Walking and Cycling Encouragement

Strategies That Encourage People To Use Nonmotorized Transportation

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TDM Encyclopedia

Victoria Transport Policy Institute

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Updated 24 November 2008

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This chapter describes various ways to encourage walking and cycling transport, including facility improvements, promotion campaigns, events, educational programs, and development of guides and other information materials.

Description

Bicycle and Walking Encouragement include a variety of programs and activities that support and promote nonmotorized transportation:

· Cycling and walking events and activities, particularly on trails and cycling routes.

· Cycling and walking commute campaigns. These often involve contests as to which workers and worksites commutes most by nonmotorized modes.

· Bicycle Parking and clothes changing facilities at worksites, transportation terminals and other destinations.

· Education programs that teach cycling skills.

· Provide cycling maps that show recommended cycling routes and facilities, roadway conditions (shoulders, traffic volumes, special barriers to cycling, etc.) hills, recreational facilities, and other information helpful to cyclists.

· Bicycles provided by employers and community organizations to rent or loan.

· Reimbursement of employee cycling mileage expenses.

· Programs to encourage use of bicycles for Freight deliveries and other commercial uses.

· Public Bike Systems which provide convenient rental bicycles for short utilitarian trips.

· Pedways, which are indoor urban walking networks that connect buildings and transportation terminals.

· Tourist promotion materials highlighting cycling and walking.

· Provide Wayfinding and Multi-Modal Navigation Tools such as maps and other information on how to walk and cycle to a particular destination.

· Providing employee bicycle travel reimbursement.

How It Is Implemented

Bicycle and walking encouragement programs are usually implemented by community groups such as cycling organizations, local transportation agencies, employers, Transportation Management Associations, chambers of commerce, Tourist Promotion Organizations, and individual businesses.

Travel Impacts

These programs can help increase nonmotorized transportation. Travel impacts tend to be greatest during a particular campaign, but the experience can lead participants to long-term changes in travel habits. Analysis by Wardman, Tight and Page (2007) indicates that an integrated program of improved cycling conditions (with bike lanes on commuter routes), Financial Incentives ($2-10 per day of cycling rather than driving) and improved trip end facilities (bike parking and shower facilities) could increase British cycling rates from about 6% to more than 20% of for commute trips under 7.5 miles, about half of which displace automobile trips. Public Bike Systems can shift as much as 8% of short urban trips to bicycle. See Evaluating Nonmotorized Transport chapter for more discussion of travel impacts.

Table 1 Travel Impact Summary

Objective	Rating	Comments
Reduces total traffic.	2
Reduces peak period traffic.	2
Shifts peak to off-peak periods.	0
Shifts automobile travel to alternative modes.	2	Encourages nonmotorized transportation.
Improves access, reduces the need for travel.	0
Increased ridesharing.	0
Increased public transit.	0
Increased cycling.	3	Encourages cycling.
Increased walking.	3	Encourages walking.
Increased Telework.	0
Reduced freight traffic.	0

Rating from 3 (very beneficial) to –3 (very harmful). A 0 indicates no impact or mixed impacts.

Benefits and Costs

Shifts from driving to cycling or walking can reduce traffic congestion, road and parking facility costs and environmental impacts, and increase community Livability and improved Public Health. Programs to encourage and support walking and cycling can increase Transport Choice by raising public acceptance and support for nonmotorized travel (Fietsberaad, 2008).

Shifts from automobile to nonmotorized transportation can be particularly effective at Energy Conservation and Emission Reductions by reducing short motor vehicle trips which have high per-mile fuel consumption and emission rates. As a result, each 1% shift of mileage from automobile to nonmotorized modes tends to reduce energy consumption and pollution emissions by 2-4%. A short pedestrian or cycle trip often replaces a longer automobile trip (for example, consumers may choose between shopping at a local store or driving to a major shopping center).

Safety impacts vary depending on circumstances and perspective: although nonmotorized modes tend to have higher casualty rates per passenger-mile, this is offset by reduced risk to other road users, reduced total mileage, and improved health from aerobic exercise (Safety Impacts of TDM). A major study found that Danish workers who regularly commute by bicycle have a 40% reduction in mortality compared with people who do not cycle to work (Andersen, et al, 2000), which suggests that the incremental risks of bicycle transportation are outweighed by health benefits, at least for experienced adult cyclists riding in a bicycle-friendly community. Pucher and Dijkstra (2000) discuss these risks and describe ways to minimize crash risk to pedestrians and cyclists.

Costs consist primarily of program and facility expenses. See Evaluating Nonmotorized Transport chapter for more discussion of benefits and costs.

Table 2 Benefit Summary

Objective	Rating	Comments
Congestion Reduction	1	Reduces automobile travel.
Road & Parking Savings	2	Reduces automobile travel.
Consumer Savings	2	Reduces automobile travel.
Transport Choice	1	Increases choice for people who can walk or cycle.
Road Safety	2	Mixed crash impacts. Overall beneficial to public health.
Environmental Protection	3	Reduces automobile travel.
Efficient Land Use	2	Reduces automobile travel. Encourages higher-density.
Community Livability	3	Reduces automobile travel, improves street environment.

Rating from 3 (very beneficial) to –3 (very harmful). A 0 indicates no impact or mixed impacts.

Equity Impacts

Most people can walk or cycle, although many cannot use these modes for transportation because they live in automobile-dependent areas. Programs that promote cycling and walking for transportation can benefit lower-income and transportation disadvantaged people by increasing public acceptance and support of nonmotorized travel. These programs may require subsidies, although these are usually smaller than per-trip subsidies for automobile travel (such as free automobile parking).

Table 3 Equity Summary

Criteria	Rating	Comments
Treats everybody equally.	0	Some people who cannot cycle may feel excluded.
Individuals bear the costs they impose.	0	May require subsidies, but often less than for a car trip.
Progressive with respect to income.	1	Many lower-income people cycle for transport.
Benefits transportation disadvantaged.	1	Many non-drivers cycle for transport.
Improves basic mobility.	1	Yes

Rating from 3 (very beneficial) to –3 (very harmful). A 0 indicates no impact or mixed impacts.

