For this installment of Stories from the Field, Berkeley SafeTREC’s Lisa Peterson chatted with Paul Van Dyk, City Traffic Engineer with the City of Long Beach. In this installment, Van Dyk discusses the value of building both an internal and external safety culture, providing tools for practitioners, and ensuring that not only the infrastructure we build but also the programs we offer are accessible and available. Read the Safety Story below!
Lisa: Could share a little bit about your background and what your current role is?
Paul Van Dyk: I studied architecture briefly in my undergrad and really had it pounded into me that the built environment needs to be representative of the humans that occupy that space. And then, transition to focusing on civil engineering and one of my favorite professors in undergrad was at that time the City Traffic Engineer for Long Beach Public Works. And he arranged for my internship because of that class. And I've been at the city of Long Beach since that point. So, I've been here for about 10 years.
I had originally been interested in traffic engineering, because, growing up, my dad subscribed to a lot of car magazines, and I loved playing Hot Wheels and building all the different tracks and thought, “oh, yeah, wouldn't it be cool to build streets? And be talking about cars all the time?
And then at Long Beach, and when I first started here, we were experimenting with a number of new pieces of infrastructure. One of the very first parking protected bikeways in the United States was being piloted downtown. They were experimenting with greenback sharrow lanes in Belmont Shore and I just dove headfirst into the street designs that we were doing, and became responsible for designing bikeways. And at that point “auto enthusiast” Paul became “bicycle commuter” Paul because I wanted to actually be informed about what I was building. The couple semesters of architecture came creeping back in.
And now fast forward to today. I am no longer an intern. I'm the City Traffic Engineer. This morning I threw my bicycle on the front of a Route 93 Long Beach transit bus and I will be biking eight miles home along the Sixth Street Bike Boulevard, which I helped to design and along the parking protected Class 4 bikeway on Bellflower Boulevard, past Cal State Long Beach on my way home. I got into it with the Hot Wheels mentality and it's been great to have my ideas expanded, and to be in a place like Long Beach, where experimentation is encouraged and safety is a priority. I really enjoy working for the city, and the way that it encourages folks to think creatively about our public spaces. And how they're important human spaces.
Lisa Peterson: I love that you came full circle talking about your start and how you went from visioning to actually riding on what you imagined. What else inspired you to work in active transportation?
Paul Van Dyk: Working in Long Beach definitely sparked my imagination for building these types of things. I have family in the Netherlands. And when we've gone to visit, I’m having my horizons expanded and seeing, wow, there's a way to build this type of infrastructure. And they just toss their kids in the front of their bicycle. They can go anywhere around town. I actually used my stimulus package during the pandemic and I had three young kids at the time. I was able to splurge and buy a Dutch style cargo bike. And that was really amazing to see the difference between driving around with your kids buckled in a car seat in a minivan versus your kids piled in the front of a cargo bike. If they see a cat in the neighborhood, “Dad, stop!” and they just pile right out to pet the cat, and come back in. It's really easy to zip over and go grab an ice cream cone and just have that be part of exploring your environment, whether it's the little free libraries or waving at neighbors. A great thing for being a good human, and being able to make eye contact and smile at people and not be encased in an automobile. To be able to explore and really just enjoy the city that you live in, being behind handlebars instead of behind a windshield.
Lisa Peterson: Can you share a little bit more about the work that you're able to do in the department around creating these safe modes for people, whether they're walking, biking or using micromobility?
Paul Van Dyk: We've got a really great City Council here that encourages us with directives for some of our master planning documents. So having a Bicycle Master Plan, having a Vision Zero Plan and having these very lofty goals of zero fatalities, of having a 30% bicycling mode share. And then being given the space to make decisions to build the infrastructure that allows us to achieve those goals. We're in the process right now of creating a street design manual to empower all of our staff to be building world class infrastructure to have separated bikeways on all of our arterials, according to the Bicycle Master Plan. To have safer conditions for pedestrians by shortening crossing distances. But really, most importantly, having a street that's rebuilt comprehensively, that's accessible and equitable. So, when we are building new infrastructure, making sure that it's designed in such a way that people, regardless of their mobility, can still navigate our streets and get to where they need to go.
When I first started here, we were just opening the door on protected bikeways. And now, with some of our newer projects, we're building sidewalk level bike paths. We're building streets where we're greatly expanding pedestrian spaces and slowing vehicles down to make sure that when we're adding a protected bikeway, it's not just a benefit for bicyclists. It's also a benefit for pedestrians and motorists.
But really where the rubber hits the road is the tools for our practitioners. So, having a street design manual that empowers folks who were in school when I was, or even before then, who were trained on designing roadway systems based on Level of Service or based on vehicular throughput. They need the resources to be able to design VMT reducing infrastructure. Frankly, the federal government is a bit slow to provide that type of design guidance, and the onus does fall upon cities individually or in partnerships through NACTO to design streets like that. And we're definitely doing our part here in Long Beach to set the table so that anyone working for the city, whether they're coming in as an intern, or they're a seasoned civil servant, who's been here for 30 years, they have the tools that they need to be building world class infrastructure.
