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Lake Avenue Bus Rapid Transit: A Catalyst for Safety and Transit-Oriented Development

In June 2024, Rochester Mayor Malik Evans announced the ROC Vision Zero Initiative to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries on the city’s streets. Among the 10 priority actions announced was an effort to tackle Lake Avenue, one of Rochester’s most dangerous streets. The plan calls for making Lake Avenue a multimodal safety corridor equipped with a “Bus Rapid Transit” line or BRT for short. What is a BRT and why would a fast-moving bus lane make Lake Avenue a street safer? 🤔

BRT is a high-quality-bus-based transit system that delivers fast, efficient and frequent service along a corridor by implementing dedicated bus-only lanes, signal priority, bus stations with off board fare collection and elevated platforms. The City’s proposal is in early days, so we don’t have anything specific to react to, but we do hope they’ll go for the BRT Gold Standard. Gold standard BRT also includes designing for universal access for people of all abilities and pedestrian access and safety on the street. We should strive for the best and avoid what advocates have termed “BRT Creep”, when elements of good BRT are removed to save on costs and the line becomes unrecognizable from a standard frequent service line. This will take a healthy mix of up-front capital investments (to build out the infrastructure) matched with operational dollars that keep the service running frequently (for more on operating funds, see our February letter to Governor Hochul).

Only a few systems across the US have achieved bronze or better including Albuquerque’s ABQ RIDE (Gold), Clevland’s Healthline (Silver), and Pittsburgh’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway (Bronze). More locally, Albany’s Capital District Transportation Association has upped their BRT game with 3 BRT lines connecting Albany, Schenectady and Troy. Our friend the Urban Phoenix had a lot of good things to say about his experience using the system. Recently, a big step forward for Buffalo’s east side is the proposed Bailey Avenue BRT treatment, a 7.5 mile corridor connecting the City’s south side to north side destinations and the metro rail. 

We could see our BRT line going from the Transit Center all the way to Lake Ontario, about 8 miles. Rochester’s initiative on Lake Avenue wouldn’t just add a BRT line to the existing street. It would redesign the street to enhance and advance multi-modal safety. BRT would be a component in a design that would enhance pedestrian and bicycle facilities while improving access to the transit system. While we don’t have formal designs yet, the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) thinks it could look something like this:

Courtesy of NACTO https://nacto.org/publication/urban-street-design-guide/street-design-elements/transit-streets/dedicated-median-bus-lanes/ 

Planners often frame BRT as a potential catalyst transit project and on this one, we agree. BRT can offer Rochester a unique opportunity to connect Edgerton, Maplewood and Downtown with faster and more efficient bus service, and provide opportunities to invest in more transit-oriented development along the corridor. Basically, that means dense, walkable, mixed-use development near the bus stops that adds amenities closer to where people live and use the bus. 

Currently, the City of Rochester is building a transit-oriented development in the Bull’s Head area where West Main St. meets Genesee St., Brown St. and Chili Ave. Local credit union ESL committed to being the first tenant in the redevelopment, bringing back banking services to the 19th Ward for the first time in a decade.

The City of Rochester identified Lake Avenue as a top transit-oriented development (TOD) corridor opportunity in the 2018 Transit Supportive Corridors Study. While improving transportation is a core goal, BRT on Lake Avenue goes beyond simply moving people. It’s a strategic investment with a ripple effect of positive outcomes:

  • Economic Development & Housing: BRT is a proven catalyst for transit-oriented development (TOD). By providing faster, more reliable service, it attracts businesses, housing, and services to the corridor. This is especially promising near underutilized parking areas around Kodak/Eastman Business Park, where BRT could spur valuable development and create a mixed-use hub.
  • Activating a Key Corridor: BRT will amplify Lake Ave’s potential, transforming the corridor into a thriving destination with increased foot traffic and economic activity.
  • Addressing Safety Concerns: The current state of Lake Avenue presents a barrier and many safety risks for residents accessing the Genesee River and other destinations. BRT will prioritize safety improvements for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers, making the corridor safer and more inviting for everyone.
  • A Stepping Stone to the Future: BRT is not an endpoint but a stepping stone. The infrastructure built for BRT can serve as the foundation for future transit options like streetcars or light rail. This approach allows Rochester to incrementally build towards a more robust and interconnected transit network.

Safety, better transit options, economic stimulus. What’s not to like about BRT? Detractors in some places have promulgated fears that adding dedicated bus lines would create car congestion. As with most multimodal improvements, the opposite is shown to happen: Studies have consistently shown that BRT does not worsen traffic; in fact, it often improves traffic flow by prioritizing efficient transit and encouraging more people to leave their cars at home. The current levels of congestion on Lake Avenue is primarily limited to peak commute hours, and BRT will help alleviate this by providing a reliable alternative for commuters.