Applications

Walking and cycling promotion is appropriate in almost any geographic area, and can be particularly effective in areas with pedestrian and bicycle friendly environments. Such programs can be sponsored by local governments, business associations, neighborhood associations or educational organizations.

Table 4 Application Summary

Geographic	Rating	Organization	Rating
Large urban region.	2	Federal government.	1
High-density, urban.	2	State/provincial government.	2
Medium-density, urban/suburban.	2	Regional government.	2
Town.	2	Municipal/local government.	3
Low-density, rural.	1	Business Associations/TMA.	3
Commercial center.	3	Individual business.	2
Residential neighborhood.	2	Developer.	0
Resort/recreation area.	2	Neighborhood association.	3
College/university communities.	3	Campus.	3

Ratings range from 0 (not appropriate) to 3 (very appropriate).

Category

Incentive to Use Alternative Modes

Relationships With Other TDM Strategies

This strategy is closely related to Nonmotorized Transport Planning, Managing Nonmotorized Facilities, Public Bike Systems, Bike/Transit Integration and Individual Actions for Efficient Transportation. It supports and is supported by Commute Trip Reduction, School Trip Management, Campus Transportation Management, and other strategies that provide incentives to reduce automobile travel.

Stakeholders

A public agency or non-profit organization usually organizes these programs. They are often supported as part of Commute Trip Reduction, Transportation Management Associations and Transportation Demand Management programs. Some national organizations such as the League of American Bicyclists (which sponsors National Bike to Work Month) provide planning and marketing resources. Media and corporate support can be important.

Barriers To Implementation

These programs require organizational leadership and funding. There is seldom opposition to such programs, but some people may be skeptical of their benefits.

Best Practices

Organizations listed below have experience operating various types of cycling and walking campaigns, and provide resources for developing local programs. Cleary and McClintock (2000) provide recommendations for employee cycling program development. Best practices include:

· Create a clear, consistent and positive message about the benefits of nonmotorized travel.

· Use promotional campaigns as part of an overall program to improve walking and cycling conditions. Identify and overcome barriers to nonmotorized transport, including bottlenecks in the street system, lack of education resources, lack of bicycle parking, and inadequate support from employers.

· Find opportunities for cooperation with other organizations, including recreation, public health, community development, schools, tourist promotion and neighborhood organizations.

· Work with local planners, employers and employees who cycle to design and improve cycling facilities and services. Include people who current do not cycle in program development to help identify and overcome the barriers they perceive to cycle transportation.

· Use cycling, walking and recreational organizations to enlist volunteers.

· Emphasize cycling skills and safety education.

Wit and Humor

A couple were riding a tandem bicycle on a tour of the countryside. Late in the afternoon the stoker (rider in the back position) asked the captain (rider in the front) how they are doing.

“I’ve got some good news, and some bad news,” said the captain.

“What’s the bad news?” asked the stoker.

“We’re lost,” was the reply.

“What’s the good news?” asked the stoker.

“We’re making good time,” replied the captain.

Examples and Case Studies

National Bike to Work Month (www.bikeleague.org)

The League of American Bicyclists has declared May to be National Bike Month since 1956. The League also promotes Bike to Work Week and Bike-to-Work Day. They invite communities, corporations, clubs, and individuals to join in sponsoring bicycling activities during the month of May in order to increase awareness and acceptance of bicycling. The League produces a National Bike Month Event Organizer’s Kit, to help individuals and organizations that promote these events.

Employee Bicycle Travel Reimbursement

Some employers, such as the state of California offer employee travel reimbursement for cycling (www.dpa.ca.gov/job-info/short-term-travel/personal-vehicle-mileage-reimbursement.htm ). Such programs often provide a much lower reimbursement rate than for automobile travel, although it actually makes sense to apply the same rate to cycling and driving, since food energy is relatively costly and employers should not favor driving over cycling, although they may want to limit the amount of time that cyclists can bill for travel time using driving as the baseline. For example, if a car trip takes 20 minutes and cycling takes 30 minutes, the cyclist would only be able to charge the first 20 minutes of their trip as work time, the rest would be their personal time.

Eugene Encourages Bicycle Transportation (www.eugene-or.gov)

Eugene, Oregon has a well-planned and well used cycling network that includes 28 miles of off-street paths, 78 miles of on-street bicycle lanes, and 4 bicycle/pedestrian bridges spanning the Willamette River. This results in 8% of commute trips by bicycle.

Bicycle Commuting Contest (Climate Solutions, 2005)

The Thurston County, Washington Bicycle Commuter Contest encourages individuals to bicycle to work, school, and to run errands throughout the month of May. The contest has been a participatory event for Thurston County residents and employees since 1988. The goal of the Bicycle Commuter Contest is to promote cycling as an efficient, non-polluting method of travel. Participants keep track of how often and how far they commute by bicycle, and win prizes in a variety of categories. In 1999 574 participants rode a total of nearly 15,000 miles. Individuals and teams compete to see who can:

· Ride the most miles.

· Ride the most number of days in their age category.

· Tally more total miles than any other team.

· Ride the most days per team-member (advantage to smaller teams).

· Compile the most days ridden by all members (advantage to larger teams).

· Compile the most days ridden by first-time participants (advantage to teams that recruit first-time riders).

Canadian Policies Increase Cycling (Pucher and Buehler, 2006)

Pucher and Buehler (2006) find that despite a colder climate, Canadians cycle about three times more than Americans. Reasons for this difference include Canada’s higher urban densities and mixed-use development, shorter trip distances, lower incomes, higher costs of owning, driving and parking a car, safer cycling conditions, and more extensive cycling infrastructure and training programs. The researchers point out that most of these factors result from differences in transport and land-use policies, and not from intrinsic differences in history, culture or resource availability. They suggest that it is possible to significantly increase cycling levels in the United States by adopting Canadian policies that have promoted cycling and enhanced its safety.