Crews install concrete separators on new bikeways in north Long Beach, CA. (Photo: City of Long Beach).
Lisa Peterson: I really appreciated the resources on your website. It sounds like creating a safety culture and informing not only internally, but also beyond with the mobility toolkit that you have, in terms of what kind of countermeasures you could use.
Paul Van Dyk: That leads me into another point that, yes, our practitioners play a big role in what our streets look like. But really, our partners in the private sector have done a great job recently of responding to the market. People want to live in walkable cities. They want to live in bikeable cities. And so, as these new developments are coming in, whether it's a warehouse that's manufacturing rockets, or it's a new apartment building, in both of those circumstances we're building bike paths. We're building wider sidewalks, more street trees. Because that's what people enjoy. Right? They enjoy walking down a tree lined street. They enjoy being able to bike somewhere with their coworker, their spouse, their friend, their neighbor. And it's not simply a purely safety benefit. It's what people want. And we're building the type of city that people want. One where you're safe, regardless of your trip. And you're able to take trips where you get to see other people.
One of the things that I think we're all so worn out on is our virtual meetings, being isolated. And that used to be something that you only really experienced during a rush hour commute in your car. You're in a bubble. You're separated from everyone. But now, by building infrastructure where people can bike and people can walk and take transit, that allows you to get good face time with your neighbors to smell the meatloaf cooking in East Long Beach, to smell other foods that are cooking in other parts of town, right? And just really envelop yourself in all of the great things that are available to you in this city. And just be a person and not confined to a machine.
Lisa Peterson: What goes into the success of these projects? Any other key elements you think are important to consider?
Paul Van Dyk: Definitely. The staff that we have here are working very hard to make sure that not only the infrastructure that we have, but also that the programs that we have are accessible and available. One of the things that we've been really working hard to promote recently has been our Bike Share for All Program where folks who are on any type of government assistance can sign up for a $5 annual membership for our bike share program. If you're on SNAP, if you have a federal student loan, send us a receipt from that, and you can sign up for $5, and you can be a member of Long Beach bike share. We have an e-bike library that we're rolling out where folks can basically borrow an e-bike, kind of like my origin story here, right? I didn't start biking until something piqued my interest to give it a try. And really, I haven't looked back since. So if we can create those conditions for other people, for their origin story to say “I drove everywhere. I thought that was the easiest thing to do, or the best way to do it” and then the city said, “Hey, borrow a bike for free or sign up for bike share for just $5. Just give it a try.” I think people will be hooked.
We've really been trying to make sure that biking is accessible and available. That the latest biking technology is available. We draw a regular connection here between books and bikes. What did those things have in common? Right? Let's say you're 12 years old and you have a library card. You are exposed to all kinds of new ideas, all kinds of new places, just by opening a book. And so, what does the city do about that? They make books free. They get rid of library fines. They say, “we think it's good for you to read, so here's a book.” And I think bicycles do the same. For a 12 year old to get a bicycle, to be able to explore their neighborhood, to meet with their friends, to be exposed to new things. Bicycles are like books in that way where they just break down barriers, and they allow you to broaden your horizon. So, we're trying to make it as easy as possible for people to bike in this city. That helps me achieve my professional goals here of that modal share. It helps our climate. But really, it just makes life better in the city.
Two people on a neighborhood ride in Long Beach showing that bikeways that are wide enough for side-by-side riding maximize the social benefits of cycling (Photo: City of Long Beach)
Lisa Peterson: Any lessons or key takeaways from one of these projects that you mentioned?
Paul Van Dyk: I'd say there's two things, both internal and external. Internally is equipping our staff with the tools they need to be successful, right? I talked about that earlier about how currently, if someone's training to be an engineer the things you have to study don't include how to design for bicycles. So, equipping our staff with standard plans, with guidance documents to provide a clear path toward delivering these things is critically important, giving them structure and something to fall back. On the other side, externally, when it comes to delivering projects like these, I think you know over the years there have been a number of projects in Long Beach, and in other agencies, where folks have seen that the right of way is being reassigned from motor vehicles to other things. And change is always a tough thing to negotiate, right? And so, as things are changing, how do we make sure that they're changing for the better?
I've been married for 9 years, and I would say, anytime something is causing a problem, it's usually because of communication, right? And so, if you can be clear in your communication, both in broadcasting, but most importantly, in listening, that allows you to get through your challenges. And as the city of Long Beach has been re-characterizing some of our streets or replacing vehicle lanes with other public amenities, engagement and dialogue is always the most important thing.
We had a project down in Belmont Shore on Ocean Boulevard where we held multiple neighborhood meetings to talk about the benefits of a road diet on Ocean Boulevard. And after about a dozen community meetings, we landed on something that was definitely acceptable for all of the local stakeholders. We added more parking in that coastal area where parking is at a premium. But we also added buffered bike lanes, and we were able to reduce vehicle speeds. And if we had just come right out and said, “We're doing a road diet. This is the safest thing. We know what's best” I don't know that it would have been as successful. Open dialogue, getting feedback from folks to hear all of their concerns, and talking to people who live these streets is really important.
