Public Policy – Â鶹ĘÓƵ Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:38:36 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 /wp-content/uploads/2019/04/cropped-favicon_logo-32x32.jpg Public Policy – Â鶹ĘÓƵ 32 32 Bicycle Transportation in Medford: Connections to the Bear Creek Greenway /projects/bicycle-transportation-in-medford-connections-to-the-bear-creek-greenway-2/ /projects/bicycle-transportation-in-medford-connections-to-the-bear-creek-greenway-2/#respond Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:38:36 +0000 https://portal.epicn.org/case-stories/bicycle-transportation-in-medford-connections-to-the-bear-creek-greenway-2/ Read More... from Bicycle Transportation in Medford: Connections to the Bear Creek Greenway

]]> Under the direction of Professor Marc Schlossberg, 42 students in the University of Oregon Department of Planning, Public Policy, and Management’s Bicycle Transportation course reviewed and examined critical elements of an urban bikeway system and proposed projects that would encourage and increase bicycle ridership and safety in Medford. This course was offered to upper-level undergraduates and graduate students from a variety of academic disciplines.
Course projects were generally chosen by surveying elements of Medford’s environment including:
• Existing and proposed bike lanes
• Automobile traffic volumes on all roads
• Residential population density in Medford
• Connecting neighborhoods, schools, parks, and destinations.
One of the city’s primary goals was to think about ways to build upon and highlight the amenity of the Bear Creek Greenway. The Bear Creek Greenway provides Medford an excellent source for bicycling and walking, but routes connecting to and from the greenway into neighborhoods, business districts, or recreation areas around Medford are lacking.
Students focused on various areas surrounding the Bear Creek Greenway and researched potential recommendations for enhancing its use and connections between destinations. Projects developed for this course considered current bicycle parking capacity, average daily traffic (ADT) counts, neighborhood demographics, local economy, and nearby destinations. Students collaborated with city staff to identify locations where the Greenway intersects key Medford streets.
This report outlines ways to better utilize this asset. Some students introduce the concept of a neighborhood greenway and different strategies developed to better connect schools and neighborhoods safely. Some present a set of approaches that enable bicycle riders to share the road safely with automobile traffic. Other students focus on non-design bicycle and active transportation related projects including education campaigns, wayfinding and branding, and other forms of encouragement, or programs that can increase community
awareness and participation in cycling. Recommendations vary from easily implemented changes that complement existing infrastructure, to more challenging road redesigns and treatments. Consistent across course projects, however, was a focus on connectivity throughout Medford that can provide citizens of all ages and abilities with bicycle access to this source of untapped
potential from both arterial and neighborhood streets.

]]> This report formally documents the ideas and proposals made to the city of Tualatin by the
University of Oregon’s Sustainable Transportation class in the Planning, Public Policy, and
Management program. The class met with city officials and community members to hear
suggested improvements, performed site visits to see what could be done, and then cultivated
work in response to the goals of the city and its residents. These goals were as follows:
Increase accessibility for employers and employees; Reduce congestion felt by the entire city and its neighbors; Design (or redesign) transportation systems to accommodate an aging population and children.
The work produced by the class was broken into three themes:
Theme 1: Walking
The class proposed ways to optimize the pedestrian safety and experience. This included
proposals such as physical barriers between vehicles, redirecting traffic to avoid high-volume
pedestrian crossings, and thematic signage to aid wayfinding.
Theme 2: Biking
The class proposed ways to prioritize bicycle infrastructure and cyclist safety. This included the
implementation of a bicycle boulevard, increased visibility in high-volume automobile corridors,
and the redesign of some streets to allow for more comfortable bicycling along vehicles.
Theme 3: Transit
The class proposed ways to prioritize transit use in Tualatin and improve connections between
existing transit stations. This included a proposed bus rapid transit route, transit stops
throughout the city, and the redesign of some streets to allow for prioritized transit access.

]]> This report documents the ideas, methodologies, and proposals produced by
students of the Advanced Geographic Information Systems (GIS) class for Lane
Transit District (LTD) and the City of Springfield. Project members were given
the task of spatially displaying data and performing analyses about LTD system
ridership and routes. The scope of the project was open-ended but students
were expected to draw conclusions and make recommendations for further
research. LTD is continually making efforts to improve the efficiency of the bus
routes and the accessibility to the patrons of Lane County, Oregon.

]]> This report documents the ideas, methodologies, and proposals
produced by students of the Bicycle Transportation class for the City of
Redmond, Oregon. Project members visualized a family-friendly bicycle network
that included both connections to and from schools, as well as the redesign
of several auto-centric corridors. The scope of the projects were open-ended,
but students were expected to make recommendations that could be used in
future city transportation projects. The City of Redmond is consistently making
efforts to improve the safety of their bike network and to increase the number of
residents who bike.

