COVID-19

MOBILITY +
PUBLIC LIFE
RESPONSE
ENGINEERING SERVICES
CITY FINANCE AND SERVICES
MAY 13, 2020
 Agenda
1. Context
2. Global Mobility COVID-19
Response + Recovery
3. Vancouver Response
Initiatives
4. Mobility Recovery
5. Public Life Recovery

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 Context

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 Response Recovery

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 Physical distancing

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 Stay Home, Stay Put
(But…)
People must still access essential services such
as grocery stores, pharmacies, and medical and
financial institutions

Essential workers need to access employment

Time outside for exercise is good for physical,

emotional and mental health

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 Restarting
(carefully)
• Services will start to be
restored under enhanced
protocols
• Physical distancing with a
phased return to work and
activity

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 40-55%

Changes to 35-50% Commuter

mobility 6-50% Recreational
patterns
Source: City of Vancouver
80%
(Late April 2020 compared to late April
2019)

48% In/Out Downtown

39% In/Out Vancouver

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 Changes to
mobility
patterns
Within Vancouver

Source: Apple Mobility

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 Opportunity to
reallocate road
space
Parking and travel lanes can be
repurposed to:
• Support physical distancing
• Improve business access
• Facilitate health and safety
of residents
• Provide space for travel and
exercise

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 Global Mobility COVID-19
Response + Recovery

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 Rapid
Response
Oakland Slow
Streets

119 km

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 Rapid
Response
Portland
Slow/Safe
Streets
160 locations

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 Rapid
Response
Toronto

50+ km

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 Transformational
Recovery
Seattle

30+ km

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 Transformational
Recovery
Strade Aperte,
Milan

35 km

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 Vancouver Response
Initiatives

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 Acute responses

Room to Queue Room to Load Room to Move

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 Room to
Queue
Before
Temporary sidewalk After
widening in front of
essential services
(Whole Foods, W 4th Ave and Vine St)

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 Room to
Queue
Before
Creates an area for
After
passing or queuing
by reallocating the
curb lane
(City Avenue Market, Commercial Drive)

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 Room to
Queue
Provide extended
zones in reallocating
areas
(Davie Street, near Independent
Grocer looking east)

(Fruiticana, Fraser Street)

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 Room to Queue
Staff reach out to businesses and
find a design that:
• Allows safe access for customers
• Provides safe passage for people
walking
• Maintains business operations

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 Room to Queue
10 installed
50+ locations on the list
Up to 30 planned
$5K per location to
install and $3-5 K/month
to maintain

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 Room to Load
• Short-term loading near businesses
with high turnover to minimize
physical contact
• 14 installed
• 2 on the way
• Implementing on a request basis
and with Room to Queue zones

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 Room to Move
Supports:
• Physical distancing while Busy streets
exercising Local streets
• Essential workers accessing
employment
• The public returning to work

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 Busy Streets
• Prioritize critical connections and crowding

• Physically separate spaces for comfort, adding

complexity to design

• Reallocate parking or travel lanes on arterial

and commercial streets

• Prefer locations where:

 Parking is already restricted (or can be)
 Arterials with more than one travel lane per
direction
 Buses can remain on route, ideally making
existing stops at the sidewalk
 Centreline or individual travel lanes can be
retained

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 Installed
Stanley Park
• Vancouver Park Board
closed Stanley Park to motor
vehicles to:
 Reduce the number of
visitors
 Enable physical
distancing
• Seawall temporarily closed
for people biking, cycling
loop on Stanley Park Drive

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 Installed
Beach Avenue
• Complement to Stanley Park
road closures and seawall
cycling restriction
• 2 km cycling path from Park
Lane to Hornby St
• Creates more space for
people walking
• $30K to install, $20K /month
to maintain

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 Initial Data
Bike Volumes
Wednesday April 15, 2020
6,000
5,400 5,400
5,200 5,100
5,000

4,000

3,000

2,000

1,000

0
Stanley Park Dr at Beach Ave at Seaside Greenway Burrard Bridge
Second Beach Aquatic Centre at Science World

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 Inform Long Term
Planning
Two Coordinated Long Term Plans
• West End Waterfront Master
Plan
• Stanley Park Comprehensive
Plan

Closures enable testing

short term actions toward
long term visions

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 Local Streets
• Simpler measures to allow walking,
running, rolling on local street
roadways
• Prioritize geographic spread and
alternative recreational opportunities
to advance equity
• Prefer local roadways with a
generous width while maintaining
resident parking

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 Installed
Kits Point

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 Room to Move
Upcoming Focus
Areas
1. Employment areas for return
to work
• Expand sidewalks in busy
areas
• Cycling connections
between employment zones

