Concepts posts will expand on ideas discussed in each Fatal Crash Review post.
These ideas will be added to the RESOURCES section of the site.
I will try to keep these short and "screenshot-able" for easy sharing and include at least one link for a deeper dive into the subject.
Each Fatal Crash Review post will be tagged with the concepts discussed.
Once the resources tab gets built up, there may be weeks without a Concepts post because all of the concepts in that post have already been covered.
Lane Width
Indianapolis has more pavement than we can afford to maintain and that's not an opinion. Converting a twelve foot lane to a ten foot lane doesn't seem like that big of a difference, but five twelve foot lanes being converted gives you back ten feet of space. That space could be green space, a bike lane, or just de-paved. Also, lane width is a known factor in safety. Drivers are more cautious when they have less space to operate.
Mode Shift
When we discuss mode shift in Indianapolis, we're almost always talking about getting people out of cars and into a more efficient mode of travel. That means transit, biking, and walking. You can induce a person to shift their mode in two main ways:
Make the mode you want them to abandon more difficult, expensive, or time consuming (tolls, increase taxes, tear down interstate, road diets, etc).
Introduce alternatives or make the existing alternatives better (increase transit frequency/quality, build protected bike lanes, build sidewalks, e-bike tax credits/vouchers).
Super Stop
IndyGo introduced Super Stops in the 2020s. These stops are enhanced with seating, shelters, near-level boarding, and a dedicated lane for increased efficiency. In some posts, I will be advocating for a lighter version of these in places that warrant the upgrade. A grocery store would be a good example of an appropriate location.
Tiered Development
This is a strategy for focusing the city's efforts and spending. Great care needs to be made to make sure that any development plan is equitable. It would be very easy to manipulate a strategy like this into a new form of red lining. Our current financial situation makes a tiered development plan/strategy necessary.
TIER ONE > Places where population density already exists or should be encouraged in the future. > The most hardened infrastructure should be installed in these areas. > Pedestrians, cyclists, and transit should be prioritized. > It should be extremely uncomfortable for a driver to reach 40+ mph in these areas. > Tier one areas would be self-sufficient if they were independent from the other two tiers. | Examples > Most of Center Township > The BRT corridors > The immediate areas surrounding schools and grocery stores |
TIER TWO > Places surrounding tier one that have been taken over by cars. > Areas serviced by transit, but not BRT > You probably aren't walking downtown from a tier two area, but inducing bike and transit use for these folks should be the focus. > Major arterial roads run through these areas and we need to rebalance to make things safer for peds/cyclists. > It should be easy to bike and walk in these areas, especially to a grocery store, school, transit stops, and to tier one areas. | Examples > Edges of Center Township > Numerous car-heavy corridors: Keystone, Emerson, Madison, 16th, 38th, Raymond, Lafayette |
TIER THREE > Areas that lack density and transit access. > You can't exist without a car in these areas and that's the kind of development that we need to actively discourage. Moving folks from these areas to tier one or two is a huge win. > These areas need ped/cyclist access to the nearest transit locations and Center Township. > The infrastructure in these areas is hostile to peds/cyclists and creating space for their existence is the only infrastructure expansion these areas should be seeing. >Tier three areas could not exist without their reliance on services paid for by the other two tiers. | Examples > Franklin Township > Marion county outside of 465 > The White River flood plains on the southwest side |
Truck Apron
My first reference to this was as part of a roundabout, but there are multiple uses for a truck apron. Basically, a truck apron is extra space in a design that is set aside to help large vehicles navigate turns. It could be the raised interior of a roundabout or an armored corner of an intersection. Great care needs to be taken so that pedestrians are not standing in these areas. They also need to be bulky enough that non-truck drivers are also discouraged from driving through them to take turns more aggressively.