What’s it going to take to launch the BRT planning process? Well, RTS has gotten things off to a good start by announcing last September that the 22 Lake Ave line is getting restored to 15 minute service as was envisioned in Reimagine RTS. The next step is to get a study underway to scope the project. Lake Avenue BRT represents a transformative opportunity for Rochester. It’s a chance to create a more connected, equitable, and sustainable city – one where everyone has access to opportunity and a vibrant public realm.

At Reconnect, we’re always working to improve mobility access in our community. Sign up for Mobility Action Alerts for tangible advocacy and volunteer opportunities involving transportation, safe streets, and bike infrastructure. 

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Fighting for Safer Streets on the Federal Level

March 11-13 2025 was the National Bike Summit put on by the League of American Bicyclists. We explored DC’s impressive Capitol Hill bicycle network, heard from Killed By A Traffic Engineer Author Wes Marshall & NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy, and engaged directly with policymakers.

The protected bike lanes surrounding DC’s iconic landmarks highlight the importance of multimodal infrastructure for attracting residents and enhancing livability. Between the three bike share programs, metro trains, and a bus system, DC provides a multitude of options for those looking to get around without a personal vehicle. Pedestrian islands provide refuge for those crossing the street on foot while also providing space for turning bikers. Bus stop islands and shared bus stops allow riders to step out of the flow of traffic while maintaining awareness of cyclists.

We were struck by the decisive action of DDOT and their leadership prioritizing proven safety measures over means-testing and hesitation. Washington DC’s mayor has pushed to add 20 miles of protected bike lanes over three years to meet the demand for bicycle infrastructure for all ages and abilities without worrying about miniscule delays for drivers. Rochester could take inspiration from this approach by installing infrastructure such as two-way protected bike lanes. While this would require coordination with the county and some new traffic signal configurations, the benefits far outweigh the challenges.

We also had the chance to see DC’s Curb Extension Murals (the inspiration for Downtown SmART Streets) up close. As we prepare to break ground on this new program and review artist submissions (due March 22nd) we were eager to take notes on what has worked (and what hasn’t) for these traffic calming elements.

The Asks

The most critical part of the summit was taking our advocacy to Capitol Hill. Thank you to the League of American Bicyclists for the herculean task of organizing these meetings on a national scale. Our first ask? Fighting for Safe Streets for All grant funding—money that has already been approved by Congress but is now threatened in an unprecedented move from the Executive Branch. 

The local projects funded by this grant are designed to meet the needs of each community, understanding that local governments know their streets best. In our meetings with Congressional Representative Joe Morelle, staff from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s legislative aide, we pressed them to recognize the importance of projects such as completing Rochester’s Bike Spine Network or expanding our Downtown SmART Streets program. These projects will make the streets safer for everyone—cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers alike. Canceling their funding will also harm our communities through the loss of local construction jobs from the projects and the long-term economic benefits these amenities bring.

As traffic dangers increase for everyone on our roads, improving safety isn’t a political issue; it’s a necessity.

Our next ask to the US House of Representatives was to support HR 1668, The Sarah Debbink Langenkamp Active Transportation Safety Act. In 2022, Sarah Lagenkamp was killed while riding her bike after dropping off her son at daycare. Her husband Daniel made it his mission to make our streets safer. 

As the League of American Bicyclists say, this bill highlights the need to fill gaps in biking and walking networks and makes it easier for states and local governments to use Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) dollars as a “local match” to build safe bicycling and pedestrian infrastructure. 

We were proud to have a strong Rochester contingent to mingle with our fellow advocates across the country. If you want to get more involved in our incredible local bicycle community here at home, please make sure you are signed up for our Mobility Action Alerts for weekly emails with local advocacy opportunities for safer, multimodal streets. 

Two immediate actions you can take to support our cause:

  1. Contact your federal representative and senators to make sure they know about the importance of our asks listed above. 
  2. With federal funding for bike lanes and many important transportation projects in danger of being cut off by USDOT we urgently need your support to show the importance of these projects for the entire community. The League of American Bicyclists have put together a petition to show how many people oppose cutting this funding. Please take a moment to sign and send it to 5 of your friends Getting as many signatures as possible is critical to the success of our upcoming projects.
Sign the petition
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High Falls Greenway: A creative concept for the Inner Loop North project area

Filling in the northern section of Rochester’s Inner Loop presents a rare opportunity to re-knit the fabric of a neighborhood that was unjustly damaged by the era of highway construction. And if we do it right, a newly designed landscape will bring new economic opportunity, better connectivity and accessibility, and improved quality of life for the people who live there.

As the planning process for Inner Loop North heats up, now is the time for all of us to be most active, engaged and vocal about what we want to see. We encourage you to attend one of the public meetings coming up on Dec 2, 6 & 7 (details here) to ask questions and give input on the latest designs.

