Protected Intersection

Intersections are a pain point for many cities seeking to increase the number of people cycling. However, new designs can be difficult to navigate for people with vision impairments, especially when it is unclear where crosswalks meet cycle tracks. In Ottawa, we heard a history of poor feedback led to a push to create new, accessibility-focused standards for protected intersections. From the outset the project was conceptualized with the goal of improving safety for all vulnerable road users, including both cyclists and people with vision impairments. Staff and consultants visited existing intersections with members of the disability advocacy community to understand how designs did or didn’t work in real life. This practical approach helped the designers better understand the needs of people different than them and led to concrete recommendations, such as enhanced tactile indicators that go above and beyond the provincial standard.3

“I think there was a lot of trial and tribulations on the lead up to the guide that helped kind of shape the fact that we were going to actually have accessibility as a focus… and it worked out well.” Staff, Ottawa

However, these examples from across the country show it is possible to embed equity across stages of a transportation project. As transportation systems become more complex and disciplines become increasingly specialized, it can be easy to think that equity is not your area of influence. We encourage all our fellow transportation professionals to see equity as both a responsibility and an opportunity to begin to do our work differently. If you found this article insightful and are seeking more resources on how to apply equity to your transportation practice, we invite you to read our final report that will share more promising practices, set for publication in Fall 2023.

This research was also shared in a webinar and workshop hosted by the Canadian Association of Road Safety Professionals (CARSP) in conjunction with the ITE Canada/CARSP 2023 Joint Conference.

Tessa Williams is a Registered Professional Planner (RPP, MCIP) with 4 years of experience working with local governments. As a graduate researcher at Simon Fraser University, she uses her skills with policy development and spatial analysis to explore sustainable transportation as a tool for more equitable communities.

Dr. Meghan Winters is a population health researcher who works with local governments to study how community design impacts how people get around. She is a professor at Simon Fraser University, principal investigator with INTERACT, and holds the PHAC/CIHR Applied Public Health Chair in Sex, Gender, and Healthy Cities.

Equity work in transportation practice is evolving, and no one we spoke to felt like they had all the answers. We heard this work is challenging, because it requires many of us to think and act in new and different ways and ask uncomfortable questions about implicit bias and power differentials within and outside our institutions. 3 City of Ottawa and Alta Planning + Design, Canada Inc., Protected Intersection Design Guide, 2021. https://documents. ottawa.ca/sites/documents/files/protectedintersection_dg_en.pdf