Research Team: Chris Hawkins and Dr. Lawrence Frank.
Funding: Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation.
This research program investigates the relationship between street network type and travel behavior with a focus on evaluating the performance, using empirical measures of micro-scale street environment and travel survey data, of the ‘Fused Grid’ street network design. Of particular interest is whether street networks that approximate the Fused Grid (high connectivity for non-motorized modes with disconnected routing for motor vehicles) actually result in greater non-motorized mode share and reduced motor vehicle use when compared to other street network types. The results provide information to guide revisions to street standards for new residential developments and have implications for the retrofit of existing street networks.
A summary of the study and it’s findings can be downloaded here.