Every time I see an adult on a bicycle I no longer despair for the future of the human race' H'G' We

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• Every time I see an adult on a bicycle I no
  longer despair for the future of the human
  race.-H.G. Wells

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Completing the Streets in South CarolinaApril
29, 2005Natalie Cappuccio-Brittexec_dir_at_pccsc.ne
t
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Mission

• To make South Carolina bicycle friendly for
  everyone!
• Promoting access for bicyclists on South
  Carolina's roads and trails.
• Improving safety for all South Carolina
  bicyclists.
• Educating all South Carolinians on the value
  and importance of bicycling for healthy
  lifestyles and communities.

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• We see the bicycle as a viable source of
  recreation, transportation, tourism and economic
  development in South Carolina.

Bike Racks added to Charleston area transit
busses.
The majority of CSC participants are tourists
from other states visiting SC.
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History

• The Palmetto Cycling Coalition was founded in
  1993 as a state-wide affiliation of cyclists
  interested in promoting bicycle advocacy and
  citizen involvement in bicycle-related issues.
• The coalition was incorporated as a 501(c)3
  non-profit organization in 1998.
• Today the coalition represents over 500 cyclists
  statewide.

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• In pursuing its mission of the Coalition has
  formed partnerships with
• Bicycle clubs
• Other Non-profit organizations
• The business community
• Local, state and federal agencies
• And it has utilized the National Strategies for
  Advancing Bicycle Safety as a guide in developing
  its programs and activities to make South
  Carolina bicycle friendly for everyone!

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Complete Streets?

• COMPLETE STREETS are designed and operated to
  enable safe access for all users. Pedestrians,
  bicyclists, motorists and bus riders of all ages
  and abilities are able to safely move along and
  across a complete street.

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Why Complete Streets?

• Complete streets improve safety. They reduce
  crashes through safety improvements. One study
  found that designing for pedestrian travel by
  installing raised medians and redesigning
  intersections and sidewalks reduced pedestrian
  risk by 28. Complete streets also improve safety
  indirectly, by increasing the number of people
  bicycling and walking. A recently published
  international study found that as the number and
  portion of people bicycling and walking
  increases, deaths and injuries decline.

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Complete streets encourage more walking and
bicycling.

• Public health experts are encouraging walking and
  bicycling as a response to the obesity epidemic,
  and complete streets can help. One study found
  that 43 percent of people with safe places to
  walk within 10 minutes of home met recommended
  activity levels, while just 27 of those without
  safe places to walk were active enough. Residents
  are 65 more likely to walk in a neighborhood
  with sidewalks. A study in Toronto documented a
  23 increase in bicycle traffic after the
  installation of a bicycle lane

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South Carolinas Challenge
Challenge South Carolina ranks high in Cycling
Deaths per Capita
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South Carolinas Challenge

• SCDOT is responsible for 41,500 miles of
  highways, enough to circle the globe nearly twice
• South Carolina has the 4th largest state
  maintained highway system in the nation
• This does not mean that there are more roads in
  our state-it means that state revenues rather
  than local revenues are used to take care of most
  of our roads.

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South Carolinas Challenge

• The state is responsible for 65 of our roads
  while local government is only responsible for 35
  
• Nationally the average state responsibility is
  20, with the other 80 left to the care of the
  local government

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Complete Streets in SCHistory

• Early in 2002, Executive Director Elizabeth
  Mabry launched a new initiative to establish
  partnerships to provide more facilities for
  bicycling and walking in South Carolina. A
  Bicycle and Pedestrian Infrastructure Advisory
  Committee was formed in June 2002, composed of
  representatives of the private sector, the
  General Assembly, other state agencies, and
  walking and cycling advocacy groups.

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Complete Streets in SCHistory

• In December 2002, SCDOT conducted a first-ever
  Bicycle and Pedestrian Accommodations Conference
  in North Charleston to bring together the
  partners and agency personnel who will work
  together towards improving the quality and number
  of statewide facilities.
• There has been a conference in 2003, 2004, and
  planning is taking place for the 2005 conference.

