This may be of to some. Apologies for any cross posting
Ed Christopher
Subject: News from Streetsmart
Reply-To: kelly(a)thinkstreetsmart.org
Streetsmart News, Vol. 4, 2017
Evidence and Insight for Better Transportation
USER ADVISORY GROUP
Interested in shaping the beta version of Streetsmart? We’re creating an
interdisciplinary user advisory group to provide feedback on the usability and
functionality of Streetsmart. Whether you are a planner, engineer, public health
professional, advocate, researcher, or elected official, we want your insight. We will
have two conference calls that will provide an opportunity to discuss your current
frustrations with finding the evidence you need as well as examine other tools and
resources that can help you get the information you want. Contact
Kelly(a)thinkstreetsmart.org if you are interested in participating.
If you haven't yet explored the Streetsmart prototype or taken our survey, now is
your chance!
EXPLORE OUR SITE
CONTEXT MATTERS
Streetsmart is looking at how to integrate contextual issues by tagging resources by
implementation issues such as city/region size and by region of the country. We are also
doing research on place type—how it is defined and what it means in terms of community
goals such as VMT reduction and walking. Usually researchers parse the built environment
by things like the “D” variables—density, design, diversity, access to destinations, and
distance to transit. But as civic leaders know, places are more than just a collection of
independent variables. Furthermore, when these variables are bundled into place they
interact and may have synergies.
Want to know more? We’ll be talking about place type at the Transportation Research Board
Annual Meeting in January. In the meantime, you can geek out on place type, among other
things, by reading this SHRP2 Project report, The Effect of Smart Growth Policies on
Travel Demand.
QUALITY OF EVIDENCE
The standards and guidebooks invoked to justify transportation decisions rely on a
variety of data sources, some of which are dated, not context-specific, nor account for
complex interactions identified in the research literature. On the other end of the
spectrum, many evidence protocols promote a “gold standard” of evidence biased toward the
use of randomized control trials to establish causality. This evidence standard, created
for a bio-medical environment, is not appropriate for city and transportation planning.
So, this begs the question: what is an appropriate standard of evidence for transportation
planning?
We’ll have a poster at Active Living Research Annual Conference that discusses the
challenges of establishing evidence quality for the messy reality of urban environments.
Interested in the subject? Check out What Works at County Health Rankings & Roadmaps
for their evaluation criteria (and lots of other great info at the intersection of health
and transportation).
WHY STREETSMART?
We get it. Civic leaders struggle to find the evidence they need to evaluate and
prioritize transportation investments. The research is scattered, time-consuming to find,
and difficult to digest. We do all the work of synthesizing the research and presenting in
an intuitive and easy-to-use format, without compromising quality or rigor.
Civic leaders need to make the case for solutions that work best for their community,
which sometimes requires defending innovation. Streetsmart reduces risk by providing the
evidence and examples of what works in other communities. We’ve got your back.
Find success stories with key lessons learned in one easy-to-search place. Why re-invent
the wheel? Streetsmart offers insight via case studies and guidebooks relevant to each
topic area. Learn from others in the trenches working on issues similar to yours.
Want to participate in the User Advisory Group? Get in touch to participate and network
with peers working on the same issues are you.
Got more feedback about the prototype? Take the survey or drop us a line to give us your
insight.
Looking for a transportation internship? Help us collect resources and case studies on a
topic of your choosing.
We are always looking for academic and practitioner collaborators to build and refine
Streetsmart. Talk to Kelly at Kelly(a)thinkstreetsmart.org to explore the opportunities.
Streetsmart Planning | Kelly(a)thinkstreetsmart.org
Streetsmart | 3011 NE Hoyt Street, Unit A, Portland, OR 97232
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