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Americorps Program A Success With TPO

This is the first year the TPO had an Americorps member and it was a great success!

Jon Sharp came to Knoxville after working for the City of Pittsburgh Department of Planning and teaching English in Madrid, Spain. His background in planning and passion for active transportation made him a perfect fit as the Community Outreach Assistant for the Knoxville Regional Bicycle Program.

During the past year, Jon managed the Bicycling Ambassadors programs, served as Volunteer Coordinator for two Open Streets Knoxville events, conducted and reported on bicycle and pedestrian counts, and participated in outreach events for Mobility 2040. During his year at the TPO, Jon:

  • Presented to 240 drivers education students at local high schools about how to share the road with bicyclists and pedestrians,
  • Collected more than 150 safe biking pledges,
  • Created and handed out flyers in Spanish to the Latino Task Force and local Hispanic grocery stores,
  • Created a survey that helped determine changes needed for the Knoxville bicycling map,
  • Helped create Walking and Bicycling Safety Curriculum to be taught in local schools from K-8, and
  • Helped write a grant application to teach kid from the Boys and Girls Club how to bike safely. 

In addition to these projects, he logged 116 hours of bicycle and pedestrian counts. During the counts he collected data on the number of bicyclists who wore helmets, the number of those who used the streets versus sidewalks, and gender. He found that UT’s campus had the lowest helmet usage and the most instances of bicyclists riding on sidewalks. He also found that on average, 80% of people bicycling in the Knoxville area are men and 20% are women, though women represent 30% of weekend bicyclists.

He was instrumental in coordinating multiple events throughout the year. He acted as the volunteer coordinator for Open Streets in the fall of 2016 and spring of 2017, recruiting 100 volunteers, assisting with marketing and social media, and all day-of activities. In December, he collected donations and prizes for the 10th annual Tour de Lights, which brought out more than 1,000 participants for the third straight year. He also organized discounts and donations for Bike Month in May 2017.

Americorps members are known for their work ethic, and Jon proved that to be true. We’re so appreciative of all his hard work and contributions during his time here!

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Draft FY 2018-2019 Transportation Planning Work Program

TPO staff have developed the Draft FY 2018-2019 Transportation Planning Work Program, a two-year program which outlines the proposed activities to be undertaken by the TPO. 

The Work Program is developed in conjunction with our local partners, the Tennessee Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration. Staff will be taking the Draft Work Program before the Technical Committee for their consideration and then to the Executive Board for approval of a Resolution to formally adopt it. 

Get the skinny on the Work Program

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Smart Trips Wins 2017 Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Award

Smart Trips was recently awarded one of eleven 2017 Governor's Environmental Stewardship Awards after a panel of 22 professionals representing conservation fields and academia judged more than 89 nominations.

The awards are presented annually to recognize outstanding achievements for successful environmental projects and conservation measures. They recognize voluntary actions that improve or protect Tennessee's environment and natural resources with projects or initiatives and are the most prestigious conservation awards in the state.

More about this awesome award

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Try Transit Week 2017

June 19-25 is Knoxville Area Transit’s Try Transit Week.

With free Wi-Fi now on all Knoxville Area Transit (KAT) buses, a brand new website, and a new text messaging feature for passenger information, there’s never been a better time to use transit in Knoxville. Try Transit Week provides a great opportunity to do just that by providing opportunities to learn about it, try it with friends and neighbors, and ride for free. Participate in any or all of these events and learn about the benefits of riding transit!

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TPO Releases Reports Analyzing Pedestrian And Bicycle Crash Data

TPO staff has compiled data on crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists throughout the region. Below is a link to a map of the crashes, followed by reports including a regional summary of crashes, as well as reports for multiple jurisdictions analyzing patterns in crash locations and circumstances. The reports are followed by infographics with some select data in a more digestible format. View the Map See More Crash Facts
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The City of Alcoa Plans for Revitalization from a New Downtown

The City of Alcoa broke ground on a new downtown in April, marking the start of a project expected to have an impact not just on the City of Alcoa, but the entire Knoxville region.

Nearly twenty years of planning have gone into this project, including a 2015 workshop that was made possible through a Smart Growth America technical assistance grant. That workshop gave residents and planners tools and techniques to implement new development standards to create more compact, walkable places to boost the local economy and reduce public spending on infrastructure.

