Traffic Transport and Road Safety Associates Ltd. (TTRSA)

The Pedestrianisation Debate

To pedestrianise streets, or to remove existing pedestrianisation has been a relevant topic in Ireland for a number of years.  It may surprise some to some to hear that the debate has been alive in Europe over 80 years, but is also wider than just pedestrianisation.  Since the beginning of the debate, the overarching topics have been whether there is a need to, and if there is a need how to, segregate motor vehicles from other traffic.  Pedestrianisation is just one of the options for 'how to'.

What is Pedestrianisation?

In it's most basic form, pedestrianisation is "to restrict vehicle access to a street of area for the exclusive use of pedestrians".  This can only happen where servicing of premises, whether they are residential, shops or businesses, can be undertaken from another entrance, examples being back streets or underground facilities.

Particularly in the United Kingdom where such fully pedestrianised streets have focused on retailing, some have now been covered as part of shopping centres to compete with out of town facilities.

A more common form of pedestrianisation in Ireland is 'part-time' pedestrianisation.  This is where vehicular access is allowed at certain times. There are three common forms of this:

• firstly where the street or area is closed to all vehicles except for loading at specific times;
• secondly where a street or areas is closed to all vehicles at specific times on specific days to facilitate regular events such as markets or fayres; and,
• thirdly where a street or area is only closed for a limited period, for example between 10:00 and 16:00 so that a balance is achieved between creating a safe space for non-motorised users during the day and providing additional capacity for all road users at times of peak demand.

To bring the concept up to date: cyclists are now generally allowed into, or catered for within pedestrian areas and public transport such as town bus services are sometimes allowed through pedestrian areas.

Why Pedestrianise?

• Improving Road Safety - reducing the potential for conflict between vulnerable road users like pedestrians and cyclists and motor vehicles creates a significant reduction in the number of accidents within the pedestrianised area.  In Odda in Norway accident reductions of over 80% were reported.
• Improving Economic Vitality - most retailers, at least in town centres, appreciate that the number of people walking past their shop and not the number of people driving past their shop is key to getting people inside to spend money.  Pedestrians comparison shop, and research conducted in the United Kingdom reported increases in sales of up to 20% per year in the first few years following pedestrianisation. Research from 11 cities in Germany showed average rent increases of 50% after pedestrianisation. Chartered Surveyor Weekly reported that following the introduction of the footstreets concept in York, United Kingdom, a boom in retail sales was accompanied by rent increases of up to 400%.
• Improving Social Interaction - increasing the amount that people meet, talk and interact, has been shown to have health benefits, but also creates a sense of community and a pride in the space or place.
• Improving Health - in the same way that providing streets to drive on has been shown to increase traffic levels, providing a good walking environment has been shown to increase the number of people walking. Studies tend to show that the number of people walking within the immediate area will increase by over 50%.
• Improving the environment - It is over 30 years since the OECD studies the link between environmental improvement and the removal of traffic.  Whilst some of the note benefits such as reductions in Carbon Monoxide have now been addressed through the introduction of catalytic converters to vehicles, creating a modal shift from the car to walking reduces the level of CO2 helping the country to meet its emissions targets. Noise levels are also reduced by up to 15 decibels.

Key Requirements for Successful Pedestrianisation

• The scheme must be designed to meet the needs of, and gain the support of, all key stakeholders groups including the Local Authority, businesses and the wider population. This will mean a need for compromise, and as such, pedestrianisation is often an iterative process. It might start with removing some on-street parking spaces to increase the width of footway, and then move on to closing the street on specific days or for specific events, before closure of the street for longer periods or permanently.
• The pedestrianised area can not be developed in isolation and should at the centre of, or at least be part of, a wider accessible walking network. An isolated pedestrianised street in the centre of a town centre which is otherwise hostile to pedestrians is unlikely to be successful.
• Think about the streetscape - lighting, planting and the material pallet is important to create a positive atmosphere but the location of streetscape elements is equally important to ensure unhindered access on occasion by emergency vehicles.
• Public transport stops or interchanges should be adjacent to or within the pedestrianised area. This reduces the interaction between pedestrians and motor vehicles, creating a 'car-free' environment where people can shop and relax.
• People still need to get to the town by car. The size of the population living out of town is likely to be as great as the population living with walking or cycling distance of a town centre. Those driving should be directed with effective, and often that mean Variable Message Signing, to the nearest car park. As with public transport users, the drivers quickly become pedestrians so car parks need to be located on the edge of the pedestrianised area. A unintended consequence of pedestrianisation, particularly within town centres, is that as rental values rise, car parking charges rise, and using land within the town centre for long-term car parking becomes less viable, resulting in the development of park and ride type schemes.

Livability

Having people living and working within and adjacent to the pedestrianised area means that the space is used throughout the day.  Creating this situation can take time, and may require a review of permitted housing densities and zoning. More people within an area, generally means more sales for local businesses, and higher occupancy rates as more businesses become focused on delivering to the local population.  This in turn means that the people can obtain more of the goods that they need locally, reducing the need to travel.  For some people, being a member of a car club will become more attractive than owning a car, reducing their expenditure on travel by several thousand Euros per year, some of which will then be spent on improving the fabric of the place where they live, and some in local business.