Bike To Work Week Campaign (www.biketoworkvictoria.bc.ca)

A Bike-to-Work-Week campaign is held annually in Victoria, British Columbia. In 2000 it included:

· A bicycle commuting contest with more than 200 teams at different worksites competing in various classes to see which can achieve the most bicycle commuters. All participants are eligible for prizes and drawings.

· A friendly contest between drivers and cyclists determines who gets the first cup of hot coffee at a downtown coffee shop without violating traffic rules.

· Free, bicycle skills training workshops for employees who want to learn more about bicycle commuting.

· An elementary school literary competition between bikes and cars. Cycling and driving parents leave the school at a specified time, travel to the downtown public library, check out a book and return to the school while following all the rules of the road. Students that estimate the closest time differences between the two modes are eligible to win great bike prizes.

· A Bike-to-Work-Week non-profit organization that plans and coordinates activities.

Go For Green (www.goforgreen.ca)

Go for Green is a national non-profit, charitable organization encouraging Canadians to pursue healthy, outdoor physical activities while being good environmental citizens. It encourages active transportation (walking and cycling). It sponsors the Commuter Challenge and school transport management programs. Go For Green provides information and materials, including newsletters, report, case studies and merchandize (logo shirts and hats).

Cycle-Friendly Employers’ Project (Cleary and McClintock, 2000)

A regional program in Nottingham, UK implemented in 1996, called “Cycle-Friendly Employers” included a number of improvements and incentives to encourage bicycle commuting, including workplace shower and changing facilities, workplace bicycle storage, cycle mileage allowances for short journeys (15 pence per mile), company pool bikes, public information, promotion (e.g., special events for cycle commuters), and a Bicycle Users Group to provide feedback from participants. Employers reported an increase in cycle commuting, and that most provisions for cycling are well used. More employees cycle more often. This resulting increase in cycle commuting stimulated additional bicycle facility improvements by local governments. The program is credited with increasing cycle commuting in the region by 19.5%, during which areas without such programs had a small decrease in bicycle travel.

Bethlehem, PA Bicycle Commuter Facility (www.car-free.org)

The Bethlehem Bicycle Commuter Facility affords its members access to bicycle tools, a shower facility, work sink, bathroom, washer/dryer unit, secure bicycle parking and a bike wash. There is a $400 annual fee for membership, half of which is payable by 20 hours of community service. There is a $100 security deposit for the keys.

Public Bike Rentals (Beatley, 2000)

Public bike programs exist in Scandinavia, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and France. Typically, the bikes are withdrawn from municipally furnished racks by depositing a token costing about $3.50, and then replaced in similar racks (with token returned) at the end of the trip.

Copenhagen Free Bike Program (www.cios.com)

In 1995, the Free City-Bike Program was implemented by the City of Copenhagen. One thousand specially designed free City-Bikes were stationed at 120 stands around the City at train and subway stations, parking lots and large housing blocks. The bikes were also stationed around common final destinations, such as office buildings, shopping districts, parks and other tourist attractions. For a deposit of only 20 Dkr. (US$3), anyone can take a bike and cycle wherever they want, within downtown (restricted area). When the bike is returned to any bike stand within the area, the user gets their deposit back. There are now more than 2,000 bikes in the program.

Loaner Bicycles (TA, 1998)

The Downtown Management Commission of Boulder, CO, has made available 100 bicycles and 50 helmets for residents and tourists; all that’s required is a credit card as a deposit. Champlain College in Burlington, VT, gives bikes to students who agree not to keep a car on campus.

Employer-Funded Commuter Bikes (TA, 1998)

The Nabisco bakery in Buena Park, CA, gives new bicycles to employees who commute to work three out of five days for a six-month period. Those who commute on their own bikes are given $300, the cost of a moderately priced new bike. Ten percent of the plant’s 480 workers now commute regularly by bicycle, helping Nabisco satisfy the Los Angeles area’s anti-pollution rules. “These commuters have become biking enthusiasts,” reports Nabisco transportation coordinator Byron Kemp. “For them, biking is now an important social activity, and they regularly participate in fun rides on weekends.”

Apple Computer provides free use of mountain bikes for employees at its Cupertino, CA, facility, as part of a Commuter Alternatives program. The chemical company Ciba-Geigy was able to avoid building a new garage at a facility in Switzerland by encouraging its employees to ride to work. Any worker willing to give up his or her parking space was given a new bicycle, an option 230 employees chose.

Cross-Continent Run Teaches Exercise and Education (Audrey Van Eerden, Victoria)

Each September I presented the idea of a cross-continent run to my elementary students. They were given a few days to think about it and then they voted on paper. The concept is simple. Each day an average size class of 25-30 students walks, jogs or runs one kilometre every school day. The class records the cumulative distance and marks the location on a map of Canada. A “thousand” party celebrates each 1000 kilometres with a film or stories and pictures about where we are at that point in the run. The proudest celebration is when we symbolically dip our toes in ocean water to signify crossing 4500km from ocean to ocean.

The activity provides many benefits. The children gain confidence in their ability to achieve a set goal and that confidence transfers to other areas of achievement. The students and teacher are energized by the physical activity at the start of the day. An honour system allows students to contribute additional kilometres that they run outside of school. Math skills were used to calculate the growing results and students enjoyed learning about places in Canada as we run by. We used variety to make our run interesting. Some days we included various guests. We tried racewalking and skipping and pursuit (a game when runners stay in single file and the last runner sprints to the lead and then slows to a jog, and then the next runner sprints to the lead, and so on.) Most importantly we actively contributed to our health and we felt good when we returned to our classroom.

