Active, connected communities

Our teams embed social, physical and digital connectivity to broaden horizons whilst boosting mobility, health and cohesion. We design happy, safe and sustainable ways to get around, and future-ready technology solutions to support greater choice and independence.

Canada

Clark Avenue Multi-Modal Transportation Corridor Retrofit Project, City of Vaughan

As people of all ages and abilities take to walking and cycling like never before, our project in Vaughan, Ontario, has proven that even existing, traffic-clogged roadways can be transformed to prioritize pedestrians and cyclists over motorists, with minimal impacts to existing landscaping. At Clark Avenue, WSP and the City of Vaughan took the bold decision to narrow the pavement to create a safe and comfortable walking and cycling corridor for the community. The result was improved safety for all, substantial cost savings, and a solution that could be rapidly implemented. Buoyed by its success, the local authority has decided to use this model elsewhere in the City.

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Australia

Central to Eveleigh Urban Transformation and Transport Program

With Sydney’s projected growth expected to reach eight million by 2056, the Greater Sydney Commission leads and guides metropolitan planning to make Greater Sydney a more productive, liveable and sustainable city. WSP supported the UrbanGrowth NSW and Transport for NSW (TfNSW) to create an ambitious urban transformation strategy for the Central to Eveleigh area. Our focus was on providing the community with better connections to home, work, transport, open space and local services.

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United States

Transportation Improvement Plan for Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland

Faced with unprecedented growth within its area of responsibility, the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Naval District Washington (NDW) commissioned WSP to prepare a Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) for NAS Patuxent River to facilitate realization of its “Smart Growth” vision for the region. The TIP must execute NDW’s over-arching goals for growth management in alignment with its regional transportation vision and installation guidance. Integrating recommendations for transportation improvements with strategies for growth management and compact development required transportation planning, urban design and landscape architectural techniques that addressed the environmental and human impacts of the transportation system.

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Sweden

Väsjön Urban Development Project

As general consultant for the municipality of Sollentuna, WSP is working on an exciting sustainable neighborhood in Väsjön, Stockholm. The development involves the construction of approximately 3,800 new homes, schools, parks, squares, a ski centre, open waterways and public transport by cable-car between Väsjön square and Häggvik train station.

Close collaboration with internal and external teams is essential for the planning, design and implementation of this large-scale project. We have created virtual models of Väsjön to simplify cooperation among the operators and facilitate communication with the public.

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United Kingdom

Making health a priority for UK communities

Health and wellbeing is at the heart of our work with UK local authorities, replacing the decades-old obsession with single-occupancy car movement. Our street design guidance is helping councils create compact, sociable neighborhoods, while our active transportation advice seeks to take advantage of the cycling and walking boom since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The hope is that many of the lessons learnt will remain long after the pandemic subsides, and that we can respond positively to seismic shifts in how we use the spaces around us. This will enable us to promote healthier lifestyles and cater for diverse communities, while tackling carbon impacts.

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Canada

Bloor West Bikeway Extension, Toronto

In conjunction with ActiveTO - Toronto’s plans for approximately 40km of expanded and accelerated bike routes - WSP helped create a healthier balance of road safety and cycling infrastructure for the Bloor West bikeway extension, accommodating local business needs and optimizing associated traffic flow.

With spatial constraints a major factor, we analysed curbside use and worked with the City to establish appropriate parameters for curb placement that addressed business needs. Using holistic corridor analysis, we developed intersection lane configurations that prioritized safety and met transit requirements. Identifying key conflict locations, we prepared a strategy to achieve fully protected right-turn signal phasing, which was implemented at the first intersection.

Case studies

Cambridgeshire, UK

Waterbeach New Town East

At Waterbeach New Town East, to the north of Cambridge, we are designing a place which challenges the dominance of the car and promotes a holistic vision of health and wellbeing. A relocated train station and peripheral car parking will help free up space for pedestrians and cyclists and improve air quality and safety, while encouraging social interaction and outdoor activity. The vision is of a space that combines the best of urban and rural – where you can access everything you need without driving but still enjoy green open spaces and a sense of community.

Manawatū-Whanganui, New Zealand

He Ara Kotahi - Bridge and Pathway

The pathway that brings people together in Te Papa-i- Oea Palmerston North.

United Kingdom

Tees Valley Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan

The Tees Valley Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) is a long-term £150m investment programme providing close to 92km of new and improved active travel routes. WSP supported the development of this combined plan covering local authorities in Darlington, Hartlepool, Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesbrough and Redcar & Cleveland.

Planning for Australia’s largest urban renewal project is well underway in Melbourne. Our specialist masterplanning team is working alongside the taskforce to ensure that technology acts a...

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Fishermans Bend

Creating the Smart City Framework for Australia’s largest urban renewal project.

Discover our latest insights

Active travel: The overnight cycle city

Road closures and pop-up cycle lanes were a common aspect of the Covid-19 response across the UK. But few cities were as well placed as Exeter to act quickly, for the long term — and without upsetting too many local residents.

Active travel: The park that became an island

Like many US inner cities, West Baltimore has been blighted by car-centric planning and historic disinvestment. Now, its transportation planners want to right past wrongs by turning an eight-lane expressway into a ‘Complete Street’.

Micromobility - Has COVID-19 unleashed its potential?

COVID-19 gives micromobility another stage to showcase its potential.

Creating Safe Road Ecosystems

This article explores the contribution of the physical space to the safe design and use of road transport systems.

Cultivating Sustainable Transport Systems

Big cities and smaller communities have a lot to think about when it comes to providing transport for diverse users, both now and into the future.

New Mobility

Connectivity, automation, sharing and electric propulsion are enabling seismic change across all aspects of mobility – from the way we commute to how we plan and develop infrastructure for the cities of today and the future.

Accounting for human decision making in transport choice?

WSP Transport Planning Director Adrian Hames and Head of Future Mobility Giles Perkins explore how the England's Economic Heartland's newly published transport strategy innovates through its approach to understanding the human decisions driving transport choice.

Events

Future Ready Cities - Digital Twins, IoT and Robotics in Infrastructure

Developing a Regional New / Future Mobility Strategy

New Bikeway Design Manual for the Province of Ontario

Publications

Vision Zero

Vision Zero is a concept that embraces a transformative mindset and approach to making all roads safe. Vision Zero refuses to accept that fatalities and serious injuries are inevitable consequences of mobility on the world’s roads.

Leading the Charge on Canadian E-bike Integration

What if we can harness the emerging role of e-bikes to address key mobility gaps within our transportation network? In WSP’s latest white paper, discover how e-bikes and other forms of micromobility, such as e-scooters can help address the “missing middle” of transportation.

Intelligent Transport Systems Enable the Decarbonization of Road Transportation

A whole-system approach to achieve net zero ambitions.

Future Ready Kerbside: Creating Places That Put People First

Uber and WSP have partnered to release a new white paper – Future Ready Kerbside – which examines what we need to do today to ensure our kerbsides and streetscapes enable the places people want now and into the future.