On November 12, Keep Knoxville Beautiful hosted our third annual Summit at the UT Conference Center. This year’s theme was Cleaner, Greener, Connected, which focused on how mobility impacts and improves community. We had a wide range of speakers that discussed topics from KAT’s new electric buses to equity in Knoxville’s city parks. If you weren’t able to make it to the Summit or if you attended and wanted to learn more, we’ve whipped up this handy recap so you can catch up on the main topics of discussion!

Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization Presentation

Ellen Zavisca – Principal Planner, Knoxville Regional TPO

Ms. Zavisca gave an excellent presentation on TPO’s Mobility Plan 2045, and how projects within the plan are prioritized. The four key factors for prioritizing projects were electric vehicles, equity, safety, and quality of life. Electric vehicles were discussed more in depth in the following panel, but Ms. Zavisca gave a detailed look at the other three aspects.

Gay Street in the 1920s. Photo from the Knoxville History Project.

Equity asks the question, “Who has access to a car?” This question looks at the various reasons that a household doesn’t have a car, such as finances and driving ability. For example, seniors outlive their driving ability by ten years. There are different services available (such as CAC’s Volunteer Assisted Transportation) to help seniors move around town, which can eliminate the need for a car. The question of equity also examines the risk disparities while walking. For example, in Knox County, 18% of the population is black, but it makes up 23% of the pedestrians hit while walking.

Safety is also a major factor of the Mobility Plan. In the first half of 2021, there has been the largest ever six-month increase in traffic fatalities. Another significant increase has been pedestrian fatalities. From 2007 to 2016, pedestrian fatalities increased by 27% while all other traffic deaths decreased by 14%. A contributing factor to this is that cars are also becoming larger, which means it is more difficult to see pedestrians, especially children. Being hit by a large pickup truck or SUV also creates more severe injuries, while being hit by a sedan creates less life-threatening injuries.

The Mobility Plan also wants to increase the quality of life for Knox County residents. As well, increasing street connectivity will provide more opportunities for walking that are also safe. With suburban sprawl and cul-de-sacs, there is only one way in and out of a neighborhood. Instead of having a direct route to school, students often have an indirect route that crosses major traffic. Traffic calming also plays a significant role in creating a safe and high quality neighborhood. Lower speeds mean lower fatalities. If a pedestrian is hit by a car going 20mph, they have a 90% chance of survival, but if they are hit by a car going 40mph, there is a 10% chance of survival.

At the end of her presentation, Ms. Zavisca shared a picture of Gay Street from the 1920s, showing how versatile its uses were. In the picture, we can see pedestrians, cars, bicyclists, and even a horse and buggy. Gay Street in the 1920s was a “complete street.” Ms. Zavisca challenged the audience to imagine what our complete streets would like – how would they be used and who would use them? Modern day Gay Street is well on its way to becoming a complete street, but the hope is to create more complete streets across Knoxville, so they can be utilized and enjoyed throughout the county.

You can check out Ms. Zavisca’s presentation here.

Electrification and Public Transportation Panel

Drew Frye –Senior Power Utilization Engineer, Tennessee Valley Authority
Si McMurray – Director of Procurement, Knoxville Area Transit
Chastity Hobby – Environmental Stewardship Analyst, Knoxville Utilities Board

Our three panelists and their organizations (TVA, KAT, and KUB) have all been working closely together to provide Knoxville with the necessary infrastructure to meet the imminent demand of electrification. One of the major switches to electric power in Knoxville has been the recent launch of the electric buses. Mr. McMurray shared that twenty-five electric buses are coming to Knoxville. KAT is working with TVA and KUB to create the necessary infrastructure so that these buses can complete a full day’s worth of work while maintaining its charge. They are in the process of creating portable charging stations to give the buses some extra power while they are out on their routes. Ms. Hobby spoke about how KUB is equipped to handle the imminent wide-ranging electrification, it just takes a significant amount of planning.

Buses weren’t the only topic of electric discussion – the panelists also talked about electric cars! Mr. Frye spoke about how TVA has studied the market barriers around electric cars and identified four major barriers: charging infrastructure, the vehicle models, supportive policies, and consumer awareness/education. TVA is building their programming around these four factors, and they have launched a website to help shoppers make informed decisions when purchasing an electric vehicle. KUB is addressing accessibility of electric chargers, specifically in rural areas. The goal is to have an electric charger every 50 miles and making sure they are available in rural areas and small towns.

Knoxville is moving toward electric power, and the KAT buses are a major step in that direction. KUB and TVA are supporting the move in that direction, and they have resources available to help residents make the switch!

Outdoor Places and Public Health Panel

Sheryl Ely – Director, Parks and Recreation for City of Knoxville
Matt Kellogg – Executive Director, Appalachian Mountain Biking Club
Gene Fitzhugh – Associate Professor, Department of Kinesiology, Recreation, and Sports Studies at University of Tennessee

Cyclists on Knoxville Greenways. Photo from Visit Knoxville.

Ms. Ely, Mr. Kellogg, and Dr. Fitzhugh discussed their organizations’ studies of the accessibility of the parks and green spaces in Knoxville. Specifically Parks and Recreation and UT have examined the question of where do people live and how does that promote physical exercise? Ms. Ely shared that there are ninety-two parks in the City of Knoxville, but Dr. Fitzhugh has studied that not everyone has a safe way to get to the park, despite the fact that 40% of people live within walking distance of a park.

Mr. Kellogg also shared that AMBC is working to make the trails more accessible to people with disabilities. Even though trails are open to all uses, not all users are able to use them. Specifically with mountain biking, they are providing electric assist motors and hand driven bikes to create more opportunities for people to mountain bike. AMBC is also working to help adapt and build new trails that provide more accessibility.

Dr. Fitzhugh also discussed equity in the parks. Specifically with the Urban Wilderness, he shared that only 7% of users are people of color. His department is questioning how to engage people of color with the Urban Wilderness and other outdoor areas. In terms of equity in the city parks, Dr. Fitzhugh conducted a study of the parks and found that they were all clean and well-maintained.

Knoxville has many great parks to use, and Dr. Fitzhugh’s studies show that increased use of the trails improves physical and mental health! So hop on one of Knoxville’s electric buses and hit the trails!