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Complete Streets in SCHistory

• In February 2003, the South Carolina Department
  of Transportation Commission approved a
  resolution affirming that bicycling and walking
  accommodations should be a routine part of the
  Departments planning, design, construction and
  operating activities, and will be included in the
  everyday operations of its transportation system.
• During the October 2003 Commission meeting, it
  was announced that 2.5Million from the states
  Transportation Enhancement fund would be
  dedicated to providing paved shoulders on
  sections of the South Carolina Bicycle Tour
  Route.

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Complete StreetsThe Grant

• In July, 2004 the Bikes Belong Coalition and the
  League of American Bicyclists announce that South
  Carolina will be the first recipient of a 50,000
  grant to help implement the states complete
  streets policies.

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Complete Streets in SCThe Grant

• The goal of the grant is to assist in the
  effective translation of the complete streets
  policy language into actual changes in the way
  highway projects are planned, designed, built,
  maintained and operated, so that they improve
  conditions for bicycling.
• While Florida and Oregon have had similar
  policies in place for a number of years and have
  gradually institutionalized the knowledge and
  expertise necessary to implement complete
  streets, they are in a minority.

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Complete Streets in SCThe Grant

• This grant will help set the stage for South
  Carolina to become a bicycle-friendly model for
  the rest of the US to follow, Andy Clarke,
  League Executive Director.

• I thought of that while riding my bike.-Albert
  Einstein, on the theory of relativity

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Complete Streets in SCThe Grant

• The level of awareness for improving bicycle and
  pedestrian facilities in South Carolina has
  increased significantly in recent years as
  witnessed by Governor Mark Sanfords three-day,
  cross-state bicycle ride promoting health and
  fitness this spring and the recent establishment
  of a Bicycle Caucus in the state legislature,
  Paul LeFrancois, President of the Palmetto
  Cycling Coalition.

• Governor Mark Sanford greeting cyclists on his
  ride across SC!

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Three Stages of Complete Streets

• Fact finding to determine current awareness,
  commitment and needs within the state for smooth
  implementation
• Training and education programs for those
  responsible for working on complete streets
  including traffic engineers, planners, community
  leaders and groups, business groups, health
  professionals, and elected officials and
• Evaluation to determine the impact of the
  training and education programs on awareness,
  knowledge and comfort levels of agency personnel
  with the complete streets policy

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Stage OneFact Finding

• In stage one, the goal is to determine current
  awareness and commitment within the State DOT and
  related agencies to the complete streets policy
  
• Are agency heads, department heads and other
  senior staff aware of the policy, supportive of
  the policy, and actively implementing the
  policy?
• What barriers to implementation are
  perceived/identified?
• Who needs to be involved in making the policy
  work?

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Stage TwoTraining and Education

• Based on the results of Stage One, a series of
  training courses and educational meetings will be
  presented to key target audiences who are
  responsible for implementing complete streets
  policies. These include, but should not be
  limited to
• Traffic engineers (state and local agencies)
• Planners (state, regional and local agencies)
• Consultants (engineers, planners, landscape
  architects)
• Community leaders and groups
• Business groups (Chamber, Tourism agency)
• Elected officials (state legislature,
  transportation commission, city, county, MPO)
• Media
• Health professionals (state and local agencies)
• Bicycle advocates and dealers (state and local)
• Military base managers

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Stage ThreeEvaluation

• Through a series of follow-up interviews and
  surveys, the project team will determine the
  impact of the training and education programs on
  awareness, knowledge and comfort levels of agency
  personnel with the complete streets policy.
• Additionally, the team will report on the number
  of people trained, coverage of the issues in the
  media, specific changes to ongoing transportation
  projects and programs, commitments to update and
  change manuals and other documents that guide the
  development of transportation projects, and other
  demonstrable change brought about by the project.
  
• Final presentations will be made to the State DOT
  and/or Transportation Commission, and to Bikes
  Belong.

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Final Thought

• Helen Hayes, the much beloved "First Lady of
  American theater" who died at the age of 92 was
  asked in an interview if she regretted anything.
  She said she had only one regret. "I never rode a
  bicycle. I wish I had. That's all."