town.

1. Uber

Uber is an application that claims to be a more affordable option than taking a taxi, and it's here in OKC! I know that many people are already using the service, and would love to hear feedback on your experiences. I've plotted a route from our home to Penn Square Mall, and Uber has quoted a fare of $12 to $13. That's a distance of 4.75 miles. The major difference I see in Uber and taxis is how the fare is calculated with taxis being based solely upon mileage and Uber being based upon time under a certain speed (11 mph) and distance above this threshold.

A taxi would charge $2.75 as a base rate, with a $1 extra rider fee, and then $0.25 for every 1/8th of a mile. So, that adds up to $13.25 before tip. I'll be interested to see what the charge for Uber ends up being since there doesn't seem to be much of a difference between the two in the math. On the Uber OKC blog there is the claim that it is 20% cheaper than a taxi.. so I guess the best way to test this will be to take one form to the mall and the other one on the way back.

We will report back with a comparison of convenience, cost, reliability, and more.

2. TIMECAR

The owner of TIMECAR in OKC has reached out to us, and we plan to try the system out soon. From their website, "TIMECAR is a membership-based car sharing service that provides 24/7 access to vehicles on an hourly and daily basis..." 

Car sharing is a great alternative to car ownership, and unlike Uber, you can actually drive the car. It does require you to have a driver's license, but all of the costs of the car are rolled into an hourly or daily rate. The main difference I see between this service and traditional car rental services is the membership aspect, which can greatly increase convenience and reduce hidden costs.


While these services are potentially very convenient and a good alternative to car ownership, I will be looking into studies to determine what the impact upon the number of cars on the road these services have. Because that is what is most important in pushing this city forward in terms of alternative transportation methods, reducing the need to use a car by creating affordable access to different modes of transportation and walkable/bikeable communities that are self-sufficient.