Background Data to Aid in Corridor Planning

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Background Data to Aid in Corridor Planning

• Sara Leitner
• MS Transportation

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What is Corridor Planning?

• A framework to enhance the connection between
  land use and transportation planning
• City of Austin has created a corridor planning
  guidebook to aid in this process
• Objective
• To identify issues that need to be addressed on
  the candidate corridor

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Background Data

• Area Maps
• Corridor Boundaries, Land Use, Neighborhood
  Associations, Facilities
• Pedestrian Walkable Catchments
• Accident Type and Location
• Other

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Data Sources

• City of Austin GIS Data Sets website
• Orthophotographic Imagery

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Creating Area Maps

• Easy to create using basic functions learned in
  class this semester

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Corridor Map
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Land Use Map
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Neighborhood Association Map
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Facilities Map
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Pedestrian Walkable Catchment Areas

• Method used presented by the Congress for the New
  Urbanism in a Transportation Tech Sheet
• Maps showing the actual area within a five- to
  ten- minute walking distance from any activity
  center or transportation stop.
• A good target is 60

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Method for Determining Walkable Catchments

• Set-up ArcView Themes
• Add Themes to view and change units to feet
• Add Network Analyst Extension
• Choose Find Service Area Option
• This will allow the five- and ten- minute walking
  distances to be entered into the program
• Choose Line Length as the Cost Field

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Method for Determining Walkable Catchments

• Locate the Site using the address button

• Specify 1320 feet (one-quarter mile, five-minute
  distance)

• Solve
• Two new themes are created Network area and the
  the Network itself.

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Method for Determining Walkable Catchments

• Find the parcels touching the network

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Method for Determining Walkable Catchments

• Edit the new Shapefile

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North Loop Branch Library Catchment

• The area of the parcels touching the network is
  46.4 acres making a walkable catchment of 37.1.

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Transportation Stop

• The five-minute area is 79.2 (45.0).
• The ten-minute area is 48.1 (39.5).

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Results of Walkable Catchment
Location Walkable Catchment Percentage
HEB Grocery Store 47.4 (35.7)
North Loop Branch Library 37.1
Upper Crust Bakery 77.4 (43.1)
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Results of Walkable Catchment
Transportation Stop Walkable Catchment Percentage Walkable Catchment Percentage
Transportation Stop 5-minute 10-minute
49th Street 79.2 (45.0) 48.1 (39.5)
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Concerns with this Method

• Not totally accurate due to the use of the Street
  Network not Sidewalk Network
• Jaywalking, ADA ramps, Crosswalks and Cut-Thrus
• Could help discontinuity

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Conclusions on GIS use for Background Data in
Planning

• Provides an easy way to present visual cues in
  corridor studies
• Walkable Catchments are fast and easy to
  determine
• This will help determine areas of the street
  network that needs to be concentrated on for
  pedestrian accessibility.