A Better 4th Ave: Bike Boulevard Scenario Final Project

4th Ave. and Elm St.

When I watch people bike around the nationally recognized bicycle friendly campus at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, I see people biking slow, biking fast, wearing flip-flops, talking on cellphones, talking to friends, etc. Some people would identify this as "bad biking behavior"; I see it as something else.

On campus, people can bike without a fear of being hit by cars! Since many perts of campus are closed off to cars, people have the freedom to bike or walk around at whatever speed they want, however they please. Safe, car free (or car lite) streets are ideal for stimulating bike ridership.

For my final project in my 416E: Geovisualization class, my group and I created scenarios for bike related infrastructure. We focused our scenarios on a short stretch of 4th Ave. This street is currently undergoing treatments to become more bike friendly. However, we built scenarios that demonstrated the possibilities for turning 4th Ave. into a real bike boulevard.

What is a bike boulevard? Watch the video below to find out:


To build our scenario, we used Google SketchUp. This is a free object modeling program that is quite easy to use. We then imported our models into Google Earth to provide real world imagery as a backdrop. Here are some screenshots from my Google Earth + SketchUp model:
4th and University, looking North

4th at Catalina Park, looking North

4th and Speedway, looking North

My scenario was a "bike friendly" scenario. Someone else in our group did a full "bike priority" scenario as well. Unfortunately, we could not export our video tours onto YouTube. Apparently, you need to buy Google Earth Pro to do that.

This project was fun because it forced us to learn how to use some useful Google freeware to build a real world scenario. I plan on using this software in the future to create more models.
4th Ave. at Catalina Park

Tucson Transit Task Force and Imagine Greater Tucson: Methods of Shaping Our Future

April 6: First Tucson Transit Task Force Meeting - I met with small group of people from the Living Streets Alliance and from other local groups to brainstorm a strategy for addressing issues of transit funding, expansion and awareness. I learned much about the history of transit in Tucson, from the relationships between the various governing agencies down to the relationships between bus drivers and riders.

The primary reason for our meeting was the discussion of proposed transit fare increases that will be enacted within the coming months. Basically, SunTran has two options: 1) increase fares or 2) cut routes. Increased fares seems like best option but this can sometimes lead to less people using the service, creating even less efficiency overall. However, the propposed fare increases are relatively small and they are probably a better alternative to cutting service.*

Another big discussion topic was the relationship between SunTran and the university. The proposed fare increases would have the most dramatic effect on the discounted annual U-Pass for University of Arizona students. After the meeting was over, it was clear that the future of quality transit in Tucson depended on a close relationship between the university and SunTran. I will continue to drive home this important point within this group.

Last year, I prepared a presentation/proposal for free transit in Tucson for university students. This is a common policy in college towns across the nation, including my home town of Albuquerque. I tried to push my message for a few months but it always fell onto deaf ears. Now, with this new task force, I have a better opportunity to create constructive dialogue with the university.


April 7: Imagine Greater Tucson; The Big Reveal - I attended the "Big Reveal" presented by Imagine Greater Tucson.

What is Imagine Greater Tucson? From the website:

Imagine Greater Tucson is a rapidly growing, community-based effort dedicated to protecting and enhancing our quality of life in the greater Tucson region. Our goal is involve the people of greater Tucson in creating a shared vision for our region’s future, and catalyze the development of strategies to realize this vision.

What does this mean? I had a hard time deciphering it. The event and presentation was interesting but not very groundbreaking. The concepts presented were commonly understood regional goals, such as job growth and quality education. All the attendees appeared to be passionate individuals with a lot of great ideas on how to improve the direction of growth in the Tucson/Pima County region. However, they presented no possible methods that could be used to accomplish the goals they presented. Apparently, these issues will be resolved in future community meetings. Only time will tell.

April 8: Featured on Tucson Velo - As previously discussed, the geovisualization created by my project group and I, "UA Campus Bicycle Geovisualization", appeared on local bike blog Tucson Velo. It was a well written post and I thank Mike for posting our unique Google mashup.

Thanks for reading and feel free to write comments. The more feedback I receive, the better.


*If you are personally interested in the bus fare increases, here is a list of the current fares and the proposed fares. The decision on these increases will be made at a City Council meeting next week. More information on this meeting can be found here.