For our part, Reconnect Rochester has been serving on the project Community Advisory Council for several years, weighing in at every opportunity to urge planners to create a connected community with streets and spaces designed for people (not just cars). A few months ago, we submitted written input to City officials and the project design team outlining our thoughts.

One thing we encouraged was for the City of Rochester to be open to creative ideas that come from the community. One big idea that’s been put forth is the High Falls Greenway, a concept developed by Jon Schull and Ben Rubin that has been endorsed by Greentopia, Hinge Neighbors & R Community Bikes. Their concept contains some stellar thinking and seriously creative ideas.

Here are Jon and Ben to tell you all about it…

  • Jon Schull
  • Ben Rubin

We need green, direct, car-free connections east-west across the river and north-south across the Inner Loop North. These connections can intersect and converge in a Greenway that overlooks the falls and provides functional and recreational active transport corridors that connect the downtown Riverway with High Falls, Frontier Field, and the Louise Slaughter Amtrak Station.

The Crossroads

Rochester faces a once-in-a-generation opportunity to redefine our city. Two massive urban development initiatives are underway; the ROC the Riverway projects traveling from south to north, and the east-west Inner Loop North project. Both converge at High Falls, where today an “overbuilt and underused” highway forms a pedestrian impasse obscuring one of the nation’s greatest urban waterfalls. As city planners and architects work to weave the Genesee Riverfront into “a direct trail connection to High Falls along the river,” we propose a greenway that would repurpose several lanes of the Inner Loop to fulfill the city’s aspirations.  The High Falls Greenway could be the heart of an active transportation and recreational network spanning the state, advancing social equity, economic opportunities, and ecological wellness for generations. 

“The successful transformation of the Inner Loop North will create new active and passive green spaces that promote multi-modal connectivity and accessibility, while also fostering opportunities for economic and community development.” – Inner Loop North Transformation Study, 2020

The city officials leading these efforts are forward-thinking advocates of active transportation, sympathetic to the principle that there should be car-free north-south and east-west corridors for pedestrians, bicyclists, tourists, wheelchairs users, and others who depend upon accessibility. A new administration, armed with funding and an ambitious 500 page Comprehensive Plan that maps Rochester’s aspirations for the next 15 years, can now turn big ideas into realities. But this can only happen with support from an informed and engaged public (that’s you!).

Rochester Raceway: A Retrospective

The City of Rochester, founded between a series of Seneca villages, began with a short canal called Brown’s Race. Built in 1815, the “raceway” channeled the Genesee to power flour mills at High Falls and became the epicenter of “America’s first Boom town.” Rochester’s population grew exponentially for a century, turning historical Haudenosaunee trails into roads for pedestrians and carriages, and adapted in the 1880s for bicycles. By 1900, Monroe County boasted the most extensive network of bicycle “sidepaths” anywhere in the nation with the same population it has today. Industrial giants, innovators and social activists like George Eastman, Glen Curtiss, and Susan B. Anthony all used these paths for their daily commute, along with 40,000 others.

But with the explosive adoption of automobiles, a new kind of race began, with roads prioritized for cars. Pedestrians were derided as “jaywalkers,” and bicycling (still the most energy-efficient form of locomotion in the known universe) became a second class form of transportation. 

In the 1950s construction began on the Inner Loop, designed to facilitate high speed automobile and truck traffic at the expense of other forms of transportation. For a decade entire districts were progressively leveled to the detriment of newly-settled black families during the final years of the “Great Migration“. Rochester’s new automotive “moat” was largely impassable for pedestrians. Residences and walk-in businesses just yards beyond the Inner Loop margins were suddenly walled off from their neighbors. Intentionally or not, city neighborhoods were divided into two separate and unequal districts. As illustrated by the map below, the Inner Loop continues to segregate the city’s least-valued and most-valued real estate. 

By the time the Inner Loop was completed, Rochester was a national model for shopping malls and suburban picture-perfect Americana while at the center of race riots in one of the country’s greatest concentrations of poverty. At the height of the nostalgic Instamatic years, our industry was paving over contaminated brownfields and our politics were downplaying racial discrimination.

Nevertheless, through social, economic, and environmental challenges, Rochester became home to adaptive and resistant communities: activists and immigrants, schools and hospitals, world-renowned musicians and deaf culture. Today, Rochester is defined by the storms it has weathered and by the diversity that has gathered along the riverbanks. Our long-constricted downtown is reintegrating into the larger Genesee River Valley, returning to the natural forces that powered the city growth.

