Thomas Straatemeier presents at AQTr in Montréal
Recently, Access Planning’s Senior Associate, Thomas Straatemeier, was invited to speak at the AQTr (Association québécoise des transports) Conference in Montréal on the future of mobility in small and low-density communities in Québec. He shared his experience from working as a transportation planner in the Netherlands for 20 years before moving to Canada and joining Access Planning.
The Netherlands is well known for its high use of active modes and efficient transit systems. In his talk, Thomas identified five strategies for small and medium sized cities to promote use of cycling and transit.
Integrate transport and land-use planning with a special focus on access to services and amenities to make sure these are accessible for people who want to bike and take transit.
Slow down the car to make other modes more competitive in terms of travel time. Slowing down the car and improving the public space is also important to revitalize centers of small communities.
Speed up the bike by giving bikes more priority at traffic signals and providing direct routes to major destinations. Promote use of the E-bike (currently the highest selling type of bike in the Netherlands) which can compete with the car for distances up to 10km.
Connect modes at mobility hubs and pay special attention to the design of these hubs. Put the main focus on connecting transit to (shared) individual modes like bikes or cars to create a transport system that offers fast and reliable travel combined with door-to-door access.
Community transit provides first and last mile travel for people that do not drive. Traditional transit is often very expensive, but new autonomous or shared mobility services could fill this gap at a lower cost. Encourage experiments with intended users to test these new opportunities.
An example of shared space in the Heemstede, Netherlands, a town of 27,000 just a short train or bike ride south of Haarlem. Source: www.ruimtevoor.nl