Made You Look Year 2 Scaling & Replicating Behavioral Change for Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety: A Human-Centered Design Approach
About Made You Look
Project Background
Made You Look is a collaboration between the Center for Social Design at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and the Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration’s Highway Safety Office to make Baltimore a safer place for pedestrians and bicyclists by increasing visibility on two levels: (1) raising the visibility of individuals walking or biking in the city and (2) making local safety concerns visible to policymakers.
Year One (July 2018—June 2019) In July 2018, a team of students and staff at MICA’s Center for Social Design launched an ongoing initiative to create a safer Baltimore for pedestrians and bicyclists in collaboration with community stakeholders. The focus for year one was to develop, test, and evaluate potential interventions, to increase pedestrian and bicyclist safety in the area around MICA’s campus. Based on ideas generated by community stakeholders, the team developed four main interventions under the umbrella of the Made You Look campaign: 1. Reflective Streetwear: Reflective gear to raise awareness around pedestrian and bicyclist safety and enhance the visibility of pedestrians and bicyclists at night. 2. Bright Lanes: Infrastructure cues and engaging crosswalk designs to remind drivers to slow down and stop for pedestrians and bicyclists. 3. DIY Toolkit: A toolkit to guide community members through the process of creating their own traffic calming interventions. 4. The Underline: Using lighting to transform car-dominated areas into pedestrian-friendly spaces. Year Two (July 2019—June 2020) During year two, the team worked to further evolve the interventions and expand the project area to include Greenmount West and Reservoir Hill.
This document summarizes the work done during Year Two, lessons learned, and suggestions for next steps.
Year Two At A Glance
50 gallons of paint 111 reflectiv collaborators 1 graphic designer out 3 shareback sessions 5 new 124 instagram followers (and co with 213 responses 4 commun 80 participants 1 Community T
dots identifying areas of concern
ve t-shirts
25 community
1 freshly painted curb bump wsletters 4 project advisors ounting!) 3 online surveys
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nity design workshops with
Toolkit
1 map with 100 sticker
n for pedestrians and bicyclists
Bright Lanes Infrastructure cues and engaging crosswalk designs to remind drivers to slow down and stop for pedestrians and bicyclists.
Year Two Outcomes Greenmount West Bright Lane Implementation of eye-catching bump outs to encourage drivers to slow down on Greenmount Avenue. Spring 2019 - Community Design • Three community design workshops in Spring 2019 with 35 particpants from the Greenmount West Community Association and City Arts as well as Youth Makers from Baltimore Design School and OpenWorks. • Survey to select final design with 183 responses. Summer 2020 - Installation • Accommodation for COVID with a rotating schedule for volunteers to make sure we were no more than 10 people gathered at the same time. Collaboration with Graham Projects in Reservoir Hill Community design workshops with Reservoir Hill Improvement Association to test creative crosswalks on Whitelock Avenue.
“The bump outs look amazing! Thanks for all the work you put in to get this done. I didn’t know the story that the protesters marched by the project in process, it makes that space extra blessed!” Board member GMW Community Association
“We are SO EXCITED to see new street calming measures going in at Greenmount and Oliver. Driven by a neighborhood design process and implemented by @mica_socialdesign with help from @grahamprojects, these flex posts and ground murals will help slow traffic. This is awesome for folks looking to cross the street from the bus stop, people walking their dogs at the cemetery, and young people attending our programs. #safestreets #streetcalming #walkableneighborhood #baltimore” Open Works on Instagram
“I am so excited about the Made You Look campaign because it showcases how art, just simple paint in the street, can powerfully impact community safety and placemaking. This is an important message for cash-strapped city governments looking for high impact, low cost projects and new artists looking for direction in their careers.” Shayna Rose, BCDOT
Lessons Learned
Next Steps
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Engage the Community Association as early as possible in the process. The support of the community is vital in a successful install.
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Evaluate the effectiveness of a painted bump-out in increasing the pedestrian and bicyclist safety.
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Be ambitious, but plan improvements incrementally - one small step at a time. These installations take time and effort and you learn so much as you go.
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Continue to support the communities in installing traffic calming.
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Share lessons learned with other communities.
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Ask community members to prioritize based on importance and type of intervention- e.g it is more likely to get approval for a painted crosswalk on a non-arterial road/non bus route.
Reflective Streetwear Reflective gear to raise awareness around pedestrian and bicyclist safety and enhance the visibility of pedestrians and bicyclists at night.
Year Two Outcomes Made You Look x BMore Brand Collaboration with BMore Brand to design “Made You Look” reflective streetwear. • Available for purchase at www.thebmorebrand.com/ collections/made-you-look • 88 shirts sold
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Give away of Made You Look x BMore Brand masks to first three people to visit the Greenmount West Bright Lanes and The Underline and tag @ madeyoulookbmore on Instagram.