High Falls Greenway

ROC the Riverway includes more than a dozen ongoing projects to improve access to the downtown riverway above and below High Falls. Inner Loop North, the next phase in our downtown highway remediation project, intersects the riverway and aims to restore the original street grid. Together, the projects are budgeted for ¾ of a billion dollars. They are interconnected and integral to the reintegration of Rochester; a critical junction in a critical moment.

The city’s engineers have been examining Brown’s race as a potential portal to High Falls. They assured us that some kind of pedestrian through-path could be possible with the planned changes to bridge elevation. Also possible is a dedicated car-free greenway, which clearly aligns with the mission of the city. Our initial presentation offered active transportation considerations compatible with all of the city’s published plans. We are not architects or engineers, but as engaged citizens we did consider 490 connections, scenic overlooks, street integration, and a variety of extensions between West Main and East Main. Urban greenways have benefits beyond providing an alternative to automotive traffic – they can be socially transformative.

Establishing a fluid intersection between the river and the road would build community. Historically disconnected neighborhoods along the river would have front row seats to what would be our greatest tourist attraction, a revived High Falls district. Families from out of town could take the train to our new station and rent bikes to catch a game at Frontier Field, a contest at ROC City Skatepark, or a graduation at U of R or RIT. Residents could ride the greenway for regular commutes to school, jobs across town, or for shopping at the public market. Convention Center visitors, Constellation employees, and local students could stroll up the center of the city, sampling sights, sounds and fresh air from the falls. And for neighborhoods like the Hinge district, open access to equitable resources like bike and scooter stations would go a long way to reintegrating our city and engaging marginalized youth.

An integrated Riverway and Greenway converging at High Falls would provide spectacular returns on investment. During our meetings with city advocates, we learned that sections of the newly reclaimed Inner Loop territory are currently earmarked for high density, high value housing. But that is not the only way to increase value. New York City’s investment in the High Line, which turned the stagnant meatpacking and Chelsea districts into attractive residential, business, and entertainment zones, has recouped 900% in tax revenues alone while maintaining dedicated greenspace for active transit. From Chicago to Atlanta, it is widely documented that greenways pay.

And then there are the benefits to ecology and health. A city optimized for human powered transportation becomes cleaner, more efficient, and more livable for humans and our ecological co-inhabitants. Rochester’s river, waterfalls, gorges, and park paths blend with our existing network of tree-lined streets, bike boulevards, and statewide trails. With so many existing natural resources defining the city, we all benefit more by planning with the natural systems we rely upon.

The city is collecting feedback from residents to correct some of the past mis-steps and to create lasting opportunities and livelihoods for future generations. City Hall won’t be carrying all of the responsibility alone. Families and schools, businesses and organizations, entire neighborhoods can stand together and remain vigilant to ensure that the city’s laudable vision and well-defined aspirations are preserved.

Rochester’s past, present, and future converge at High Falls. A greenway that fully integrates the east and west sides of the river would transform the way the world sees Rochester and the way we see ourselves. 

If you support a downtown greenway, spread the word.  Get your neighborhood association to join those that have already endorsed the proposal.  Post on social media. Join our facebook group. Talk to your representatives. And stay tuned. 

View the complete High Falls Greenway Proposal

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With Our Own Eyes and Lungs: The Benefits of Reduced Motor Traffic

Guest blog by Doug Kelley, Associate Professor, University of Rochester.

In my first few long bike rides this spring, I’ve been bowled over by the beautiful views. And it’s not like I’m visiting new places. I pedaled these same routes last summer, when I first came to Copenhagen for a yearlong sabbatical and was eager to explore. But never were the vistas like this! Now, the hills and buildings of Sweden, 10 miles across the waters of Øresund, are not just blurry shapes, but clear and distinct and colorful. Now, looking southwest from the gorgeous seaside bike path in Naturpark Amager, I can see the towns of Køge and Strøby across the bay, nearly 20 miles distant and never visible before. First noticing these fantastic vistas, I gave thanks for the end of the dark and rainy Danish winter. Then I remembered that visibility was never this good last August or September. Something else must be happening. That something is probably covid-19.

The coast of Sweden, bright and clearly visible across Øresund from a marina north of Copenhagen. Clearer air, improved respiratory health, and lower carbon emissions all come when motor traffic is reduced, as the pandemic is showing us. 

The pandemic is causing profound suffering worldwide, through death and sickness, through separation and hardship. I would not wish it upon anyone. The pandemic is also giving humankind a unique opportunity to see — firsthand — what our lives look like when motor traffic is significantly reduced. Few are driving, which means less air pollution, and we can see the improvement with our own eyes. It’s visible all over, not just on my weekend bike routes but in places like London, Delhi, Wuhan, and Los Angeles. My wife tells me her lungs feel better now as she strolls along formerly-busy roads. Back home, nitrogen dioxide emissions in Rochester are down 30%. NASA data shows similar trends all over the world. Social media is awash in before-and-after photos picturing how much better our views have gotten thanks to reduced motor traffic. Mount Kenya is spectacular. 