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 Room to Move
Upcoming Focus
Areas
2. Slow streets (greenways and local
streets)
• Reduce/slower traffic on busy
greenways
• Local opportunities for exercise
• Expand neighbourhood open
spaces using streets adjacent to
parks

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 Slow Streets

Stage One • Potential 50 km across the city

May - Jul • Construction-style barriers
• ‘Local Traffic Only’ signs

Stage Two • Monitor outcomes and feedback from public

Jul – Sep • Install tactical traffic calming at key locations
• Enhance connections to public life recovery
projects

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 Slow Streets
Stage Three • Gather data and feedback on how walking,
Sep - 2021 cycling and rolling has changed on these
streets
How do experiences along Slow Streets
inform Mobility Recovery Planning, Climate
Emergency Response, and Vancouver Plan?
• Review opportunities to fast-track future
greenway, public space and neighbourhood
traffic calming projects

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 Mobility Recovery

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 Integration with
Regional Partners
Supporting transit
ridership recovery
will be essential.

Source: COVID-19 Response

Planning - Public Meeting of the
Mayors’ Council (April 23, 2020),
TransLink

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 Integration with
Citywide Planning
Climate Emergency Employment Lands &
The Vancouver Plan Response Economy Review

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 The Mobility
Challenge and
Opportunity
There is risk that private vehicle use
could increase from pre-pandemic
levels.

Are there opportunities to help

pivot towards a more equitable and
sustainable transportation system?

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 Mobility Recovery Planning

Integrated with the reframing of the Climate

Emergency Response and Vancouver Plan, Mobility
Recovery Planning will recognize changed travel
patterns and community needs and look at short-
and long-term opportunities to create a more
equitable, sustainable, safe, and resilient
transportation system.

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 Public Life + Business
Recovery

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 What We’ve Heard
Accelerate public life recovery
and support local businesses
with a focus on high streets
and neighbourhood hubs

We will need more space Partners

• Business Improvement
Associations
• Adjacent businesses
• Community Organizations

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 Early Ideas • Streamlined processes and
regulatory changes

• Temporary restaurant patios

• New flexible spaces along

business frontages

• Temporary plazas on side streets

• All with safety and accessibility

as a priority

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 Streamlined
processes &
regulatory
changes

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 Ideas
• Create simplified and expedited permit
processes for temporary uses
• Standardized designs for faster review
and approval (e.g. interim patios)
• Regulatory changes to allow new interim
uses
• Streamline engagement with BIAs

Benefits
• Faster implementation
• Support and enable local businesses in
their own recovery efforts
• Extend the reach of limited City
resources

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 Temporary
patios

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 Ideas
• Reallocate space from parking
spaces, travel lanes, or widened
sidewalks

Benefits
• Spaces for traditional restaurant
and café patios
• Support for businesses and
customers while maintaining safe
distancing measures
• Reanimate and rebuild public life

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 Flexible
spaces
along
business
frontages

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 Ideas
• Use parking (partial or
block-long) to widened
sidewalks
• Adapt existing public
spaces (incl. Room-to-
Queue)

Benefits
• Additional spaces for flexible
uses: eating, queuing, sitting
and gathering
• Spaces for retail display and
vending

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  Repurpose on-street parking
to create ‘linear’ plazas
 Can be a few parking spaces
Temporary or full parking lane
plazas  Space can be used for:
on side streets – Traditional restaurant patios
– Public seating areas (ie. for
eating take-out, informal
gathering)
– Queuing
– Merchandize displays and other
flexible uses

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 Ideas
• Temporary closures of side streets to
create plazas
• Opportunities city-wide

Benefits
• Serve local community & business
needs
• Create spaces for multiple flexible
uses, such as eating, socializing,
queuing, sitting, and retail display
• Provide walking and cycling
connections to greenways and other
community amenities

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 There are many
thoughts and ideas,
and we are just
starting the
conversation.
We will be working to:
• Co-listen
• Co-learn
• Co-create

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 Public realm legacy:
Short-term actions for long-term
transformations

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 Longer term
public space
enhancements

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 Longer term
public space
enhancements

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 Today’s needs
point to the
importance of
longer range public
space planning and
policy
Places for People and
Downtown Public Realm
Strategy

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 Creating Places for People by:
Transportation and
1 2 3
Public Space For All, By The “Right” Design for
All Supply People
Interdepartmental
approach to planning and 4 5 6
implementation Day-Long,
Year-Long
Nature and
Resilience
Connecting
Places

= Response & Recovery

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 Questions?

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