2012 ITDP Sustainable Transport Award
Client: San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency

From integrated transit systems to innovative parking solutions - all of the 2012 Sustainable Transport Award-nominated cities are exemplars in implementing integrated transport solutions. Over the next week, we will cover profiles of the nominated cities – Medellín, San Francisco, Cape Town, and Buenos Aires – culminating in the presentation of the Sustainable Transport Award on January 24 at Transportation Research Board conference in Washington D.C.

San Francisco is a 2012 Sustainable Transport Award nominee for its implementation of SFPark, an innovative new parking and traffic demand management system, and its “Pavement to Parks” program that reclaims street and parking spaces for public spaces.

SFPark is a a demand-pricing based approach to parking management in commercial districts around the city. Over the past year, the city tested its new parking management system at 7,000 of San Francisco’s 28,800 metered spaces and 12,250 spaces in 15 of 20 city-owned parking garages. Despite much initial concern, the program has been well received in its test neighborhoods, helping local businesses and making the streets more pleasant for the huge populations of transit riders and people on foot and bicycle.

The Pavement to Parks program has created new street plazas and many new parklets (sidewalk platforms that replace car parking spaces) by reclaiming street space in partnerships with businesses and other community groups around the city. The parklets program has captured international attention, prompting a host of other cities to begin their own programs, from New York City to Vancouver.

In addition to these programs, San Francisco has also begun upgrading and expanding its bike network to attract riders of all ages, setting an ambitious target of 20% of all trips by bicycle by 2020. The city is also implementing slow speed zones around all city schools, and is in the process of figuring out how to expand its popular Sunday Streets program to meet the demand for a weekly program.

2011 ASLA Professional Award - Honor Award
Client: East-West Gateway Council of Governments

With the philosophy of "what gets measured gets done," the landscape architect achieved a transparent public process driven by rigorous research and measurement, developing over forty metrics including pedestrian mobility, employment, urban wildlife and financial rate-of-return to assess the success of the design. The existing streetscape — 98 percent impervious with traffic speeds exceeding life-threatening fatal levels — was reconstructed into a livable. Challenging past design assumptions, the exercise redefines the relationship between transportation and community.

CNU Charter Award
The City of San Francisco recognized the need to improve upon the sometimes ad hoc and conflicting policies regarding the design and management of diverse city streets that must accommodate multiple modes and serve multiple functions. For this reason, the City Design Group of the San Francisco Planning Department led a multidisciplinary city agency and consultant team effort to develop the Better Streets Plan.

Nelson\Nygaard supported Community Design + Architecture on the technical street design work and led the innovative community outreach. The plan was adopted unanimously by the Board of Supervisors in December of 2010 and is already being implemented on projects throughout the City.  CNU honored this project with a 2011 Charter Award.
SF Better Streets Design Services (pdf).
SF Better Streets Design Community Engagement (pdf).

President’s Excellence Award for Visionary Planning for Mobility, Livability, Prosperity and Sustainability, Southern California Association of Governments
Award for Comprehensive Planning in a Large Jurisdiction
Los Angeles Section American Planning Association.

Nelson\Nygaard developed the City's first multi-modal Downtown Mobility Plan as part of a new Downtown Specific Plan initiative. The Plan is designed to address the challenge of accommodating growth without significantly increasing auto congestion or impacting Glendale’s quality of life. It combines strategies to broaden transportation choices for existing residents, employees and visitors with strategies to limit the traffic generated by new development. The Downtown Specific Plan and Mobility Study received the 2007 Award for “Comprehensive Planning in a Large Jurisdiction” from the American Planning Association (APA) Los Angeles chapter and the statewide 2007 Award of Merit for "Comprehensive Planning in a Large Jurisdiction" from the California APA.

Planning Excellence for Best Practice Award
American Planning Association - Los Angeles Section

Nelson\Nygaard was the lead transportation planner for the Downtown Newhall Specific Plan. The Plan is a form-based code, distinct from traditional zoning ordinances that cover the rest of Santa Clarita, that is designed to invigorate downtown Newhall by changing the built environment. The plan calls for mixed-use development that allows commercial and residential uses to co-exist on the same parcel and minimizes development costs while delivering high transit ridership. The Downtown Newhall Specific Plan was awarded first place by the Los Angeles Section of the American Planning Association and is now under consideration for a state-wide award in this category. Los Angeles APA annually recognizes organizations for work that "typifies excellence in planning and which generally advances the planning profession."

Nelson\Nygaard led the transportation planning for the 2005-2015 Master Plan for Occidental College. The plan as a whole aimed to retain and enhance the character of the original campus while applying infill and sustainability strategies to ensure future vitality. Nelson\Nygaard developed a comprehensive parking and transportation plan that allowed for the removal of scattered parking lots from the heart of the historic campus to create a more harmonious and livable campus environment. The plan also included a transportation demand management program to facilitate the parking strategy. SCUP, "the leader in the field of planning for higher education," annually recognizes the accomplishments of those who "advance the causes of higher education through excellent planning and design."

Leadership Award for Advocacy Planning
American Planning Association - Northern California Section
The PATH project developed a model to provide a workable blueprint for resource-limited local governments in rural regions to better plan for, fund, and implement multi-modal transportation projects. The PATH model recommended procedural and policy reforms of local transportation planning and funding in order to achieve community goals in the areas of public health/safety, social equity, economic development, and environmental sustainability. Nelson\Nygaard helped to research best practices, define measures to identify transportation-disadvantaged populations, identify federal and state funding sources, facilitate community outreach events, and refine recommendations based on the real-word feedback of government transportation planners and community-based transportation service providers. The Northern California APA awarded the project for its "social commitment to...support of the needs of society's less fortunate members."