Partnership with the MICA Store Stocked and sold 111 reflective MICA sweatshirts co-branded with the “Made You Look” brand and messaging. Collaboration with BYKE Collective Hosted workshops with BYKE Collective to design reflective wear and distributed 30 Made You Look x BMore Brand masks as part of BYKE’s summer programming.
“I bought these shirts for me and my family. I must say the quality and design of these shirts are perfect! I recommend purchasing all colors to stand out. Can’t wait to see what’s next, keep up the good work.” Anthony Burton
Lessons Learned
Next Steps
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Get feedback from supporters to see what they would like to see improve or suggestions for another design.
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Continue supporting the pilots and finding a way to incorporate messaging for year 3.
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Co-create with the community to create an identity or movement that they can connect with and want to support. For example, working with youth at BYKE Collective gave us insights on how to create streetwear that would appeal to young bike riders. Offer incentives for participation. We hosted an online raffle to encourage people to visit the Greenmount West Bright Lane and learn more about the project. Winners received a free reflective mask.
DIY Toolkit A toolkit to guide community members through the process of creating and implementing their own traffic calming interventions.
Year Two Outcomes Art in the Right of Way Toolkit • First draft of a a user-friendly, public-facing
document with step-by-step instructions for community associations, organizations and residents to create Art in the Right of Way projects in their community.
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Partnership with Baltimore City DOT to ensure alignment to their Art in the Right of Way policies and procedures.
ART IN THE RIGHT OF WAY
TOOLKIT
#madeyoulookbmore
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“If you are not familiar with the mechanics of local government processes to improve streets and sidewalks and bike lanes, it can be intimidating and overwhelming. Even for those who are familiar or who are at least formidable enough to work through it, the processes and timelines, can be bewildering and depressing. The Made You Look initiatives are an antonym and antidote to this intimidation and paralysis.” Doug Mowbray
Step 1:
Another way of gathering community input on traffic safety concerns is to ask community members to do participatory mapping with you. You can do this at community events, community meetings or by standing in a strategic intersection - outside school at pick up or in the park over the weekend. Snacks and coffee help to sweeten the deal.
Identify & Analyze (1 to 2 months)
Inspiration
Bring a large map of the community and ask people to place numbered sticker dots on places where they have comments or concerns. Ask participants to write their sticker number and comments or concern down on paper.
To begin the process of installing traffic calming in your neighborhood, you will need to first collect input from community members to better understand safety concerns and identify a location.
If many people put a dot in the same place, you have a pretty good idea of where your intervention should take place. If you have many high priority intersections - choose the one where you can make the most impact. You can also take these dots to a community meeting (or to the community association leaders) and ask them to prioritize.
Understand pedestrian and bicyclist safety issues in your community
Observe traffic flow at location
Activity: Walkarounds with community members
Choose your intervention
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NYC DOT
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Graham Projects
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Search for images of “Tactical Urbanism” and “Artistic Crosswalks” YouTube has a lot of videos with resources and inspiration, under the same search terms.
What you will need: • • •
Activity: Traffic observation
Residents from the area Pen and paper Good walking shoes
Before you decide on the intervention, check with Miss Utility and DOT if there are any planned infrastructure projects on your street in the near future. If DOT already has plans for road work, it might be easier to advocate for permanent bump-outs or sidewalk expansions. •
Call Miss Utility at 811 - check several addresses around the intersection. Or go to www.missutility.net - choose western Shore - then put the streets that you are working with and you will get an overview of what roadwork is scheduled in your area.
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For inquiries to BDOT, you should contact the Community Liaison Officer for your area. Their contact can be found here: https://transportation.baltimorecity.gov/community-updates
What you will need: • • • •
In deciding the location for the traffic calming art, it is important to have the community involved. One way of doing this is to ask community members to walk with you and talk about how they commute through the neighborhood. You will most probably hear where the kids play, the alleys that need clean up or better lighting, issues with parking, where drivers speed or where there is congestion in rush hour.
Made You Look Observation Tool (See Appendix 3) Safety vests Writing utensils Clipboards
Once you pick the location, analyze the existing traffic flow to help you better understand what changes are needed. Plan to observe the area during three different times of day:
While you are walking with the neighbors, identify and write down the walking patterns - where do kids walk to get to school? Where do most community members walk their dogs or go to get to the park? These are the locations you should prioritize in deciding the location
1. Rush-hour on a weekday 2. Weekend 3. Evening
Decide location
Schedule 30 - 60 minutes for your observation to make sure you have enough time to identify patterns in traffic flow. Pick observation points where you can see the whole intersection and move around to different viewpoints to get a complete understanding of the space.
Activity: Participartory Mapping What you will need: • • • • •
Based on the findings you have from your observations, the next step is to compile a list of the issues you want to address. Based on this list - you propose your solution. Do you want to paint inside the existing crosswalk lines? Do you need bump outs to narrow the road and force cars to slow down? Can you activate the sidewalk as part of your intervention?
Use the Made You Look Observation Tool to sketch the intersection, mark your observation points, and jot down observations.
