New Hanover County boasts one of the highest percentages statewide of households that have no vehicle access at roughly 6%, according to data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.
Individuals who lack access to a vehicle tend to include college students, older adults, and other populations with a significant presence in greater Wilmington that either can’t afford or don’t have the ability to operate their own vehicle. The same data show that in both the Northside and Southside neighborhoods, over a third of households have no vehicle access. Within the vicinity of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and along the US 17 corridor north of Wilmington, roughly a fifth of households have no vehicle access.
Despite this sizable population of individuals who cannot drive a private vehicle, North Carolina’s infrastructure is far from accommodating for what the planning field refers to as ‘vulnerable road users’— pedestrians, cyclists, and individuals using mobility devices such as a wheelchair. Carolyn Caggia, a transportation planner for the Wilmington Metropolitan Planning Organization (WMPO), encourages the use of alternative transportation methods such as bicycling, walking, or utilizing public transit through marketing and outreach/education campaigns.
She points out that the greater Wilmington area averages 72 pedestrian crashes and 57 bicycle crashes annually. Paired with limited transit options in the greater Wilmington area, individuals that don’t or can’t drive their own vehicle can face dangerous and inconvenient commuting options.
Terry Lansdell is the director of BikeWalk NC, a statewide advocacy organization working to protect bicycle and pedestrian-friendly policies and project funding at the state level. In his work, he’s experienced the impact of poor infrastructure on vulnerable road users first-hand.
”Being able to safely transport yourself through whatever mode you chose, regardless of age, is so critical now more than ever as [North Carolina] has been classified as one of the worst states in America for… vulnerable road user deaths and injuries,” Lansdell says. “No one should die due to roadway violence,” he said
Caggia credits the area’s different bicycle and pedestrian facilities such as the Cross City Trail, which serves the University and other parts of town, as projects that “raise awareness about people biking and walking because there’s a designated place that drivers know that they’re going to be.”
“I think people feel safer to have a place where they’re going to be separate from traffic,” she continued, adding that these projects can ultimately encourage residents to walk and bike more frequently.
However, cities such as Wilmington face challenges in providing this type of infrastructure for vulnerable road users due to roadblocks at the General Assembly. Lansdell feels his organization has its work cut out for it, due to a 2013 State Transportation Initiative law prohibiting funding for stand-alone bicycle and pedestrian projects. This means any projects prioritizing vulnerable road users must either find funding from federal/local entities or pair the projects alongside ones serving motorists. In the Wilmington area, this includes the proposed multi-use path for the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge replacement.
Infrastructure-related successes for the bicycle and pedestrian safety movement have been mostly local and regional in scope. Rashawn King, program manager for the Triangle Trails Initiative, is bullish on the greater Research Triangle region’s greenway network. For the past six years, Triangle Trails Initiative has been the East Coast Greenway Alliance’s conduit for greenway development in the region through collaboration with local and regional entities.
King said that his organization’s “ultimate vision is to be national leaders for trails and greenway connectivity,” emphasizing the region’s current statewide leadership in greenway infrastructure. “The mobility aspect, when it comes to greenways and trails, plays a key role in the work that we do,” King explained. “We want to make sure that we come in to be able to assist our collaborative partners with making the mobility side of things … sturdier and sustainable for those who are going to be utilizing it.”
Greenways and trail infrastructure are just a piece in the puzzle of promoting safe walking and bicycling in North Carolina. In spite of barriers faced at the General Assembly, BikeWalk NC made inroads according to Lansdell, including “the passage of complete streets policies by NCDOT” which set safety standards for road construction incorporating bicycle and pedestrian pathways, says Lansdell. They’ve also done “work around funding bills to improve pedestrian safety, inclusion in the federally required Highway Safety Plan with our Friendly Driver Program,” and other efforts to establish best practices for bicycle and pedestrian safety in the state.
Changes in behavior and infrastructure are both aimed towards providing a safe travel experience for all vulnerable road users — students at UNC-Wilmington, long-time residents of the Northside neighborhood, and others across the greater Wilmington area that lack access to their own personal vehicle in an environment that is built entirely around private vehicle ownership.
“Safety is a big goal of ours,” said Caggia. “We want to be able to provide options for people who maybe can’t drive […] so giving them a safe place to do that is of utmost importance.”
