Street Connectivity: Implications for Small Town Transportation Performance Jen Duthie Considering connectivity can be even more important in small towns since there are fewer streets to work with. Designing great streets, ones that are good for all modes, is only going to be useful if the streets connect with others – people need to get to and from the streets.

A Look at San Marcos

Easy Intermediate Difficult Future Trail Shared Use Path Potential connectivity problems: San Marcos River, IH-35, the university, street patterns Ref: San Marcos Bike Map, 2012 Easy Intermediate Difficult Future Trail Shared Use Path

Why Connectivity Matters

Ref: McNeil, N. (2010) Bikeability and the Twenty-Minute Neighborhood, Portland State University Master’s Thesis.

Quality of routes to/from Ferry building (SF) Differences due to hills Quality of routes to/from Ferry building (SF) Ref: Zorn et al. “Completing the Cycle: Incorporating CycleTracks into SF-CHAMP,” presented at ITM 2012

Change in route quality to Ferry Building due to infrastructure improvement Ref: Zorn et al. “Completing the Cycle: Incorporating CycleTracks into SF-CHAMP,” to be presented at ITM 2012

A constructed path may not be the desired path.

Measuring Connectivity

Average block length: 347 feet 176 intersections per square mile Craddock Ave RM 12 9% street density Average block length: 347 feet 176 intersections per square mile 100 four-way intersections per square mile Connected node ratio: 0.97

Average block length: 487 feet 92 intersections per square mile Sessom Dr. Aquarena Springs Dr. 5% street density Average block length: 487 feet 92 intersections per square mile 8 four-way intersections per square mile Connected node ratio: 0.56

Incorporating Roadway and Intersection Characteristics

Low-stress routes with intersection effects Low-stress routes without intersection effects Low-stress routes with intersection effects Lowest Stress Importance of intersections Most Stress Ref: Mekuria et al. (2012) Low-Stress Bicycling and Network Connectivity, Mineta Transportation Institute

Jen Duthie jduthie@mail.utexas.edu (512) 232-3088 Comments? Questions? Jen Duthie jduthie@mail.utexas.edu (512) 232-3088