A large print-out of a map of the area Sticker dots or markers Paper Clipboard Snacks
For example: Do you see infrastructure issues? What do you notice about driver’s behavior? Do they see the pedestrians? Do they yield to pedestrians? Are the pedestrians using the crosswalk? If not, why?
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Step 1
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Step 1
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“Made You Look has shown how an art-oriented, social design approach can genuinely connect community members and public agency representatives to make real improvements for pedestrians, wheelchair riders, and folks who rely on bicycles to get around. As a public artist and equitable transportation advocate, I’m excited to see the practical resources in this guide finally made accessible to my neighbors and partners so that they too may affect change on their block.” Graham Coreil-Allen
Lessons Learned
Next Steps
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Although the process has been outlined for us many times these past two years - we still had a lot of coordination and uncertainties. Routines and procedures at BCDOT are improved and changed frequently. It is better to ask many questions than make unnecessary mistakes.
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Deepen our collaboration with the Baltimore Department of Transportation (BDOT) to ensure the toolkit is accurate, aligns with Baltimore City policies and procedures, and is broadly promoted and accessible by all.
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Toolkit production and promotion.
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Making public art is fun! But be patient as you go through the process.
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Be open to changes. The toolkit looks very different than what was first imagined - but the principles of keeping it Baltimore and keeping it simple have stayed the same.
Workshops for community associations, local nonprofits, residents, City Council members, local business leaders, city government, etc. to help increase awareness of the toolkit and ensure wide distribution.
The Underline Using lighting to transform the car dominated area of North Avenue under I-83 into a pedestrian and bicyclist friendly space.
Year 2 Outcomes Partnerships and collaborations • Alignment with the the Maryland Transit Administration’s North Avenue Rising initiative. • Permission from Baltimore City Department of Transportation to use the existing steel beams to install lights for the project to enhance the work already executed by MTA. • Permission from MICA to use electricity from their parking lot. • Collaboration with Central Baltimore Partnership (CBP) to prototype, test, and collect feedback on the concept. • Received Emergency Response and Safety Grant grant from Baltimore Gas & Electric Company (BGE) for prototyping. Proposal development • Artistic mockup of The Underline and project scope of work created by Michael Bowman, a local lighting designer and artist. • Logo designed by Kristi Liu.
Existing north wall of I-83 underpass
Rendering of proposed black light mural on north wall
Lessons Learned
Next Steps
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Light installations are costly and take time to design properly. It is a good idea to have committed partners early on.
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Look for funding for permanent install.
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Continued collaboration with CBP to host a virtual or in person demonstration event
Light installations require engineers to properly install.
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Continue to use the rendering of The Underline design to generate public interest, momentum and input
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Evaluate effectiveness of lights in enhancing the feeling of safety through community feedback.
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Core Project Team
Community Partners
Quinton Batts Vilde Ulset Lee Davis Becky Slogeris
Baltimore City Department of Transportation Brent Hooper, Interim Division Chief, Maintenance Shayna Rose, Right-of-Way Community Art Coordinator Mikah Zaslow, City Planner II Graham Young, Complete Streets Manager
Project Advisors Jasper Barnes, BYKE Collective Michael Bowman, Formstone Castle Graham Coreil Allen, Graham Projects Akia Jones, The BMORE Brand
Graphic Designer Kristi Liu
Project Partners Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration’s Highway Safety Office Jeff Dunkel, Pedestrian and Bicycle Program Manager Doug Mowbray, Traffic Records Program Manager
Funding Partners Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) Highway Safety Office Baltimore Gas & Electric Company (BGE) Emergency Response and Safety Grant Kim Schulke (MASD ‘18), MICA LAB Award recipient for her community project “People First”
Bolton Hill Community Association David Nyweide, President Central Baltimore Partnership Aaron Kaufman, Community Projects Manager City Arts Apartments & City Arts 2 Quentin Gibeau, Community Coordinator & Gallery Manager Greenmount West Community Association Lauren Kelly-Washington, President Nancey Kinlin, general board member Adam Kutcher, head of development committee Livable Streets Coalition Robbyn Lewis, Founder Maryland Transit Administration Theodore Krolik, Chief of Engagement Patrick McMahon, Senior Planner MICA Chris Bohaska, Director of Campus Services Damon Crutchfield, Manager of Transportation Rusty Gardner, Book & Merchandise Buyer, MICA Store Nikita Lemon, Associate Director of Corporate, Foundation, and Government Relations, Office of Advancement Open Works Will Holman, Executive Director Kim Loper, Teen Maker Program Coordinator Reservoir Hill Improvement Council Don Akchin, Previous President Kate Jennings, Program Director Washington College GIS Program Sean Lynn, GIS Applications Developer Glen Sine, Senior GIS Project Manager Young Planners in Transportation Baltimore Chapter Jade Clayton, President Brian Seal, Board Member
About the Center for Social Design MICA’s Center for Social Design is dedicated to demonstrating and promoting the value of design in advancing equity and social justice, and to inspiring and preparing the next generation of creative changemakers. www.micasocialdesign.com