It’s no secret that Westchase District has experienced a boom in population and business during the last decade. To keep up with the comings and goings of residents and commuters in the area, the District has big plans to help secure federal funds to improve pedestrian mobility.

“This past August, Westchase District was awarded Federal Transit Administration grantee status,” says Irma Sanchez, vice president of projects at Westchase District. “Grantee status means we can go after federal funds to help improve mobility in the area—including bus stops and bike trails.”

To aid in securing federal funding, the District recently contracted The Goodman Corporation to conduct a pedestrian transit study in the area.

“We’re putting together a pedestrian transit master plan for the Westchase District according to FTA guidelines,” explains Rick Beverlin, vice president of governmental affairs at The Goodman Corporation. The transit study, says Beverlin, should provide the data to help justify federal funds to make improvements in the streetscape for pedestrians.

Paving the Way for Bus Stop Improvements

But justifying the need for those federal funds is a complicated task. The Goodman Corporation has been hard at work analyzing mobility throughout the District since the summer. The process started with an evaluation of current conditions at METRO bus stops and ridership data for the District.

The physical inventory completed this summer included cataloguing and measuring pedestrian-oriented amenities within 500 feet of public bus stops and shelters. “We measure the width of the sidewalks and the right of way. We also look at the condition of the sidewalks, the ADA ramps and the pedestrian lighting,” says Beverlin.

Next, The Goodman Corporation analyzed ridership information for each bus stop in the District to determine how many people were using public transit, where riders were going, and which bus stops were most popular. “For example, we learned that the intersection at the corner of Westheimer and Gessner generates 25 percent of the total public bus boardings in the area,” says Sanchez.

Based on The Goodman Corporation’s ridership information and the data from the physical inventory, Westchase District could qualify for federal dollars funded on an assumed increase in usage if conditions were improved. Sanchez says the money would be used for upgrading and adding new sidewalks, ADA ramps, bus shelters, benches, trash cans and pedestrian-scale street lighting—anything that helps pedestrians to get to bus stops in the District.

Bike Trails and Landscaping to Encourage More Mobility

Sanchez says plans are in progress to earmark money to improve bike access and trails in the District. “Our bike trails will provide off-street connections between transit centers and bus stops,” she says. ”We’d like to do anything we can to encourage people to use them.”

The District could apply for federal funds as soon as the end of this year, which may mean that District residents and commuters could see improvements to the streetscape soon. “If all goes well, some of these projects could get under way by summer or fall of next year,” Sanchez says.

And Sanchez is also hoping to inspire local businesses to join the effort. “As we start improving the streetscape, we’d love to see our businesses and office spaces in the area improve any landscaping that connects to the right of way,” she says.