How Can Communities Effectively Integrate Pedestrians And Bicycles To Promote More Non-Motorized Travel?

Mineta Transportation Institute's free report provides direction.

SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Mineta Transportation Institute (transweb.sjsu.edu) has published a free report that identifies best practices and program characteristics in communities where many people walk, bicycle, or use other non-motorized means of travel. Integration of Bicycling and Walking Facilities into the Infrastructure of Urban Communities focuses on case studies in Davis, Palo Alto, and San Luis Obispo, Calif. Principal investigators were Cornelius Nuworsoo, Ph.D., Erin Cooper, Katherine Cushing, Ph.D., with assistance from Eugene Jud, PE. The report is available for PDF download from transweb.sjsu.edu/project/2906.html  

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"Several manuals, handbooks and web resources already provide varied guidance on planning and designing bicycle and pedestrian facilities," said Dr Nuworsoo. "However, these resources offer no specific indications about which of these varied treatments work well in a practical sense. Our research went deeper to investigate what compels people to give up their cars and start walking or biking."

The case studies illustrate how urban communities have integrated non-motorized transportation into the physical infrastructure and how they educated local residents and employees. The most salient themes emerging from this study are linked to several user preferences, including distance to desired destinations and activities; route directness; route connectivity; separation of motorized and non-motorized transportation; safety; convenience; and education and outreach.

These themes are integrated into key guiding principles that correspond to the process of making a trip, from the decision to engage in an activity, through the choice of route, to arrival at the destination.

The case studies illustrate how urban communities can better integrate non-motorized transportation into the physical infrastructure and how they can educate and reach out to community residents and employees.