trans_austin

Dec 31, 2008
Dec 14, 2017

BUILDING LIVABLE COMMUNITIES THROUGH TRANSPORTATION C L E V E L A N D

W O R K S H O P    S E S S I O N

CASE STUDY #2: A CITIZEN'S GUIDE TO TRANSPORTATION ADVOCACY IN AUSTIN, TEXAS

Karen Akens the Executive Director of Trans Texas Alliance in Austin, Texas talked about creating alliances to transform transportation as a tool for community building.

Not long ago in Austin, we were faced with the following situation:

  • City engineers whose only objective was to move more cars faster.
  • Ugly urban streets, hostile to pedestrians and retail activity.
  • Elected officials under pressure to provide better commuter access to downtown through existing central city neighborhoods.

Then, in 1998, Austin began embarking upon a major street redesign effort geared towards encouraging pedestrian and retail activity. City engineers are busy managing neighborhood traffic and building sidewalks. Elected officials openly support alternative forms of transportation, including rail transit.

What happened?

Well, very simply, a major grassroots movement of neighborhood activists was put together to educate citizens, engineers, and policymakers about building more livable communities through transportation. Beginning with a one-day conference in October 1996, co-sponsored by Project for Public Spaces and the US Department of Transportation, a group of community leaders planted the seeds of change that are starting to make a difference two years later. This effort was part of a national program where similar workshops were conducted in six regions.

The secret of their success?

  1. Transportation was raised to the level of "high politics."

Individual transportation projects and the needs of the bicycle community became major campaign issues at the local level. New officials were elected who had a long-term vision of and commitment to improving the region's transportation system.

  1. New methods of community involvement were used to engage citizens in transportation.

Citizen based transportation planning exercises, or charrettes, were used to get citizen input on how two major roadway projects could be redesigned.

  1. Central city neighborhoods worked with the private sector to encourage pedestrian-oriented development along commercial corridors.

Issues, such as building orientation to the sidewalk and pedestrian amenities, were negotiated in order to gain neighborhood approval of new site plans.

  1. Neighborhood leaders from around the city, who shared an interest in transportation, banded together to create a united front on transportation issues.

They began supporting each other's requests for funding, rather than competing with each other for limited funds.

  1. Interested citizens educated themselves on the basics of traffic engineering, newly available funding sources, and best practices from other communities.

Then, they began effectively advocating for their own interests.

  1. Outside professionals who were sympathetic to the concerns of citizens were brought in for special projects.

These professionals demonstrated that there are indeed alternative viewpoints that represent current mainstream thinking among transportation professionals.

While much progress has been made at the local level, it is now understood that the major challenges that lie ahead involve changes at the state level. In 1997, a broad based coalition of individuals and groups throughout Texas came together to create a new statewide non-profit Organization – the Trans Texas Alliance -- that would work at the state level. The group consists of historic preservationists, trails advocates, bicycle activists, transportation planners, urban designers, landscape designers, community transportation advocates, transit advocates, environmental justice groups, neighborhood associations, and traffic safety groups. Together, this powerful coalition focuses and acts upon the important issues of funding equity, creating a more balanced transportation system statewide, and improvement of the public involvement process for transportation projects.

Simply having a support group to link up resources and people throughout the state is already having a powerful effect. Individuals and communities who have been struggling with an issue or project are now finding that there are others with their own stories and expertise to share. The creation of a network of individuals and organizations who can work together to create more livable communities by focusing on the important role of transportation is modeled on the organizational efforts of the Surface Transportation Policy Project in Washington, who provides national leadership on these issues.

It is important to remember that none of these groups were in existence 10 years ago, and that now we are at the leading edge of change. As we all carefully go forward and pursue our multiple causes, there is one piece of advice we'd like to share with you -- you should spend at least as much time educating others around you as you spend talking to traffic engineers or your elected officials. They will not change their longstanding way of doing things until we reach a critical mass. Educate your neighbors …and be sure to train new leaders who can step in and add new energy to the cause.

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