Neighborhood Design Affects Walking Activity

A study comparing neighborhood features and travel activity by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC, 2008) found that the highest proportion of pedestrian trips (18%) is found in areas where a path is relatively more direct to nearby retail and recreational destinations on foot than by car. The lowest proportion (10%) of trips occur on foot in places where there is a low degree of pedestrian connectivity. By comparison, places with both high levels of pedestrian and vehicle connectivity have only about 14% mode share on foot. These results suggest that the relative connectivity of pedestrian and vehicular modes is an important predictor of the choice to walk.

BikeWell (www.movingtheeconomy.ca/cs_bikewell.html)

BikeWell works with employers, corporations and institutions to promote clean transport and “Wellness,” a holistic concept based on healthy living and environmentally friendly transport. BikeWell’s programs integrate green/clean transport into holistic human settlement and employment scenarios, which include:

· An employee based initiative that starts with road and cycling safety and maintenance.

· Encouraging students to develop projects which incorporate cycling as a means to reduce transport barriers.

· Bulk purchase to lower the cost of bicycles for participants.

· Cycle tours as an income-generating activity.

· Encouraging employers to purchase bicycles and allow employees to pay for the bikes over time by direct payroll deductions or savings schemes.

· Community and employer health and safety day events.

BikeWell, initially developed by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) and South African partners, offers corporate and other sponsors the opportunity to start their own bicycle wellness program for employees as well as sponsoring initiatives for the less fortunate. PEER Africa and Kutlwanong Civic Integrated Housing Trust (KCIHT) are the principal implementing arm of the program in South Africa and both have launched projects for their staff. Letters of interest have been received from several large institutions keen to introduce the program into their corporate wellness programs.

BikeWell differs from traditional bike give-away projects in several key areas:

· Integration of a train-the-trainer concept.

· Integration of the health and safety aspects of the program, including activities for populations considered to be at high risk for HIV.

· Provision of new bikes fitted with proper safety equipment.

· The focus on empowering historically disadvantaged bike dealers like KCIHT.

In addition the program links cycling to small business and institutions. For example, the program allows the KCIHT staff the opportunity to earn a living through promotion of cycling events, and lowers the transport costs and time for staff to get to work. PEER Africa staff technician Richard Ramphiri uses his company sponsored bike on the job between construction sites and for personal use to travel to and from his home.

University of Florida Bicycle Safety Education and Enforcement Programs (www.dso.ufl.edu/stg/Traffic_Safety.html)

The University Police Department’s Bicycle Safety Education Program is designed to promote a greater awareness of the duties and responsibilities associated with the operation of bicycles in the greater campus traffic mix. The goal of the program is to provide members of the university community with a desirable combination of education, encouragement, enforcement and facilities necessary to gain voluntary acceptance and compliance with bicycle safety standards and the law.

In conjunction with the Alachua County Traffic Court, the Community Services Division began conducting a twice-weekly Bicycle Traffic Safety School. This portion of the program allows bicyclists who violate traffic laws while on the university campus the opportunity to attend a safety school in lieu of paying the assessed fine. The school is designed to provide an educational alternative to the payment of traffic fines, thus creating an incentive to learn more about safe bicycling. The school is also available to anyone interested in obtaining a greater awareness of the duties and responsibilities associated with the operation of bicycles in the campus traffic mix.

When a person receives a bicycle traffic citation, they have 30 days from the citation date to exercise one of the following options: pay the fine ($70.00 for a moving violation or $36 for a nonmoving or equipment violation); appeal the citation to the Alachua County Traffic Court; or in lieu of the fine, enroll and complete attendance at the University Police Department’s Bicycle Traffic Safety School within 30 days. Classes are currently scheduled on Tuesdays from 7:00 to 8:30 pm and Saturdays from 9:00 to 10:30 am.

Pedestrian Paradise

By Jay Walljasper, Utne Reader

 April 30, 2004

One of the local characters in the small city where I grew up was Judge Green. A giant man, probably 6 feet 7, he was widely admired around town, in part because he had been star of the only Urbana High School team ever to make it to the championship game of the Illinois state basketball tournament. I remember him as a cheerful man who greeted everyone with a smile. But he had one trait that made him seem a bit peculiar: He walked to work every day. If you drove down Broadway Avenue at certain hours, you couldn’t miss his towering figure striding along the sidewalk.

One day, home from college and already an ardent environmentalist, I was walking uptown myself when it dawned on me that Judge Green’s home was only a few blocks from the courthouse hardly more than half a mile. I was shocked. The man many folks thought eccentric (and I thought heroic) for not driving to work each day was covering a distance that would be nothing to pedestrians in Europe, or most other places outside the United States. How sad, I sighed. There really is no hope that Americans will ever get out of their cars if a half-mile walk looks to them like an Olympic endurance event.

Walking, in many ways, is still viewed as an exotic and slightly odd habit. Try this experiment some time at a party or other gathering: Announce that you are walking home. I’ll bet you, two-to-one odds, that someone will offer a ride, even if you live just three blocks away and it’s a sunny 80 degrees outside. This is a generous gesture, of course, seen by most folks as similar to giving a glass of water to someone who says they’re thirsty. Why walk if you could go in a car?

 But the answer to that question is becoming more complicated than it used to be. The net effect of two hundred and fifty million Americans always taking the car results in polluted skies, congested roads, global warming, burgeoning obesity and a growing sense of isolation in most American communities.

Our decision to drive made over and over again, has eliminated the option to walk in many places. Many kids, old people, poor people, and disabled people are living under a form of house arrest, unable to go anywhere without finding someone to chauffeur them. Sidewalks are seen as an unnecessary luxury in most suburbs, and 60 years of traffic “improvements” on America’s streets have rendered many other communities unfit for pedestrians. The simplest human acts buying groceries, going to school, visiting friends now depend upon climbing into a car. People today even drive somewhere to take a walk because the streets around their homes feel inhospitable.