But really, the beneficial thing is making sure that you're not being reactive in your listening, that you're going out to make sure that you're getting input from everyone. I'll give an example of a project where we had two Public Works employees walking down the street after a road diet project. One of us had an orange Public Works vest on, and walked down one side of the street, and the other was wearing just business, casual attire, knocking on doors. And the person who was walking slowly down the street was getting unsolicited, negative feedback about the road diet project from people who wanted to give a piece of their mind. And overwhelmingly, he heard, “Well, people don't like this type of infrastructure.” And the other employee who was knocking on doors and saying, “Pardon me, I’m from Public Works. We're evaluating this project. Can you tell me how it's changed your view of this street?” got overwhelmingly positive feedback. And so, making sure that you're not just waiting for people to come at you to the point where they feel like the city has to hear what I'm talking about versus meeting people where they are and opening up a dialogue, garner's very different results. We are very intentional when we're scoping these projects to make sure that we're reaching people, that we're attending community meetings, that we're inviting people to open up a dialogue rather than waiting for people to respond, because I think that's the best way to communicate is to have it be a dialogue and not just broadcasting. I think that's one of the reasons why we've been successful here, again, is engaging with folks and listening and frankly changing our projects in response to what the public are providing us.
Lisa Peterson: So this is ongoing, continuing to hear back from the community and let them know the benefits of having made these improvements?
Paul Van Dyk: That's what I love about this job, right? I was born in Long Beach, I've been in and around the city my entire life, and when we build a project here it's not, “Okay. We're done. Mission accomplished. We're gonna walk away.” There's ownership of these projects. These are our streets. Just because we are finished with a single construction project, doesn't mean that it never needs to be revisited. Especially in our office here, where we get all of the concerns about speeding, about red light running, about anything that involves a street. We hear about it, if it's not working for folks. And so yes, there's pressure to get it right, right off the bat but there's certainly a commitment because of the relationships that we've built with our residents, whether it's through neighborhood associations or business improvement districts, or walking down the street handing out business cards to folks. We have a sense of ownership of these streets and a responsibility. And so, we don't ever walk away from the street. We're always continuing to improve and look for ways where we can be creative, where we can experiment and try new things, again to make the city a more livable place, a city that's built for humans.
People enjoy the completed low-maintenance, curb-separated bikeways in Long Beach (Photo: City of Long Beach)
Lisa Peterson: How has the COVID pandemic influenced the work you do?
Paul Van Dyk: COVID allowed us to rapidly expose folks to our Parklet program and kind of reimagine what our streets can be. We were one of the first cities, I think, to adopt a formal parklet program. We had that in place years before the pandemic, and adapted it to be a quick response, as part of our COVID rollout. In one case over the Fourth of July weekend, we were out and about with our Public Works crews with a trailer full of water-filled barricades, deploying immediate parklets for folks. And there was an instance where we were dropping them off at a restaurant on one side of the street, and from across the way out comes a guy from a pizza parlor with his apron on, then waves us down and says, “How do I get that?”
I whipped out my phone. I had him sign up from the city website in that moment, and 30 seconds after he learned about the program, he had a parklet in front of his restaurant. And it's things like those where the city can respond in times of crisis and make things available to people, that's magical, right? Having the opportunity to allow folks to rethink public space and outdoor dining was definitely a silver lining to the pandemic because we've seen interest in our parklet program really explode. It's been a lot of tough work, but it's good work. I’m very proud of all the efforts that we've made to roll out parklets and outdoor dining and open spaces in the city, and I hope that we continue to develop that beyond simply outdoor dining spaces, in how we rethink our streets here, again, to make them human spaces.
Lisa Peterson: If you had a superpower and you could change anything, what would the future of active transportation safety look like?
Paul Van Dyk: I love my cargo bike. If I could swap or just give people a place to park those things and let everyone have a cargo bike… just the way that's opened up the possibilities for my family, the types of trips that we can make. I ride it to soccer practice with my daughters. I take my son to the park. We take it to the grocery store. We go get ice cream. I can stock up the City Hall fridge with snacks, riding that big old thing downtown. And so, we're really trying to wave our magic wand and make those available with our e-bike library, and especially cargo bikes, as something that people will think about when they talk about our infrastructure.
Honestly, we do have a magic wand here in Public Works. It's our infrastructure budget, and we get to wave that wand and we get to redesign these streets. We have a responsibility to be building infrastructure that can be magical, right? Where you can put your kids, or maybe your buddy, or whatever, into your cargo bike and go wherever you need to go and feel safe and not worry about crashes or being able to operate a larger bike like that. We have the magic and you can bet here in Long Beach that we're using it.
These Stories From the Field interviews were conducted in collaboration with UC Berkeley SafeTREC. The opinions and perspectives expressed are those of the interviewees and not necessarily those of SafeTREC.