“The pandemic is giving humankind a unique opportunity to see — firsthand — what our lives look like when motor traffic is significantly reduced.“

With those views come other important benefits. The micron-scale airborne particles that mar our vistas also wreak havoc on our health. They are the most harmful form of air pollution, penetrating deep into the lungs and blood to cause heart attacks and respiratory disease. One study found that for particles with diameters smaller than 2.5 microns, every airborne concentration decrease of 10 micrograms per cubic meter comes with a 36% decrease in lung cancer. Another study estimated that reducing particle pollution by just 1 microgram per cubic meter would prevent 34,000 premature deaths per year in the United States. So ironically, reduced motor traffic due to the pandemic may actually save as many lives as are lost to covid-19. That’s a speculation, but given what we know, entirely plausible. 

Moreover, the health benefits of reduced traffic tend to be greatest for the very people who are suffering most in the covid-19 pandemic. Air pollution links to higher covid-19 death rates and almost certainly plays a role in black Americans dying of covid-19 at higher rates than white Americans. Even aside from the virus, low-income people suffer disproportionately from respiratory diseases, including asthma. Substantially reduced particle pollution is good for everybody — and especially good for those with the most urgent health needs. 

“Substantially reduced particle pollution is good for everybody — and especially good for those with the most urgent health needs.“

Reducing motor traffic also comes with the obvious benefits of reducing carbon emissions and slowing climate change. The International Energy Agency estimates that greenhouse gas emissions will be 8% lower worldwide in 2020 than in 2019, mainly due to reduced motor traffic and airline travel. Climate change is a long-established scientific fact, and its extreme weather and eerily warm winters are now nearly as evident in firsthand experience as the vistas on my bike rides. A one-year, 8% drop isn’t enough to solve the world’s climate change problem, but it’s a step in the right direction.

“A one-year, 8% drop [in greenhouse gas emissions] isn’t enough to solve the world’s climate change problem, but it’s a step in the right direction.“

Clear views of the coast of Sweden, in the distance across Øresund, on a sunny May afternoon at the beach in Denmark. Holding onto our reduced-motor-traffic lifestyles would mean better health, lower carbon emissions, and more beautiful days like this.

Living through this historic moment, when we literally see the good of reduced motor traffic with our own eyes, I can’t help but wonder: What if we hold on to the good, and hold on tight? As social distancing eases and we venture out of our homes more often, what if we do it without so much motor traffic? What if we reboot our economy and jobs and schooling without ruining our own vistas and attacking our own lungs?

“As social distancing eases and we venture out of our homes more often, what if we do it without so much motor traffic?”

The pandemic has taught us that for many jobs and in many cases, we can work from home just fine. The pandemic has taught us that some travel is more trouble than it’s worth. What if, instead of using the pandemic as an excuse for more pollution, we enact laws and regulations that clean our air? What if we go more places by walking and biking and public transportation? What if we build on our momentum? It would mean new thinking about topics like achieving social distancing on buses and trains. It would mean living in a new way. But the lifestyle adjustments involved are far smaller and simpler than the ones we have already achieved, surviving this unprecedented pandemic together. 

We can get started right now.

Here are a few ways to build on great work already happening in our region: 

The benefits would be huge. Cleaner-feeling lungs, fewer respiratory diseases, better quality of life, reduced chance of climate change causing harder times even than the covid-19 pandemic. And big, clear, beautiful vistas. I think we can do it.

There are many more ways to take action. Leave comments below with your own suggestions.

Read more about the Kelley family’s Danish experience in an earlier blog post: Copenhagen transportation: A day in one family’s life.

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Copenhagen transportation: A day in one family’s life

Guest blog by Doug Kelley.

A family in Copenhagen–mine.

Copenhagen is famous for having the world’s best bike infrastructure and highest rates of bike transportation. (OK Amsterdam, you’re not bad, either.) Transit nerds love to extol the engineering details, celebrate the signage, and explain the traffic patterns in excruciating detail. While I admit getting excited by those nerd-outs — I’m an engineering professor and a lifelong cyclist, after all — the real point is the beautiful lifestyle enabled when communities “Copenhagenize.” So here’s a snapshot, one typical day of the lifestyle, as lived by my family and me during our sabbatical year away from Rochester.

The bike lane on busy Lyngbyvej is wide and separated from motor traffic. At rush hour, all the lanes fill, but cycling is safe and pleasant anyway.

