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Streets for Pandemic Response & Recovery Index

Streets for Pandemic Response & Recovery
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Emerging Practices, Network Strategies

Emerging Practices, Network Strategies

Coordinated planning is necessary for successful transit/bus, biking, walking, and public space networks. In some places modal plans and priorities will overlap. To ensure the appropriate space allocation, cities should first prioritize the needs of the most vulnerable segments of their population and consider the new spatial requirements caused by this coronavirus in addition to consulting pre-existing modal plans. Cities may need to reevaluate their current transit, biking, and walking networks to reflect and support new work patterns and to ensure that vulnerable and transit-dependent communities do not get stranded. In commercial districts, where demands are high across multiple modes, cities should identify opportunities to combine multiple facilities – e.g. include parklets or streateries into expanded bus boarding areas – to maximize options in the street.

Transit Priority Networks

On most major streets, transit networks should take priority. Many essential service workers are reliant on transit. They must be able to get to work reliably, safely, and efficiently. As cities begin to reopen and people return to offices and stores, prioritizing street space for buses will be essential to avoid economy-crushing gridlock that will stymie our recovery and exacerbate health externalities. Congestion will overwhelm us if cities do not take action.

The initial response to COVID-19 in many cities included reduction in transit use and service. However, our current understanding of the virus transmission and its economic impacts suggest that in order for our COVID-19 response strategies to be effective and sustainable, cities and transit agencies should expand and prioritize transit networks. To date, preliminary studies and data from Paris, Austria, Seoul, Hong Kong, and Tokyo have not shown transit to be hotspots of contagion.

In developing transit networks, cities should consult existing transit network design guidance and focus on providing service to transit-dependent neighborhoods, high volume corridors, and essential institutions, in addition to current transit plans. In many places, current transit networks focus on bringing workers to downtown cores. Revised plans should take into account the fact that many office buildings are now largely empty and may remain at reduced capacity until reliable COVID-19 treatment or a vaccine is available. Grid-based transit networks that offer reliable service between neighborhoods may be particularly valuable at this time.

Buenos Aires, Argentina
Credit: Secretary of Transportation and Public Works of Buenos Aires

Bike/Walk Networks

Many cities have noted significant increases in biking and walking in response to COVID-19. These ridership increases should be supported with the expansion of bike lane and sidewalk networks, especially in areas that serve populations with limited access to mobility options. Cities should consult existing guidance on all-ages-and-abilities bike networks, pre-COVID traffic crash data, and pre-and-current speed data in planning bike and walk networks.

Paris, France
Credit: @C_Najdovski

Slow/Play/Open Streets

The physical distancing requirements, bans on large gatherings, and growing scientific understanding that outdoor spaces typically pose fewer transmission risks than indoor ones, necessitates a significant expansion of outdoor public spaces. Public spaces should be equitably distributed in residential and mixed-use neighborhoods throughout the city. In determining where slow, play, or open streets should go, cities should prioritize communities that lack official park or recreation areas, neighborhoods with high concentrations of children or multi-family housing, and neighborhoods where residents typically lack yards or other personal outdoor space. Cities should avoid compromising transit service. In developing these spaces, cities should consult existing tactical street design guidance. In some places, slow and open streets can serve as portions of bike/walk networks.

Denver, CO, USA
Credit: City and County of Denver

References