As the project continues to unfold, the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization is working with Alcoa City Planner Jeremy Pearson to develop a master plan. The goal is to create a place that helps increase the value, identity, health, and happiness of the entire city. It will also respect the new downtown’s relationship with the high school, neighborhoods, airport, and the proposed new street.

For this to be achieved, the guiding principles for the plan include:

  • Creating a strong identity;
  • Attracting people and investment;
  • Connecting the site with its surroundings;
  • Providing attractive locations for socializing; and
  • Encouraging economic growth.

The site will consist of 350 acres at Alcoa Highway and Hall Road. The proposal includes commercial, retail, office, and residential uses where an aluminum fabrication mill once stood. Work has already begun on the property with road construction, utility infrastructure installation, and site grading. Construction of a boulevard to connect the Hunt Road interchange with Hall Road and Associates Boulevard and grading of nearly 100 acres are expected next. Once the road construction is well underway, property will be available for development.

More information on this project can be found in this Daily Times article.  

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Roadway Repurposing Workshop Brings Attendees to Knoxville from Across the State

The TPO was selected by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to host a training on how to use the new workbook, Incorporating On-Road Bicycle Networks into Resurfacing Projects.

This is part of an effort to integrate more bikeways through regular pavement preservation projects. Forty-five engineers, designers, and planners from across the state attended this training on April 18, 2017. FHWA sent two instructors, Thomas Huber and Eric Mongelli PE from Toole Design Group, to lead the workshop.

The course covered the use of different approaches to repurposing roadway space and addressing internal processes that can be incorporated into the decision-making process. Presenters used case studies from their work around the country along with local examples. They then led participants through a guided exercise to help them develop their own step-by-step processes for incorporating bicycle facilities into resurfacing projects. There was also a discussion about existing barriers that prevent these safety improvements from being included in resurfacing projects. In post-evaluations, attendees cited this discussion as the most beneficial part of the workshop.

Participants walked to two nearby roads, Middlebrook Pike and Liberty Street, and then worked in small groups to propose ways to re-design the roadway, incorporating what they had learned from the workshop. All four small groups came up with either lane or road diets that made it possible to add bike lanes to the roadways.

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Transit Funding in Our Region

Our recent online survey had more than 350 responses. Of those responses, there was an overwhelming desire for more transit in our region:

  • More than 42 percent want to be able to take transit around the region.
  • Lack of public transit was ranked second among respondents for the greatest transportation challenge our region is facing.
  • 44 percent selected expansion of transit to more areas to receive the most funding.

It’s clear why those in our region want more transit options. Benefits are wide-ranging and many are economic:

  • Every $1 invested in public transportation generates approximately $4 in economic returns.
  • Every $1 billion invested in public transportation supports and creates more than 50,000 jobs.
  • Every $10 million in capital investment in public transportation yields $30 million in increased business sales.
  • Home values performed 42 percent better on average if they were located near public transportation with high-frequency service.

More information can be found at www.apta.com.

However, one major obstacle to providing more transit is that most of the funding managed by the TPO cannot be used to expand transit service. Public transit costs are separated into two categories: capital and operating. Capital costs include long-term costs such as vehicles and facilities. Operating funding pays employee salaries and benefits (“the driver in the seat” – as much as 75% of the total budget), fuel, insurance, maintenance and utilities.

Transit funding comes from a variety of sources, including passenger fares, local tax revenue, as well as state and federal grants. Most state and federal grants (such as those managed by the TPO) require local entities to provide matching funds and are restricted to capital expenditures – which means they can’t be used to increase or expand transit service. In order to expand existing transit service or start new transit service, a significant amount of funding would need to come from the city or county that wants the service.

To give you an idea of where transit funding comes from, here are the 2016 sources for KAT’s funding.

 

 

%of total revenue

City of Knoxville

$8,647,720

46.3%

State of Tennessee

$3,113,900

16.7%

FTA

$4,687,836

25.1%

Fares

$2,222,643

11.9%

Other funding

$0

 

Total Revenue

$18,672,099

 

Operating Expenses*

$17,804,053

 

*under budget due to low fuel prices