Yet one thing has changed for the better since I was a kid in the days of cheap gas, open roads, and plentiful parking. Increasing numbers of Americans seeing a future of traffic jams, soulless sprawl, and never-ending wars for oil are looking for ways to get out of the driver’s seat. Even at a time when politicians in Washington are allocating billions for another round of mega-highway construction and pop culture celebrates the sexy supremacy of Hummer drivers, there is an emerging movement to reclaim our right to take a walk.

All across the land, people are speaking up, organizing meetings, fighting city hall and, in some cases, working with city hall to make streets safer and more pleasant for pedestrians. They’ve gotten crosswalks painted in some places, streets narrowed in others, stop signs and speed bumps installed, zoning ordinances changed to promote pedestrian-friendly development, and plans created to help kids walk or bike to school.

These issues reach deep into the heart of people’s lives. Two neighbors bump into one another on the sidewalk and start talking about planting more flowers along the street, turning an empty storefront into a coffee shop or lobbying the city council to add bike lanes to that busy road. In small but important ways, these people are changing the face of America block by block.

This is a classic grassroots movement, with no clearly identifiable leaders. But a number of the people most active in the cause have been inspired by a former seminary student, magazine editor and window washer from Brisbane, Australia named David Engwicht. Marked-up copies of Engwicht’s books, Reclaiming Our Cities and Towns and Street Reclaiming (both New Society Publishers), are passed from hand to hand at community meetings and potlucks across North America.

Engwicht’s message is as simple as it radical. For nearly all of human history, he declares, streets belonged to everybody. Kids played there, dogs slept there, people stopped there to flirt or gossip. But over recent decades, beginning in Detroit and spreading over much of the world, streets have been seized for the exclusive use of cars and trucks. Most communities have never recovered from this theft. Deprived of our neighborhood gathering spots, we’ve retreated to the backyard or indoors to avoid the noise, smell and danger of speeding traffic. In the process, we’ve withdrawn from one another.

“Traffic Calming,” the booklet Engwicht wrote to make the case against road widening, not only turned the tide in his hometown; it took on a life of its own. He expanded it into the book Reclaiming Our Cities and Towns, which inspired a group of neighbors and me to organize resistance to the proposed widening of an already unsafe street near our homes in Minneapolis. At a public meeting, we outlined Engwicht’s ideas about traffic calming, quoting from the book and noting that streets could be redesigned so people and cars could share the space. Road-widening projects had been opposed around town many times before, but rarely stopped because city officials succeeded in branding opponents as “anti-progress.” We, however, were able to win over the crowd by articulating a vision of what we were for, rather than just what we were against. The city dropped its plans to widen the avenue that very night.

Engwicht suggests we treat the street as our “outdoor living room” and find ways it can be used for more than just transportation of people and goods. He now believes that traffic-calming efforts must encourage vital public life just as much as discourage speeding traffic. “Kids playing on the sidewalk or beautiful canopies of trees over the streets slow traffic more than speed bumps,” he told me. “There are all kinds of fun things a neighborhood can do to accomplish this. When I get back home, I am going to put a bench in my front yard to get people to stop awhile, and maybe help kids on the block create scarecrows to put up along our street. Drivers will definitely slow down to look at that.”

Anyone joining the burgeoning movement to make America more walkable soon discovers the key issue is not urban planning or transportation priorities but love. Places we love become places that we hang out, and those are always the best places for walking. Fred Kent, president of the Project for Public Spaces (PPS), means that almost literally. “If I had to summarize our work in one image,” he says, leading me through a maze of Asian shops along Canal Street in New York, “it would be a couple smooching on a park bench.”

Kent actually has thousands of pictures of people hugging and kissing on city streets on file among the hundreds of thousands of photos he has shot in 30 years as a tireless advocate for public places. His deep love for street life became apparent when I visited the PPS office last year. Every time we sat down to talk, Kent suggested we take a walk, so for several days I trailed him through the streets of New York as he snapped photos, pointed out favorite spots, and shouted answers to my questions above the hubbub of the city.

“Isn’t it fun when you don’t know where you’re going to wind up?” Kent asked with a grin as we wandered past an Italian bakery, antique toy store and guitar shop near the PPS office, stopping to talk with two well-dressed and slightly tipsy couples from Auburn, Alabama, who were enjoying their walk through Greenwich Village as much as we were.

Inspired by William H. Whyte, a noted journalist and author who invented a “smile index” to measure the quality of urban spaces, Kent founded PPS in 1975 with environmental designer Kathleen Madden and architect Steve Davies to draw attention to the importance of creating and preserving congenial public settings where people can walk, talk, and just enjoy themselves. The group gained international acclaim for its part in the revival of Bryant Park, the backyard of the New York Public Library, once overrun with drug dealers and now one of New Yorkers most beloved places to pass time.

With a staff of 24, PPS worked in 31 states and 11 countries last year, joining with local citizen groups, public officials, foundations and businesses to engage in what they call “placemaking.” This means taking every opportunity to promote public life and pedestrian activity by careful attention to how streets, parks, buildings, transportation options and public markets work. Through workshops, seminars, a participatory “Place Game” they’ve created, and a book, How to Turn a Place Around, PPS offers a grassroots approach to help people make their communities more livable and lovable.

“Those who live in a place are the experts on that place,” Kent told me. “They know more than architects, urban planners, traffic engineers, landscape architects, and real estate agents about what will make that place thrive. But often they are not even asked about their ideas.”

The central point of PPS’s work, everyone involved with the organization will tell you, is that projects need to be “place-driven.” By that, they mean that any effort to improve a place should not be viewed strictly as a question of transportation access, or crime control, or economic development, or affordable housing, or architectural excellence. These are worthy goals, but they cannot be achieved if too little attention is devoted to creating a vital place where people will want to live, work, visit, or walk a place they will care about, that they will love.

“The single thing that makes a place a good place is that it is interesting,” Kent explained as we strolled down Fifth Avenue toward Central Park. “And that’s the same with a good place to walk. I love to walk down this street not because of the fancy shops. I love it because there’s always a surprise, a sense of serendipity, great people-watching, and moments of just pleasure.”