After a Danish breakfast of pastries, yogurt, and coffee, I hop on my bike for the morning commute. Neighborhood roads bring me to Lyngbyvej (pronounced “loong boo vye”), busy at rush hour with more car traffic than almost any road in central Copenhagen. Still, it’s a pleasant place to cycle, because its wide bike lanes are separated from the cars by curbs, and because automotive traffic is held to reasonable speeds by stoplight timing and posted limits. At rush hour, Copenhagen’s roads carry more bikes than cars, so I feel like part of the crowd. Some cyclists ride slower, and some ride faster, passing on the left, often after ringing their bells to avoid surprises. (Impatient commuters sometimes ring excessively.) As I head south, motorists turning right wait at the intersection for a gap in the long line of cyclists passing in their own lane.

From experience I know that the stoplight at Tagensvej (pronounced “tah gens vye”) is slow, so seeing its pedestrian signal turn green up ahead, I pedal harder. A green bike signal comes next, then a green signal for motorists. I sail through as the bike signal turns yellow. Arriving at work in under 10 minutes after a 1.5-mile ride, I’m invigorated and just starting to warm up. Bike parking is ample, with spots in the open by the nearby entrance, covered spots further away, and beyond them, an underground bike-only parking deck for bad weather and expensive bikes. Most folks ride commuter bikes, akin to what Americans might call hybrids, neither flashy nor expensive, just practical. I pull into a covered spot.

Cyclists and pedestrians in Copenhagen can be confident that their safe routes won’t dead-end, even when construction in booming Nordhavn gets in the way.

Meanwhile my younger daughter, age 12, sets out for school, also biking. She soon turns left from Lyngbyvej, using the usual jug-handle method: ride across the intersecting street, stop until the signals change, then ride left across Lyngbyvej and on toward school. That keeps her in the bike lanes all the time, so she doesn’t have to change lanes and cut across motor traffic. Like the Danes, she gives a hand signal beforehand. A few blocks later, road signs direct her through a slight detour. Construction is blocking the usual bike lane, so the motor-vehicle lanes have been narrowed to make room for bikes and pedestrians, protected by a steel barrier. Construction is no excuse to block important bike and pedestrian thoroughfares.

Copenahgen may have the world’s highest rates of bike transportation, but it doesn’t have the world’s best weather. Today it’s drizzling, so my daughter is wearing a shell jacket, boots, and her new waterproof pants. Danes like to say there is no bad weather, only bad clothing. Sure enough, rain hardly changes the number of cyclists on the road, and today the nearby cyclists wear clothing varying from Gore-Tex to full-body ponchos to soggy blue jeans. Most of their bikes have fenders, and lights are required by law–winter nights in Denmark are long.

My daughters turn left here on their way to school. Cars, bikes, and pedestrians all have separate lanes and separate traffic signals. Cyclists can lean on the railing above the curb, and the timer (circle of white lights) tells when their signal will change. Also: Danes dress well, regardless of whether they are pedaling!

Having stuff to carry doesn’t keep people from cycling, either. I take my laptop and lunch to work in waterproof saddle bags. My daughter carries a backpack, like many of the riders around her. Nearly all their bikes have racks on the back, often bearing loads held with bungee cords. Mail, football equipment, take-out, Ikea furniture, and all manner of things get carted around on sturdy flatbed cargo bikes, sometimes with electrical assistance to make pedaling easier. Danish parents commonly carry their kids to school in cargo bikes with boxed compartments on the front. Older kids sit on tag-along bikes attached to mom’s or dad’s. Most have learned to ride solo by age 3 or 4, and are getting to school on their own bikes by age 6 or 7.

My older daughter, age 13, isn’t a morning person and leaves later, finishing her 2.2-mile commute and parking her bike just in time for class. After school, the clouds persist but the rain has quit, so she decides to bike with classmates to Stroget, one of the largest pedestrian-only market streets in Europe, to window-shop and buy some candy to share. As her dinnertime curfew approaches, she considers the headwinds and decides not to bike all the way home, instead catching the S-train, which allows bikes anytime. Metro trains also allow bikes, though not at rush hour, and only with an extra ticket. But she might be tempted to take the Metro anyway once the new Orientkaj stop opens–it’s next-door to her school.

The nearby Vibenshus Runddel metro station, which my daughters and I pass on our morning commutes.

While the rest of us are away, my wife shops for some hygge (cozy) furnishings at the neighborhood secondhand shop, then picks up groceries for dinner, including fresh-baked bread. She could bike both places, but decides to walk for exercise, and anyway the grocery store is only three blocks from our apartment. After working at home awhile, she rides the S-train to Klampenborg to jog in the woods. In summer, she might instead bike to the Nordhavn harbor for a swim, or cycle 25 miles to Helsingør, then ride the train home. Neither she nor I need to plan our day around driving our kids from place to place, since they can capably bike and navigate public transportation on their own.

