The American Planning Association has announced that Metro’s First/Last Mile Strategic Plan will be receiving the 2015 National Planning Excellence Award for a Best Practice.

The First/Last Mile Strategic Plan, adopted by the Metro Board in April 2014, was a joint effort between Metro and the Southern California Association of Governments to develop a tool kit for local agencies and Metro to implement access improvements to the public transit system in Los Angeles County. The Best Planning Practice award is designated for a specific planning tool, practice, program, project, or process. This category emphasizes results and demonstrates how innovative and state-of-the-art planning methods and practices help to create communities of lasting value.  To view information about the award, please click here.

Most transit users in Los Angeles walk or roll themselves to public transit stations. The plan provides a framework and a toolbox of sorts for localities to build sidewalks, protected bike lanes, and clear signage directing users to regional transit hubs.

Ultimately, the plan is about improving the reach of transit and increasing transit ridership throughout the county.

The Pathway is an innovative model within the plan that promotes transit connectivity from one mode to another with concepts such as the Rolling Lane and Green Zone. The Rolling Lane is a shared protected lane in the roadway for bikes, skateboarders, neighborhood electric vehicles, and other rolled mobility devices, while the Green Zone is a dedicated area immediately next to the transit station that allows priority waiting, parking, and drop-off for electric, shared ride, and other alternative vehicles.

The First/Last Mile Strategic Plan is a key step identified in Metro’s Countywide Sustainability Planning Policy and Implementation Plan which was adopted by the Metro Board in 2012.