“Of course,” he added as we step into the Plaza Hotel to look over the elegant lobby and use the bathroom, “I like Chinatown more. It has all the life of Fifth Avenue but with different accents and price tags. And Mulberry Street in Little Italy it’s so nice and alive and messy. There is nothing you could do to make that place any more interesting.”

A few minutes later, as we headed up Madison Avenue to explore the Upper East Side, I looked over at Kent, his face shining with the energy and excitement of a kid on the first day of summer vacation, and thought, for the first time in years, of Judge Green back in my hometown. A reserved Midwesterner rather than an ebullient Easterner, Judge Green nonetheless had the same wide, sincere smile on his face as he strolled through the streets of Urbana. Then it dawned on me: The way to get people out of their cars, something I had been wondering about since college, is not to chide them about ruining the environment or shame them about being fat but to show them how much fun, and how much of life itself, they are missing by not walking. And how much more fun we’d all have if we created better places for everyone across America to take a walk.

Ciclovia and Recreovia (www.streetfilms.org/archives/ciclovia)

Every Sunday more than 70 miles of Bogota, Columbia streets are closed to motor vehicle traffic so residents can walk, bike, run, skate, recreate, picnic, and visit with family, neighbors & strangers. Nearly 1.8 million Colombians use the Ciclovia and Recreovia to de-stress, get healthy, and connect personally with their fellow citizens. Young or old, rich or poor, pedestrian or cyclist - in Bogotá everyone loves the Ciclovia. This program encourages share living, civility and urbanism.

Velib Paris Bicycle Rental (www.velib.paris.fr)

In 2007 the city of Paris launched a new self-service bicycle rental system called Velib. The system provides approximately 20,000 rental bikes available at approximately 1,400 stations located around the city. To access the bikes, riders can purchase a one-day card for 1 euro, a weekly card for 5 euros, or an annual card for 29 euros. For each trip, the first half-hour of use is free, the second half-hour costs 1 euro, at third half hour costs 2 euros, and each addition half-hour after that costs 4 euros. Example: a 25 minute trip = 0 euros, a 50 minute trip = 1 euro, an hour and 15-minute ride = 3 euros. This price structure is designed to encourage frequent use of the bikes for short trips. Each Velib’ parking station is equipped with muni-meters to purchase one and 7-day passes and to pay any additional charges once the bike is dropped off. The Velib’ meters also provides information on other station locations. Paris also has over 371 km (230 miles) of cycling lanes.

A New Approach to Improving Cycling; Bicycle Diversion Training Programs

by Eleanor Lippman, California Association of Bicycling Organizations Newsletter, CommuniCABO, Fall 2000

We all know that bicyclists are expected to operate their bicycles by the same rules of the road as do motorists. Both bicyclists and motorists have equal responsibility to follow all laws and regulations in the vehicle code.

However, the question of what to do about bicycle scofflaws often comes up. Should police actively enforce the laws and ticket bicyclists for infractions of the vehicle code?

Several cities have looked at the statistics pertaining to bicycle collisions and have concluded that deaths and injuries to cyclists can be significantly reduced by education and training bicyclists as compared to merely recommending the use of a bicycle helmet.

Since studies clearly show that bicyclists are solely at fault in about half of the reported crashes resulting in injury or death, some police departments are addressing the issue directly using a refreshingly new concept called Bicycle Diversion Training programs.

Rather than police issuing tickets to bicyclists leaving riders no option but to pay hefty fines (and possibly have the infraction appear on their driving records), some cities are using the Bicycle Diversion Training Program to change the behavior of bicyclists.

How does Bicycle Diversion Training Program work? Police (ideally police who are trained cyclists and understand how the vehicle code applies to bicycles) issue tickets to bicyclists who break traffic laws. Instead of paying a fine (running a red light results in a fine of $271) or making a court appearance, the cyclist is offered the opportunity to attend a safety training workshop. Training is designed for the age level of the bicyclist; it includes rules of the road, common traffic events and proper response, equipment and clothing that contributes to bicycle safety. In some cases, training includes videos and practical exercises including the use of mock cities or actual trips on city streets. Training ends with a test to emphasize important teaching points and participants who complete the program are given a gift that relates to safety (such as a helmet or headlight). The goal is to provide training to change behavior rather than to be punitive.

Bicycle Diversion Training Programs are established and effective. Tempe, Arizona, University of California at Davis through their Transportation and Parking Services, Huntington Beach, California, as well as Walnut Creek and Brentwood in Contra Costa County California, have adopted Bicycle Diversion Training Programs. The advocates among us would do well to spread the word to public officials to encourage all local jurisdictions to develop their own programs.

We can make a difference by contacting local officials and encouraging them to establish:

· An education program for bicyclists.

· A program that in lieu of paying a traffic fine or going to court, bicyclists can attend an education program and finally.

· An end to police turning a blind eye to illegal and unsafe bicycling practices.

Thanks to Robert Raburn of the East Bay Bicycle Coalition for providing information for this article.

References And Resources For More Information

John Allen (2001), Bicycling Street Smarts: Riding Confidently, Legally and Safely, Rubel BikeMaps (www.bikexprt.com/streetsmarts/usa/index.htm).

Alta Planning + Design (2005), Caltrans Pedestrian and Bicycle Facilities Technical Reference Guide: A Technical Reference and Technology Transfer Synthesis for Caltrans Planners and Engineers, California Department of Transportation (www.dot.ca.gov/hq/traffops/survey/pedestrian/TR_MAY0405.pdf).

Lars Bo Andersen, et al (2000), “All-Cause Mortality Associated With Physical Activity During Leisure Time, Work, Sports and Cycling to Work,” Archives of Internal Medicine, Vol. 160, No. 11 (http://archinte.ama-assn.org/issues/v160n11/full/ioi90593.html), June 12, 2000, pp. 1621-1628.