Home together at the end of the day, the four of us light candles, start a fire in the wood stove, and sit down to dinner. My younger daughter is ravenous after biking home from football (pronounced “soccer”) practice. My older daughter is proud that her new fitness tracker logged 14,000 steps since the morning. We have lived another day of our full and busy lives, traveling to work and school and many other places without driving a car or wishing for one. Our daily travels have required nearly no fossil fuel and put nearly no carbon into the atmosphere. Outdoor exercise lifts our moods and keeps us fit. Alternative transportation gives the kids freedom to move about independently, making extra time for us parents. And in the summertime, when the days are long and the skies are clear, Copenhagen transportation is even more lovely.

Stroget, the pedestrian street where my older daughter goes with her friends. Cargo bikes like the one parked here can carry a couple of small kids or a lot of groceries.

Crucially, you don’t have to live in Copenhagen to enjoy this lifestyle. Ride RTS. Rent a Pace bike. Stroll to your neighborhood cafe. Bike to work and to the Public Market. Though Rochester’s bike infrastructure doesn’t match Copenhagen — nobody’s does — you can bike to many destinations without using big, ugly roads clogged with motorists. Pedal on the Canal Path, on the River Trail, on the cycle tracks along Union Street or Elmwood Avenue, on the network of Bike Boulevards, or simply on quiet streets that parallel the big thoroughfares. Teach your kids to bike, show them safe and effective routes, let them walk, and teach them to use public transportation. Tell community leaders about the importance of building alternative transportation infrastructure. And support organizations like Reconnect Rochester that are enlarging this lifestyle in Rochester. 

Winter sidewalk. Rochester NY.
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Sidewalk Snow Removal: How Are We Doing in Monroe County?

Story by: David Riley
A Rochester resident and a former journalist, David is completing a master’s degree in urban planning at the University at Buffalo…
Winter sidewalk. Rochester NY.

For tens of thousands of Monroe County residents, a sidewalk isn’t just a convenience. It’s a vital connection to the world.

Nearly 12,000 people here walk to their jobs, U.S. Census data shows. Another 13,000 walk to and from bus stops in order to take public transportation to work, including as many as 1 in 3 workers in some city neighborhoods. Many people also rely on sidewalks to get to and from school, medical appointments or grocery stores, much less to go for a jog or walk the dog.

So for many people, it isn’t simply an annoyance if part of a sidewalk turns into a snowdrift during the winter. It’s a disruption that forces people going about daily routines to wade through snow or take a dangerous chance and walk in the street. For people with disabilities, a snowy sidewalk can make a usually simple outing impossible.

Yet keeping sidewalks clear is not always a priority for municipalities in the Northeast and Midwest. The City of Rochester does more than many other Snow Belt cities. While property owners here are responsible for clearing adjacent sidewalks of snow and ice, the city also provides supplemental sidewalk plowing anytime it snows at least 4 inches. The program has drawn some interest in recent years from Buffalo and Syracuse, neither of which generally plow sidewalks beyond public buildings. A handful of local suburbs also provide some municipal sidewalk plowing, including Greece and Irondequoit. Read more

Rochester Street Films : You Can't See This in a Car
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You Can’t See This in a Car

For Rochester Street Films this year we asked local filmmakers and ordinary citizens to share their perspective on what it’s like to get around Rochester without a car. No rules; No restrictions; No filter.

Nate Butler grew up around cars. Learning to work on them with his dad as a kid, he just figured that cars were the only way to get around. Now a student at R.I.T., Nate has taken up cross-country running and he’s learning something new about his community with every step…

We’d like to ask for your help getting these films in front of as many people as we can. If you would like to host a mini screening of Rochester Street Films in your neighborhood, please contact us.

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“Gridlock” Sam Schwartz coming to Rochester, February 24

On Wednesday, February 24, Reconnect Rochester will bring transportation expert Samuel Schwartz to Rochester.
Posted by: Mike Governale, president and co-founder of Reconnect Rochester

On Wednesday, February 24, Reconnect Rochester will bring Samuel Schwartz to Rochester. Sam is the former traffic commissioner for New York City and the man who literally invented the word “Gridlock.”

Gridlock Sam is one of the leading transportation experts in the United States today. He is currently a columnist at the New York Daily News. And his firm, Sam Schwartz Engineering, has recently produced a plan external link for the redesign of East Main Street here in Rochester…

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What Could You Do With This Bus Shelter?

Rochester's cool retro-style bus shelters will be history by this time next year unless someone steps forward to claim them. [PHOTO: RocPX.com]
By this time next year, Rochester’s cool retro-style bus shelters could be history. When the RTS Transit Center opens in November, RTS buses that currently wait for passengers along Main Street will instead turn into the new facility on Mortimer Street. And after 25 years of service, six shelters from the Genesee River to Chestnut Street will be removed.

