Welcome
I am a transportation planner focused on street land use and cycling and pedestrian infrastructure. Streets are the veins of a city, circulating people and goods. They are also the most prevalent public space where one can run into a neighbor or enjoy a meal. Healthy and lively cities have safe and enjoyable streets that allow people to move, gather, and connect.
My work showcased here focuses on creating a safer and more equitable transportation network that gives people flexibility. It ranges from challenging vehicle subsidies through underpriced parking to creating safer routes to school for children and parents. Driven by a passion for transportation justice, my projects aim to improve the daily lives of residents by offering them a vision that prioritizes them over vehicles.
Thank you for taking the time to look through my work.
I hope you enjoy, Evan
Goal Methods Impact
Safe Routes to School
Broadway Corridor, Somerville, MA
Collaboration with Briana Villaverde & Juliana Beekenkamp Course: Planning for Pedestrians and Cyclists Spring 2024
Suggest interventions to increase safety and comfort for pedestrians and cyclists on trips to and from three elementary schools.
Using an urban network analysis tool in ArcGIS, we identified Broadway as a key connector for our three schools However, pedestrians and cyclists avoided Broadway when we accounted for the boulevard’s LTS and PLTS and people’s desire for the shortest path of least resistance. This finding was supported by a survey of students’ parents.
We then biked and walked the boulevard, allowing us to examine intersections we identified as especially dangerous. We spoke to people walking by and surrounding business owners who shared their experiences and pointed out perceived dangers.
Traffic violence kills thousands of US children every year. The danger is growing as cars are increasing in size, resulting in less visibility and increased force of impact. In a dense urban environment children and parents should be able to get to and from school safely without a car. Walking or biking to school provides children a myriad of health and social benefits, and should be encouraged through design interventions.
Edgerly Education Center
Unrestricted Network Analysis
Brown School
Unrestricted Network Analysis
Winter Hill Community School Unrestricted Network Analysis
Brown School
Low-Stress Restricted Network Analysis
Livable Lynnway
Corridor Plan in Lynn, MA
Collaboration with Abby Glass Course: Core II Studio Spring 2024
Design an intervention in Lynn that will mitigate a climate hazard and create surrounding co-benefits.
The Lynnway is the city’s main thoroughfare, connecting it to Boston. Low-density retail with large parking lots creates a high-speed, auto-centric environment that blocks water drainage, causing rainfall to consistently floods the street. The city has also identified this site as its primary development zone for residential densification
Responding to the existing development plans and changing conditions, we proposed raising the road, redesigning the street, and redeveloping the area according to a form-based code.
As crises compound, urbanists must responsd multi-functionally. This project demonstrates this thinking by easing the damage of flooding and creating a safe and enjoyable street along a corridor that the city had designated for new residential use. Planners must work in the space between existing constraints and brighter futures. Impact Goal Methods
Graphics made in collaboration with Abby Glass
Oak Park Bike Plan
Ten Year Update
Collaboration with Mark Bennett & Emily Kennedy Internship: Sam Schwartz Summer 2024
Goal Review previous plans, rework the greenways network, suggest bike facility improvements, and create a demand model to inform discussions about reintroducing a bikeshare system.
Methods Impact
Through mapping we identified 3 corridors where the village could remove on-street parking to install bike facilities. We then conducted parking counts and mapped parking occupancy at various times during the week. We presented the Village with a suite of potential improvements ranging in cost, land use requirements, and reduction of stress for cyclists.
We created a demand model that uses ridership data from Chicago’s community areas to weigh factors that correlate with demand and determine how similar each community area is to Oak Park. We then used the most similar community areas to predict ridership in Oak Park.
As a bikeable, family-oriented community, bike safety is often framed as a way to protect children and adolescents, similar to Safe Routes to School. Streets that protect the most vulnerable are safer for everyone.
This project was of particular importance to me as my bike was my primary mode of travel while growing up in Oak Park. Revisiting my hometown as a planner allowed me to apply my newfound skills to the streets that I know best.
Signalized Intersections
Signalized Intersection
Signalized Intersection with Bike Detection
RRFBs with Bike Activation
HAWK
Protected Bike Lanes
Striped Bike Lanes
Neighborhood Greenway (Existing)
Neighborhood Greenway (Planned 2024)
Neighborhood Greenway (Proposed)
Park School
Library
Rail Station Entrance (CTA and Metra)
Neighborhood Greenway (Existing)
Neighborhood Greenway (Planned 2024)
Neighborhood Greenway (Proposed)
Parking Benefit Districts
Guide for Activists
Advised by Tony Jordan and Jane Wilberding Parking Reform Network Co-Designed with Kristen Blackmore Dec 2020 - Sep 2022
Create a guide to parking benefit districts (PBD), explaining how they work, showcasing success stories, advising implementation steps, and providing resources for further inquiry.
I conducted extensive primary and secondary research, reading parking management plans, speaking with experts and city officials nationwide, and cataloging the US cities with PBDs. After explaining their operations, I suggest how PBDs could center equity to create more just cities and offer a starting point for a holistic review of parking policies.
I published a modified copy of the guide in the APA’s State of Transportation 2022 with Jane Wilberding, a Parking Reform Network co-founder.
This project sparked my interest in parking and developed my understanding of its critical role in transportation networks and street design. It was a watershed moment for me to feel like I was an expert in a planning topic.
For access to the online version visit https://parkingreform.org/playbook/pbd/
Do your streets have a parking problem?
Do people circle the block looking for parking?