Jim Beamguard (1999), “Packing Pavement,” Tampa Tribune (www.swt.org/share/bguard.html). Compares the road space used by transit patrons, motorists and cyclists.

Timothy Beatley (2000), Green Urbanism; Learning from European Cities, Island Press (www.islandpress.com).

Bike Commuter (www.bikecommuter.com) is a website that provides resources and encouragement for using cycling as a transportation mode.

Bicycle Information Center (www.bicyclinginfo.org) provides information on nonmotorized transport planning and programs.

Bicycle Policy Audit (www.bypad.org) is a European Union research project to develop guidance for optimizing municipal and regional cycling policies.

Bike Metro (www.bikemetro.com) identifies recommended bicycle routes from any two addresses in Southern California. It provides specific directions and an elevation profile, based on users’ individual tolerance for hills and traffic. It also calculates the cost of the trip by automobile and the savings cycling, and calories consumed.

BikePlan Source (www.bikeplan.com) provides resources to help improve community bicycling conditions.

Rick Browning (1999), End-0f-The-Trip Facility Design Program, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (www.deq.state.or.us). This is a set of excellent information sheets on bicycle parking facilities that are now available at the Victoria Transport Policy Institute website:

“Installing Secure and Convenient Bike Racks” (www.vtpi.org/bp1.pdf)

“Providing Covered Bike Parking” (www.vtpi.org/bp2.pdf)

“Bike Parking in Public Areas” (www.vtpi.org/bp3.pdf)

“Indoor Bicycle Parking” (www.vtpi.org/bp4.pdf)

“Lockers, Showers and Changing Rooms” (www.vtpi.org/bp5.pdf)

BTW (2004), A Behaviour Change Model for Bike To Work Week Campaigns,

Victoria Bike To Work Society (www.biketoworkvictoria.ca). This proposal summarizes the success of past regional Bike to Work campaigns and proposes a significant expansion to increase their total benefits.

Jeroen Buis (2000), The Economic Significance of Cycling; A Study to Illustrate the Costs and Benefits of Cycling Policy, VNG uitgeverij (The Haag; www.vnguitgeverij.nl) and I-ce (www.cycling.nl).

Bushwack Australia (2005), Towards a Walkable Australia, Bushwack Australia (www.bushwackaustralia.org).

BV (2003), The Cycle-Friendly Workplace, Bicycle Victoria (www.bv.com.au). Details

five easy steps to make workplaces more cycle friendly, including encouraging businesses to discover the benefits, improve facilities, create a cycle-friendly culture, provide incentives and celebrate a cycling culture.

Sally Cairns, et al (2004), Smarter Choices - Changing the Way We Travel, UK Department for Transport (www.dft.gov.uk); available at www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_control/documents/contentservertemplate/dft_index.hcst?n=13850&l=2. This comprehensive study provides detailed evaluation of the potential travel impacts and costs of various mobility management strategies. Includes numerous case studies.

ClearChannel (2007), Smart Bike Information Document, Clear Channel Smart Bikes (www.smartbike.com).

J. Cleary and Hugh McClintock (2000), “Evaluation of the Cycle Challenge Project: A Case Study of the Nottingham Cycle-Friendly Employers’ Project, Transport Policy, Vol. 7, No. 2, April 2000, pp. 117-125.

Climate Solutions (2005), Bicycle Commuter Contest Organizer’s Guide, Climate Solutions (www.climatesolutions.org); available at (www.climatesolutions.org/pubs/pdfs/BCC-OrgGuide.pdf).

CMHC (2008), Giving Pedestrians an Edge - Using Street Layout to Influence Transportation Choice, Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (www03.cmhc-schl.gc.ca); at www03.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/b2c/catalog/product.do?next=cross#.

Community Bicycle Network (CBN) Factsheets, newsletter, curriculum guides, and action anuals, Detour Publications (www.detourpublications.com).

CyclingAdvocacy.com (http://cyclingadvocacy.com) is a website dedicated to supporting cycling advocacy with comprehensive information resources.

Marie Demers (2006), Walk For Your Life! Restoring Neighborhood Walkways To Enhance Community Life, Improve Street Safety and Reduce Obesity, Vital Health Publishing (www.vitalhealthbooks.com/book/2414947630.html), 2006.

DFT (various years), Traffic Advisory Leaflets: Cycle Facilities, Department for Transport (www.roads.dft.gov.uk/roadnetwork/ditm/tal/cycle/index.htm). Various information resources related to cycling promotion and planning.

Clarence Eckerson (2007), Ciclovia and Recreovia, Transportation Alternatives (www.streetfilms.org/archives/ciclovia)

FHWA (2008), A Resident's Guide for Creating Safe and Walkable Communities, Federal Highway Administration Office of Safety; FHWA-SA-07-016 (http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov); at http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/ped/ped_walkguide.

Fietsberaad (www.fietsberaad.nl), the Centre of Expertise on Bicycle Policy located in the Netherlands, works to develop, disseminate and exchange practical knowledge and experience for improving and encouraging cycling.

Nick Gamble (1996), Bikes Mean Business! A Primer on Starting a Bike-Related Business, and Delivering the Goods by Bike, Detour Publications (www.web.net/~detour).

Go For Green, The Active Living & Environment Program (www.goforgree.ca) provides resources to promote nonmotorized transportation.

Thomas Gotschi and Kevin Mills (2008), Active Transportation for America: A Case for Increased Federal Investment in Bicycling and Walking, Rail-To-Trails Conservancy (www.railstotrails.org); at www.railstotrails.org/ATFA.

The Greater Victoria Bike To Work Society (www.biketoworkvictoria.ca) is an excellent example of a bicycle encouragement program.   

GVCC (2001), Bike Sense: A Guide To Rules of the Road, Bike Handling, Traffic Skills and the Enjoyment of Cycling for Live, Greater Victoria Cycling Coalition (http://bikesense.bc.ca/manual.htm).