There is one thing that could save these iconic structures from the scrap yard: Your creativity.

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Creative Street Design Reunites a Village Divided

See how this bit of creative street design revitalized the village of Poynton in the U.K.
The village of Poynton external link in the U.K. was a community in decline, divided by decades of anti-social traffic engineering. Where the intersection of two busy highways once dominated the town center, a bit of creative street design has revitalized local businesses, made life a little easier for the townspeople, and pleasantly surprised motorists and skeptics as well. The concept has been dubbed “shared space” and we want to know if it could work here in Rochester, NY. Watch this video, and give us your thoughts…

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Getting It Done

On February 27, Rochester Regional Community Design Center presents William Fulton and Mark Mallory.On Monday, February 27, two mayors of two very different cities will share their experiences in leading their communities forward to meet 21st century challenges.

Rochester Regional Community Design Center presents “Getting It Done,” a presentation and discussion with William Fulton, Fmr. Mayor of Ventura CA., and Mark Mallory, Mayor of Cincinnati, OH.

Facing issues similar to Rochester including public safety, economic development, the environment, educationand youth employment in an era of reduced funding and resources, both leaders have been effective and instrumental in making positive changes and spurring collaborative efforts in their cities, succeeding in producing nationally recognized results.

William Fulton specializes in urban planning, metropolitan growth trends, economic development, TDR and policy projects with a focus on government agencies, land conservation organizations and developers as clients. He quite literally wrote the “Guide to California Planning.” external link

And just last week, Mayor Mark Mallory and city officials broke ground on Cincinnati’s new streetcar external link.

Details:
7pm, Monday, 2/27/2012, at Gleason Works external link
Buy tickets here ($10) external link

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Urban Planning and Design; Two Exciting Events

Peter J. Park, Director of Planning, Denver

On January 31, Rochester Regional Community Design Center will present 'Transformation: Don't be Afraid of It,' a talk by Peter Park, planning director for Denver.On Tuesday, January 31, the Rochester Regional Community Design Center external link will present “Transformation: Don’t be Afraid of It,” a talk by Peter Park, planning director for Denver. Peter Park will take us through a genesis of the transformative process in Milwaukee, Wisconsin during the 1990’s where he was a key player in planning and implementing the creation of the River Walk, a downtown revitalization project , for more than a decade.

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How Transit Options Make for a Cool Place to Live… Even Jersey

By now you’ve probably have heard of this thing called transit-oriented development (T.O.D.) external link. If you haven’t you might be living in a cave. Or you might live in Rochester. Sorry—cheap shot.

No worries, let’s get you up to speed with this quick video from the Streetfilms crew. It shows how investment in public transit, along with some zoning changes, has made the New Jersey Hudson River waterfront a new boomtown. The area has attracted some $5 billion in residential development since light rail came in.

According to Robert Cotter, director of city planning for Jersey City, “That’s a testament to transit-rich development… The communities that have access to fixed rail are going to be the richest in the coming century.”

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John Robert Smith in Rochester

*Cross Posted by the Moderate Urban Champion

John Robert SmithMembers of Reconnect Rochester had a unique opportunity Monday afternoon.  We were invited to sit in and participate in a roundtable discussion featuring representation of the Genesee Transportation Council, the Empire State Passengers Association, the Rochester Rail Transit Committee, and the keynote speaker of that evening’s lecture, John Robert Smith.

Not all of the biggest statements came from Smith himself, but his insight into federal agencies and funding acquisition from said agencies was very valuable to our coalition. Also heartening was the recognition by all parties of potential energy realities. This acceptance set the imperative tone regarding the necessity for improved transit in the region.

Smith’s greatest criticism, one that was repeated during the public lecture, was a lack of obvious attraction marketing, and the associated transportation options, to downtown hotel guests and travelers who arrive by train. The implication is that we aren’t successfully steering travelers with money to spend to restaurants and other cultural amenities. A set of newer signage as part of an enhanced wayfinder system was installed recently, but it is proving to be geared toward motorized tourist travel.

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Reconnecting America: What Rochester Can Learn from John Robert Smith

John Robert Smith, founder of Reconnecting America, will speak at the Memorial Art Gallery on May 10, 2010.Rochester’s dazzling urbanites, development gurus, transit afficionados, preservation honchos, political luminaries, and architectural stewards are all very pleased that the Rochester Regional Community Design Center’s final lecture of the 2009-2010 season brings John Robert Smith to the Memorial Art Gallery on May 10th at 7PM.  This enthuasism will surely spread like wildfire once the community at large understands what a tremendous impact this man has had in the realms of community revitalization and improving housing and mobility choices for citizens in communities with situations similar to Rochester.

The future of this or any community hinges on the following concepts, all of which are likely to be discussed at the speech and reception:
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