Travel Green:

Traveling green in downtown Spokane

The city of Spokane’s GTEC efforts target the Downtown Business District and the neighboring University District. The program kicked off August 1, 2008, with the support of the Mayor, the Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Spokane Partnership. Since then, Spokane’s Planning Services Department and the Spokane County Commute Trip Reduction Office have been working successfully to increase transportation efficiency within the GTEC.

To reduce the percentage of drive alone trips into the Downtown Business District:

• Employers are being targeted through the media, door-to-door canvassing, and hosted events.They are encouraged to offer employees a commute trip reduction program at the worksite with support and incentives provided through the GTEC program.
• A separate incentive program is in place to target drive alone commuters who do not have employer support.
• Spokane Planners are updating the city’s Downtown Design Guidelines and the Central Business District (CBD) municipal code in alliance with the Downtown Spokane Partnership’s update of the Downtown Spokane Plan. All three documents include an increased emphasis on the pedestrian realm.
• Several Capital Facility projects on Spokane’s 6-Year Program are pedestrian and bicycle oriented, including the addition of bicycle lanes in the downtown business district and the addition of 5-foot bike lanes and separated sidewalks to a major arterial connecting downtown to the University District.

To reduce the percentage of drive alone commute trips into the University District:

• Baseline measurements were taken for two of the universities in the GTEC
• Students participated in a walk audit of the U-District to identify barriers to walking, biking, and bussing to school. The results of the audit were used to develop a student incentive program and an Alternative Transportation Guide for the campus.
• The student program has received strong support from university administration. The GTEC program supports their long term land use goals and Transportation Demand Management (TDM) is a key element in the Riverpoint Campus’s Master Plan. Planners are working with individual administrations and with the University District’s Project Manager to guide the district toward increased density and improved bicycle, pedestrian, and transit opportunities.

Some of their plans for the future:

• Expand participation in the GTEC program by continuing one-on-one visits with employers, commuters and students.
• Expand the scope of their partnerships, including the collaborative effort to bring groups together who may want to see more bike racks installed within the GTEC.
• Continue to offer promotions in an effort to attract the participation of more commuters. An Executive Challenge will encourage business leaders in the GTEC to become role models for their employees and an Engineer Challenge will pit a dozen downtown engineering firms against one another to see which firm is the most committed to Travel Green.