SmartMoves Connections

Follow along on this route map and learn about the origination of the SmartMoves Connections project, the in-depth analysis we performed to ensure we covered all of our bases, and the exciting results that we're now ready to share with you. For more information and further detail about the Plan, please refer to the official document.

For more than 100 years, Southwestern PA's transportation network was based on a pattern of hubs and spokes. The hubs were typically county seats or major activity center locations, and the spokes were interurban rail and trolley lines that connected the hubs. But over the years, population and real estate trends throughout the region changed and technologies advanced. As a result, the transportation network began to morph into a different shape.

The map on the left shows interurban Trolley Lines in Southwestern PA in 1914. How has the region changed since then? How can the framework for this system be used in planning today?

It is important to recognize the old hub and spoke system, as it still forms the backbone of the region's transportation network today. At the same time, observing the trends of the past network can help identify the ever-changing travel patterns that can transpire into projects that modernize regional mobility.

Part of the goal for the SmartMoves Connections project was to tie together a variety of planning efforts that have already been completed, or are in progress, in our region.

In addition to building upon SPC’s previous plans, in particular the SmartMoves for a Changing Region long range plan, this project references plans throughout the region. Early on, the Study Team examined past reports, institutional master and comprehensive plans, transit development plans, traffic data and open-source statistical reports. With SPC’s previous plans serving as a foundation that provided direct guidance to this plan, the regional plans provided reference data as well as support for multimodal hubs and corridors.

Throughout the course of the Plan, perspectives from across the region’s transportation spectrum - from mass transit to community transit to shared ride to micro-transit and other mobility modes - were gathered during meetings, workshops, and an online survey. Their input was tightly coupled with the Project’s work plan for identifying the full scope of “what is possible,” which consequently led to a list of priority multimodal hub and corridor projects.

It’s important to examine practices from other cities and regions to ascertain methods, techniques and policies universally accepted as superior. The early stages of the SmartMoves Connections project consisted of identifying cities that carry out multi-county, multimodal transportation planning particularly well, and examining in greater detail sample projects that demonstrate best practice tactics. These best practices offer guidelines for efficient multimodal project implementation that can in many cases be applied to our region.

Transit-Oriented Development in Alexandria, Virginia

Alexandria's transit-oriented development growth is the result of planning and infrastructure investments near Metrorail stations and the urban street grid, both due to public and private investments.

Highway-Based Bus Rapid Transit in Boulder, Colorado

The Denver-Boulder BRT is a large multimodal facility along U.S. 36, and includes transit stations, bikeways, pedestrian access, and transit-oriented development.

• Kansas City, Missouri for transit corridors
• Portland, Oregon for Tilikum Crossing, the nation's first transit, bike, and pedestrian-only bridge
• St. Louis, Missouri for integration of transit and land use
• Columbus, Ohio for Central Ohio Transit Authority’s (COTA) downtown worker free fare program and multimodal hub app
• Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina for GoTriangle's multi-agency coordination and co-marketing efforts
• San Francisco Bay Area, California for multi-agency fare sharing

We worked with our consultant team to develop a "cluster analysis" methodology to computationally identify centers of commerce and activity.

A multimodal hub is a public transportation facility that accommodates transfers between different modes of travel to provide improved access and selection to residents and commuters. We identify six types of hubs in our analysis, and then identified the best recommendations for multimodal improvements for each cluster type.

An in-depth description of the algorithm used to create the cluster data is detailed in the final report. However, it's important to note that the clusters were developed primarily by using Tax Parcel Land Use data provided by UrbanFootprint and Building Footprint data made available by Microsoft. The two layers were processed in ArcGIS Pro in order to highlight likely transit hub locations.

Crossroads: Most intersections along Route 8, Freeport, Trafford

Commercial Corridor: Route 30, Oakmont, Tarentum-Brackenridge

District: Canonsburg, New Kensington, Kittanning

Major District: North Shore, Strip District, Oakland, McKeesport

County Seat: Greensburg, New Castle, Indiana

Employment Center: Southpointe, Pittsburgh International Airport, Cranberry, Monroeville

A multimodal corridor is the connector between a pair or series of multimodal hubs, and includes facilities that prioritize pedestrians, cyclists, and public transit.

A network criticality analysis was used to identify corridors in the SPC region that are the most "critical" in facilitating movement between land use clusters. Open Street Map data was used for these calculations. The results of the analysis are map layers that can be used in conjunction with other transit and multimodal usage considerations to narrow down which corridors should be prioritized for further, more detailed analyses. Streetlight Origin and Destination data was also used to validate these priority corridor locations; Streetlight uses aggregated cell phone location data to analyze travel habits.

Each of the six cluster typologies have numerous recommendations for multimodal improvements.

The cluster analysis provided us with a comprehensive map showing all of the transit and multimodal hub and corridor locations in the SPC region.

Through our analyses, we have identified dozens of priority hubs and corridors around the region. These locations are in urban, suburban, and rural areas, and represent all six cluster typologies. Here's a quick look at five of the locations.

We also used traffic modeling techniques as a means to visualize hub and corridor operations. Traffic modeling helps to show how the integration of certain technologies that support multimodal travel can improve the accessibility and safety of a roadway.

All modeled locations were intended to be representative of diverse improvements that could be implemented throughout the SPC region. Though all the models each show a specific location, they are meant to be examples, not completed designs.