Is convenient parking at the curb hard to find?
Are many parking spaces occupied by long-term parkers?
Do residents fe ar new development and the traffic it will bring?
Are parking lots and garages more expensive ever y month?
Consider a Parking Benefit District
What is a parking benefit distric t (PBD)?
As par k i ng reform pio n ee r, Do n ald S hou p , des c ribes it , a P B D is a n
a re a w he re t he lo c al g overni ng bod y “spend[s] meter reve n ue for publi c
se r vices i n t he mete red a re a. These cities o f fer e a ch n eig h b o r ho o d a
pa ck a g e t h at i n cl u des bot h priced parki n g a n d be t ter public se r v ices .
Eve r yo n e w ho li ves, wor ks, visits, or ow n s p rope r t y i n a Parki n g Benefi t
D istri c t c an t he n see t heir m eter mo n ey at wo r k . ” 1 We will ex pa n d t h i s
de fin iti o n sli g htl y to als o i n cl u de parki n g permit reve n u e , as it is also a
wa y t o c h a rg e for parki n g .
Charging for parking is central to PBDs. The fee ser ves two purposes:
1 To manage parking
2. To generate revenue to reinvest in the PBD area
A curb parking space is a limited commodity and should be managed using the economic principle of supply and demand. By charging a market-rate price for spots in high demand, there will almost always be an open spot. Generally, 85% occupancy is optimal because it guarantees drivers a curb parking space close to their destination.
PBDs are a parking management tool to garner suppor t for ‘right-priced’ parking They aim to make increased parking rates more palatable to the public by using a por tion of the revenue to improve the surrounding area. If the funds are used to encourage alternative transpor tation, parking demand will decrease bringing the price of parking down with it.
PBDs for Equit y
Avoiding a Concentration of Wealth
PBDs work because there is a high demand for parking in a particular area. If the money generated from this demand is reinvested to improve the public ser vices in the metered area, you could envision a scenario where the nicest areas in a city continue to improve through meter revenue, creating more demand. Rather than improving the quality of life for all city residents, this cycle would reinforce existing inequities and benefit areas that already have high levels of investment. How can we avoid this unintended consequence and are there other ways to share the benefits that PBDs generate?
As we mentioned before, a good reason for the 51-49 revenue split between the PBD and the city is to help avoid this issue of concentrat ed investment furthering inequity in public ser vices. It is no secret that areas with higher
levels of investment like downtown business districts or affluent neighborhoods often receive priority in spending and services over low-income neighbors.17 By sharing the revenue throughout the city, the PBD can help fund alternative transportation options citywide. Just as with the revenue spent within the PBD, we suggest that the ordinance stipulate that the city must spend their share on transportation justice measures to keep the money from disappearing into the wider budget. The overall goal should be to reduce dependence on single occupancy vehicles and the vast amount of parking they require. If the parking revenue is not earmarked for alternative transportation, it becomes a revenue stream based on car dependence without providing an ‘out’. This earmarked spending makes high demand areas more accessible for all residents while strengthening the local economy by increasing the availability of both consumers and labor. There are ways to promote this economic accessibility through the PBD’s share of the revenue too. Portland and Columbus’ PBDs buy transportation wallets that use the city’s existing public transit and rentable transportation options to fund employees’ commutes without increasing tra c and parking occupancy. This use of PBD revenue directly benefits the PBD, while simultaneously expanding the economic opportunities it generates.
Obviously, the parking revenue remaining within the metered district is the main selling point for PBDs for area stakeholders. Guaranteeing that nearly
half the money will leave the district may spark opposition, even after the
reasoning is explained. There are a few solutions to this problem. An initial pilot that keeps revenue within the district can help ease the transition by demonstrating how right-pricing can solve parking problems and acclimating stakeholders to paid parking. Once people see the parking management aspect of right-priced parking at work, they may be more willing to concede some of the revenue. Another solution may be a transitional period over the course of 5-10 years where the revenue split gradually evens out between the district and the city, giving the PBD ample time to implement various projects before their share of the revenue decreases. If the PBD is located appropriately, the area’s 51% of the meter revenue should still generate at least $150,000 a year after expenses. This substantial annual investment within a concentrated area will provide significant support for public projects.
We’ve also thought through a scenario that uses PBD to promote equity in a fundamentally di erent way. As of late, city budgetary priorities across the US are shifting more towards racial and economic justice. Cities could approach PBD eligible areas and explain that this shift has redirect funds the city had previously spent on projects in the area towards underserved parts of the city. If they want to continue to fund these projects, they could institute
Goal
Methods
CareCard
Informing Parent-Centered Transit Policy
Collaboration with Chadwick Bowlin Course: Core I Studio Fall 2023
Propose a health intervention in Roxbury
We wondered: how would public transit look if it was catered to caregivers rather than commuters?
Speaking to experts and advocates, we discovered that there is a lack of information about caregivers’ movement patterns. We proposed a phased benefits program:
1. Provide families with CareCards with reduced rates and online reloading that allow the MBTA to study their transit use
2. Pilot potential amenities in Roxbury at three key transit hubs accessible by CareCard
3. Engage with program participants to determine the type and location of future amenities.
4. Use the travel data to incentivize TOD for care trip destinations
Impact
Public transportation should be accessible for everyone, especially those with limited options. Transit agencies should recognize and study the complexity of care trips and trip-chaining to better serve their users, who rely on the network to keep their families safe and healthy. It was important for us that every step of the CareCard plan centers caretakers and escalates their benefits.
