Additional reporting by Bob Conrad
City of Reno and Washoe County Regional Transportation Commission officials Thursday evening gave an update at City Hall on the downtown micro mobility pilot project.
Presenters showed results and feedback about the use of bicycles and electric scooters in the downtown area during the duration of the study. The push to incorporate more human-powered transportation is part of Reno’s and the RTC’s plans to relieve road congestion in the area, they said.
“We’re really interested in these because we know them as a transportation form to be very efficient, both space-wise and energy efficient,” said Sarah Going, RTC project manager. “They are also very cost-efficient, equitable, but for us at the regional transportation commission, our primary concern is really in the mobility portion. What we know about micro modes and what we know about our region, in general, is that we really have a need to move more people.”
According to the presentation, micro modal transportation includes small, lightweight vehicles such as bicycles or scooters that operate at speeds less than 20 mph.
Officials said that, based on research conducted during the project, Virginia Street downtown will remain a two-way street. Part of the research was temporarily changing Virginia Street downtown to one way – north to south – while installing temporary bike lanes.
“Reducing traffic on Virginia Street to one lane was not desired at the outcome of the study,” said the city’s Amy Pennington. “And so that’s one of the reasons why it’s not continued to be that way, and our recommendation from [Gehl Studios] from the placemaking study is to maintain northbound and southbound traffic on Virginia Street as that is important to Virginia Street.”
Reno is especially well-suited, officials said, for these forms of transportation because micro-mode trips are good for five or fewer miles of travel. In other cities that have implemented similar changes, they have seen an increase of five percent in bicycle use, which could save about 28,500 daily car trips.
More than 50% of the population that was surveyed reported that they are interested in riding bikes but are concerned about doing so in traffic. The key is the separation of bicycles and vehicles on city streets, presenters said.
During the study, which took place in June, parts of Fifth Street and Virginia Street experimented with using different styles of bicycle lanes as well as stops at intersections to protect riders.
Many called the city’s temporary changes confusing, and business owners said it caused a loss of business.
But ridership and traffic data captured by LiDAR detector showed that the combination of bike lanes in these areas helped direct bicycles and scooters to these lanes instead of the roads or sidewalks. Usage also increased during this time due to the accessibility of the dedicated lanes.
In a survey taken after the study, more than 1,000 people were asked what they thought of the results, and over 50 percent of those asked were either positive or neutral. Pedestrians and micro-modal users were the most pleased with the outcome as opposed to those driving vehicles.
With the bike lanes and protected intersections, 47 percent of respondents said they were more likely to bike or walk instead of driving downtown.
Going forward, the final report to the city council will be delivered on Apr. 26 and will then be discussed further by both the Reno City Council and RTC.
