Buses, bikes key to Fort Collins traffic reduction goal

By 2040, driverless cars could be the norm in Fort Collins, according to at least one transportation planner.

But, it will be more likely for the city to encourage owners to leave those cars in the driveway, in favor of using an east-to-west alternative transportation corridor similar to the Mason Corridor and improved cycling and pedestrian infrastructure. Those are the type of projects city staff say are needed as Fort Collins’ population grows.

Fort Collins expects to add nearly 80,000 residents by 2040. Moving those people from point to point in their daily lives will be a challenge without a shift away from single-occupancy vehicles, considering the city doesn’t believe it’s feasible to expand existing thoroughfares.

“We don’t propose really widening streets from four to six lanes, so we kind of have what we have as far as capacity goes, said Aaron Iverson, senior transportation planner for the city. “But, more people are moving here so we need to accommodate more people getting around.”

Improving alternative transportation — biking, walking, busing — is seen as the key solution in allowing more people get to work, restaurants, school and other areas around the city, Iverson said.

The city’s Climate Action Plan adds pressure to promote alternatives to driving to work solo. The plan adopted in March calls for local greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced by 20 percent by 2020. The city plans to be carbon neutral by 2050.

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To help reach that goal, the community will need to reduce its current number of miles driven by one-third, said Paul Sizemore, Fort Collins Moves Program Manager. The city recorded 1.13 billion vehicle miles traveled in 2014.

The goal for 2020 is 0.94 billion vehicle miles, accounting for population growth.

Knowing how much the city has to scale back is key for modeling “the transportation system of the future,” Sizemore said. For instance, the city hopes that 20 percent of commuters will choose bicycles by 2020. That’s up from 7.4 percent of commuters in 2014.

City staff is looking forward to developing goals for other transportation modes, Sizemore said. “That’s going to be an exciting exercise. It’s really kind of breaking new ground, and everybody I talk to is eager to get to that point where we can paint that clear picture of what it has to look like and have specific targets for each mode.”

Specific targets will likely be developed when staff updates the City Plan and Transportation Master Plan in 2017.

Fort Collins was scheduled to update City Plan and the vision for the next 25 years during 2015-2016, but the update is being pushed back due to “competing projects that have been in the works quite a few years,” said Cameron Gloss, Fort Collins planning manager.

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“City Plan and the Transportation Master Plan provide a lot of great guidance for ways to be able to achieve our goals,” Sizemore said. “Based on the priorities of the community and council, it may turn out that parts of that plan get advanced faster than others.”

Fort Collins City Council and voters ultimately have the final say on whether plans to turn Harmony Road or West Elizabeth Street into enhanced travel corridors — similar to Mason Street with the MAX bus rapid-transit system — move forward.

Residents and elected officials also have the power to say whether spending $25 million to realign north Lemay Avenue or building a $30 million overpass to improve wait times near railroad crossings are the right decisions.

Sizemore wouldn’t speculate on whether train delays would still be an issue for Fort Collins commuters in 2040, but he seemed optimistic that the city would pursue an east-to-west corridor and add more transit options. He also said that new technology and public-private partnerships could be key in solving transportation problems over the next 25 years.

“Just over the past few years, we’ve seen really big changes in transportation technology in general,” he said. “Things that were not even on the radar in 2011, when we did the transportation plan, are now on our doorsteps.”

Sizemore referenced privately-operated bike- and car-sharing services.

“There are lot of people who are paying attention to self-driving vehicles of varying types of technology and complexity. I think we’ll see more of that,” he said. “We may be surprised. There may be other types of technologies and new ways of using them that we’re not even thinking about right now.”

“Between now and 2040, that’s a lot of time for new things to come up,” he said.

Growth & data reporter Adrian D. Garcia can be reached at 970-224-7835 or Twitter.com/adriandgarcia.

Do students drive less?

On average, Fort Collins residents who live in apartments, including student-housing complexes near the Colorado State University campus, make fewer vehicle trips than the national average, according to city data.

Per apartment or dwelling unit, Fort Collins averages 5.78 trips on a weekends and 2.65 trips on weekdays. The national average per dwelling unit is 6.65 trips on weekends and 3.31 trips on weekdays, data show.

Trips are measured one way, so driving to the grocery store and back would count as two trips, said Joe Olson, city traffic engineer.