Healthy Transportation Network (www.healthytransportation.net) is a government-sponsored program to works with local communities to encourage bicycle and pedestrian transportation, encourage safety and help create communities that are walkable and bicycle-friendly.

International Commuter Cyclists Bike To Work Week (http://biketowork.itelcom.com) provides information on Bike-To-Work-Week programs.

It All Adds Up to Cleaner Air (www.italladdsup.gov) is a public information program sponsored by The Alliance for Clean Air and Transportation, a coalition of government and private organizations to raise awareness of the connection between transportation choices, traffic congestion, and air quality. 

Todd Litman (2003), Economic Value of Walkability, Victoria Transport Policy Institute (www.vtpi.org); available at www.vtpi.org/walkability.pdf.

Todd Litman (2004), Whose Roads?; Defining Bicyclists’ and Pedestrians’ Right to Use Public Roadways, Victoria Transport Policy Institute (www.vtpi.org); available at www.vtpi.org/whoserd.pdf. .

Todd Litman (2005), Quantifying the Benefits of Nonmotorized Transportation for Achieving TDM Objectives, Victoria Transport Policy Institute (www.vtpi.org); available at www.vtpi.org/nmt-tdm.pdf.

Todd Litman, et al. (2002), Pedestrian and Bicycle Planning; A Guide to Best Practices, Victoria Transport Policy Institute (www.vtpi.org), 2000.

LTNZ (2008), Cyclist Skills Training: A Guide for the Set-up and Delivery of Cyclist Training, Land Transport New Zealand (www.landtransport.govt.nz); at www.landtransport.govt.nz/road-user-safety/walking-and-cycling/docs/cyclist-skills-training.pdf.

MBC (1995), Bike to Work Week: Planning Guide, Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition (www.massbike.org/events/bw95/guide.htm).

Andrew A. McDonald, Andrew G. Macbeth, Karisa Ribeiro and David Mallett (2007), Estimating Demand for New Cycling Facilities in New Zealand, Land Transport New Zealand Research Report 340 (www.ltsa.govt.nz); at www.ltsa.govt.nz/research/reports/340.pdf.

Luc Nadal (2007), “Bike Sharing Sweeps Paris Off Its Feet,” Sustainable Transport, No. 19, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (www.itdp.org), Fall 2007, pp. 8-13; at www.itdp.org/documents/st_magazine/ITDP-ST_Magazine-19.pdf.

Fietsberaad (2008), Cycling in the Netherlands, Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, The Netherland; at www.fietsberaad.nl/library/repository/bestanden/Cycling%20in%20the%20Netherlands%20VenW.pdf.

OECD (2004), National Policies to Promote Cycling; Implementing Sustainable Urban Travel Policies – Moving Ahead, European Conference of Ministers of Transport, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (www.oecd.org/bookshop).

Online Bicycle Commuter Assistance Program (www.waba.org) identifies the best cycling route to a particular destination and provides other information for bicycle transportation.

PBIC, Image Library (www.pedbikeimages.org), by the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (www.walkinginfo.org) provides an extensive collection of photographs related to walking and cycling.

John Pucher (2007), Cycling for Everyone: Key to Public and Political Support, keynote address at the 2007 National Bike Summit, League of American Bicyclists, Washington, DC, March 16, 2007; available at www.policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/BikeSummit2007COMP_Mar25.pdf.

John Pucher and Christian Lefèvre (1996), The Urban Transport Crisis, MacMillan (London).

John Pucher and Ralph Buehler (2006), “Why Canadians Cycle More Than Americans: A Comparative Analysis Of Bicycling Trends And Policies,” Transport Policy, Vol. 13, May, 2006, pp. 265–279; available at www.policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/TransportPolicyArticle.pdf.

John Pucher and Ralph Buehler (2008), “Making Cycling Irresistible: Lessons from the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany,” Transport Reviews, Vol. 28, No. 4, July 2008; at www.policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/Irresistible.pdf.

John Pucher and Lewis Dijkstra (2000), “Making Walking and Cycling Safer: Lessons from Europe,” Transportation Quarterly, Vol. 54, No. 3, Summer 2000, available at www.vtpi.org/puchertq.pdf.

Inas Rashad (2007), Cycling: An Increasingly Untouched Source of Physical and Mental Health, Working Paper No. 12929, National Bureau Of Economic Research (www.nber.org); available at www.nber.org/papers/w12929.

Ian Roberts, Harry Owen, Peter Lumb, Colin MacDougall (1996), Pedalling Health—Health Benefits of a Modal Transport Shift, Bicycle Institute of South Australia (www.science.adelaide.edu.au).

TA (1998), “Government Cycling,” Bicycle Blueprint, Transportation Alternatives (New York; www.transalt.org/blueprint).

USEPA (1998), Bicycle and Pedestrian Programs, Transportation and Air Quality TCM Technical Overviews, US Environmental Protection Agency (www.epa.gov/oms/transp/publicat/pub_tech.htm).

Velo.Info (www.velo.info) is a web-based information resource to assist cities in introducing measures to support and increase cycle use, funded by the European Commission.

WalkIt: The Walking Resources Database (www.walkit.info) provides extensive resources for pedestrian planning in urban development, local transport, health and recreation.

Mark Wardman, Miles Tight and Matthew Page (2007), “Factors Influencing The Propensity To Cycle To Work,” Transportation Research, Vol. 41, Issue 4 (www.elsevier.com/locate/tra), May 2007, pp. 339-350.

WSDOT Bicycle Website (www.wsdot.wa.gov/hlrd/Sub-defaults/Bicycle-default.htm) has information and examples of Washington State’s bicycle planning programs.

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This Encyclopedia is produced by the Victoria Transport Policy Institute to help improve understanding of Transportation Demand Management. It is an ongoing project. Please send us your comments and suggestions for improvement.

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