Three proposed riverfront projects will have a big impact on traffic, pollution, health

If you've been following the construction of Three Rivers Park over the past year or two, you may know that there are three very important connections on the horizon for Pittsburgh's interconnected riverfront park system

• The Mon Wharf Switchback will connect historic Smithfield Street Bridge to the lower Mon Wharf Landing via an ADA-accessible pedestrian and bike ramp.
   
• The Point State Park Connector will create a link between Mon Wharf and Point State Park, ensuring seamless riverfront access into the Park for those who want to walk, boat or bike along the Mon River.
   
• Allegheny Riverfront Trail is part of the exciting Green Boulevard vision plan for the Strip and Lawrenceville, which creates a dynamic new riverfront park and enhanced trail connections along the Allegheny.

So what's the cost-benefit ratio of these three connections?

A Benefit/Cost Analysis (BCA) was conducted by the Renaissance Planning Group for Riverlife during the fall of 2011. The BCA derives the benefits of building these riverfront connections following five steps to identify the likely number of users who would switch from auto travel if given the chance to walk or bicycle along the Mon Wharf Switchback, Point State Park Connector and Allegheny Riverfront Trail.

Taking into account population growth, user neighborhood locations, weekday vs. weekend usage and other factors, the BCA estimates that these three riverfront connection projects are expected to shift 16,030 users from auto travel to bike/pedestrian travel along the riverfronts (accruing 10.77 million vehicle miles traveled over their 30-year useful lifespans.)





Let's say that again. When the Mon Wharf Switchback, Allegheny Riverfront Trail and Point State Park Connector are built, it is anticipated that 16,030 people will use riverfront trails to commute instead of cars!

That goes a long way towards reducing traffic, scaling back on pollution, increasing the health of Pittsburgh commuters and raising the recreational value of our downtown riverfront trails.

Once again, Pittsburgh continues to show its emergence as a city reborn for the 21st century! Be part of the transformation of America's Most Livable City. Donate now to Riverlife's efforts to build these three vital riverfront connections with a donation of $20.

Read more about the economic benefits of building Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Park.



Sources cited by the BCA:

The calculation of user benefits...[is] derived by applying unit rate benefits to the total accrued use over the project lifespan and calculating the Net Present Value (NPV) of those benefits using a monetizing factor of 3% (which results in a NPV factor of 0.6377 considering the constant growth rate of 0.50% per year), as the project funding sources are all public agency dollars. The calculation of each of the benefit amounts is as follows:

• For vehicle operating cost, the VMT savings is credited at a rate of $0.469 per vehicle miles of travel, from the table titled “Cost of Owning and Operating Automobiles, Vans, and Light Trucks by the Federal Highway Administration. (2000). The Vehicle Fleet – Our Nation’s Highways. Retrieved October 24, 2011 from http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/onh00/onh2p3.htm. The 10.77M VMT translates to $5,052,054 in year-of-accrual dollars, or $3,221,649 NPV dollars.
• The pollution from the vehicle miles of travel removed from the network is quantified at $.015 per mile, per Figure 6, “Average Air Pollution Costs per Mile in Rural and Urban Areas” by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration. (2000). Addendum to the 1997 Federal Highway Cost Allocation Study Final Report. Retrieved October 24, 2011 from http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/hcas/addendum.htm. The 10.77M VMT translates to $161,580 in year-of-accrual dollars, or $103,038 NPV dollars.
• The health benefit to Riverwalk users is quantified at $564.41 per ped/bike trip annually, from Wang, G., Macera, C., Scudder-Soucie, B., Schmid, T., Pratt, M., & Buchner, D. (2005). A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Physical Activity Using Bike/Pedestrian Trails. Health Promotion Practice, 6(2), 174-179. doi: 10.1177/1524839903260687. The 16,030 users translate to $9,047,334 in year-of-accrual dollars, or $5,769,402 NPV dollars
• The Recreational value to Riverwalk users is $3.10 per pedestrian or bicycle trip, from Table 5-3a titled “Recreational Benefits” prepared by Delaware River City Corp. (2005). North Delaware Riverfront Greenway Master Plan and Cost Benefit Analysis. Retrieved October 24, 2011, from http://www.drcc-phila.org/reports/NDR-Chapters/NDR-Chapter%204CostBenefit.pdf. The 10.77 million VMT translates to $33,393,111 in year-of-accrual dollars, or $21,294,482 NPV dollars.