]]> This report documents the ideas, methodologies, and proposals produced by students of the University of Oregon’s Bicycle Transportation class for the City of Albany, Oregon. Albany saw much of its growth during a period when the individual freedom given by automobiles was considered the main viable form of transportation, and all other forms of transportation were shifted away from mainstream society. Like other small cities, Albany developed as an auto-centric highway town. For this reason, the development of infrastructure has been based largely on the automobile as the primary mode of transportation.

]]> This paper is presented to the La Pine Senior Center and the city of La Pine by the University of Oregon’s spring 2018 Nonprofit Management Consultancy capstone course. A team of three graduate students spent a ten-week term interviewing stakeholders, researching the organization and the market, performing an analysis, and ultimately providing recommendations to increase efficiency and sustainability of the La Pine Senior Center.
The La Pine Senior Center is in a time of transition. With a new Center Director and restructuring of the Board of Directors, it has the opportunity to create a new membership structure, and consider new revenue opportunities.
This report contains an overview of the organization, the project scope, research methods, an analysis of the organization’s current position, and recommendations.
Through interviews with Senior Center and city of La Pine stakeholders, understanding the mission, purpose, and activities of the organization, and through research and analysis, the team narrowed down key areas to focus on:
• Board Governance Efficiency
• Creation of Membership and Partnership Levels
• Revenue Generation Opportunities.
This report including the supporting documents and appendices are intended as a guide for the La Pine Senior Center Board of Directors and Center Director and to benefit its members.

]]> The Redmond Area Park and Recreation District (RAPRD) is a special taxing
district, first incorporated in 1975, that supports parks and open space, an
indoor aquatic center, community centers, and programming in most Redmond
area parks. The mission of RAPRD is to “develop and enhance recreation
facilities and opportunities for the communities [they] serve” (About Us, 2012).
RAPRD serves the communities of Redmond, Terrebonne, and Tumalo

]]> The purpose of the project is to develop a statistically valid survey to build upon information gathered in the City of Tacoma Environmental Services Satisfaction Survey Report of Results from 2015. We would like additional information on topics such as: the way people, already aware of the Open Space Program, became familiar with it; the activities that are of most concern to people with regards to Open Space; the reasons people do not report illegal activity on Open Space; how people search for Open Space volunteer opportunities; and the reasons people choose not to volunteer in Open Space. The Open Space Program would use the results of this survey to develop a more effective marketing and outreach program.

The Passive Open Space Program is part of the City of Tacoma’s
Environmental Services Department’s Surface Water Program. The
program, which is responsible for maintaining 488 acres of wetlands,
forests, and other critical environmental areas in Tacoma, engages
volunteer community members who serve as Habitat Stewards and help
the City maintain these open spaces and ecologically critical areas.
The goal of this project was to better understand how the City of Tacoma
could increase awareness of, and participation in, the Passive Open Space Program, with a particular focus on the inclusion of historically underrepresented communities. Student researchers reached out to 20 community organizations and to more than 40 representatives of extracurricular programs at schools to set up focus groups. Of their initial outreach attempts, students successfully conducted two survey collection and activity sessions with middle school groups and outreach at one community center.

]]> The proposals outlined in this report were a result of collaboration between
Lane Transit District (LTD), the City of Springfield, and the University of Oregon
Sustainable Cities Initiative during the fall academic term of 2012. Forty-seven
students, a mix of graduate and undergraduates from a variety of disciplines,
enrolled in the Planning, Public Policy, and Management course entitled “Topics
in Bicycle Transportation,” used their knowledge of bicycle infrastructure and
planning to develop recommendations to increase the number of bicycles
reaching LTD’s transit stops.

]]> The proposals outlined in this report were generated in the collaboration
between the City of Springfield and the University of Oregon Sustainable Cities
Initiative during the fall of 2011. Forty-two students in the Planning, Public Policy,
and Management course entitled “Bicycle Transportation,” taught by Professor
Marc Schlossberg, reviewed and examined critical elements of an urban
bikeway system and proposed projects that would utilize bicycle infrastructure to
encourage bicycle ridership in Springfield.

Read the final student report delivered to the local gov/community partner.

Sustainable City Year Program Contact Info
Megan Banks
Sustainable City Year Program Manager
mbanks@uoregon.edu
(541) 346-6395

University Faculty Contact
Marc Schlossberg
Planning, Public Policy and Management

schlossb@uoregon.edu

Local Government / Community Contact
Dave Reesor

Senior Transportation Planner

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