SCORING STREETS
As part of the rating app streets were considered as public spaces that citizens can rate based on walkability, safety, sustainable mode of transport and comfort of the users. A simple questionnaire helps generate detail data on continuity of footpaths and accessibility whereby scoring the streets.
A checklist was also developed that a city official or experts and volunteers on ground can use to score a street or project to benchmark the street and perform improvements leading to a quality, safe and comfortable street. It helps the city to compare and score streets to accepted quality factors and parameters such as walkability, safety and cycle-friendly design.
To make streets pedestrian friendly what becomes key is the design and the process undertaken by the city with various departments and stakeholders during implementation. Many streets projects undertaken in the smart cities mission have transformed notable streets in cities like Chennai and Pune where many aspects have been implemented successfully.
The different elements that ensure quality streets have been con-sized from different guidelines in the form of a checklist. This helps to score different streets based on various parameters. This can be further digitized to enable equitable development of all streets in a city and also help create a discourse on financing those areas that are least scored.
This will help enable better street design throughout the city and not restricted to only certain streets.
We are in process of further development of this feature and enable simplified user friendly interface and data collection through pictures.
Street designed and implemented in Pune
Sample format of components from the street scoring methdology
Simple interface that can be useful to crowdsource data from citizens
Cities in India have started looking at efficient use of road space and using urban design guidelines at city level. However, a key to making workable interventions would be assertion on long term vision plans with temporary trials. The need is also to rethink budgets and incentives to cycling and such modes over cars. Some of the key features and guidelines to undertake these temporary or permanent tracks could be taken from the complete street design guidelines. We formulated elements that can help a city admins to score and undertake necessary changes to build cycle tracks how they can be safer, comfortable and accessible.
Street designed with cycle track
Elements for cycle friendly streets
Safety Design: Roads and vehicles must be adapted to the human capabilities and the human has to be educated enough to be able to operate a vehicle on a road in a safe manner. Sustainable Safety is about a lot more than just infrastructure and is based on five principles:
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Functionality (of roads)
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Homogeneity (of mass, speed and direction of road users)
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Predictability (of road course and road user behavior by a recognizable road design)
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Forgivingness (of both the road/street environment and the road users)
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State awareness (by the road user) (Source: BicycleDutch)