The FHWA has developed course material intended for use in graduate or undergraduate level transportation planning and design curricula though the University of North Carolina's Highway Safety Research Center (HSRC), Jennifer Toole of Sprinkle Consulting Inc., and Dr. Martin Pietrucha of Penn State. The course provides current information on pedestrian and bicycle planning and design techniques, as well as practical lessons on how to increase bicycling and walking through land-use practices and engineering design.
The material can be used to train future transportation professionals in a variety of disciplines, including planners, engineers, landscape architects, and other designers. Emphasis is placed on the importance of developing an interdisciplinary team approach to planning and implementing bicycle and pedestrian programs, and the role played by each profession represented in this course.
The topics covered in the course are presented in a modular format. Instructors can teach the course as a full semester course or extract desired topics and incorporate these into his/her own course.
The Student’s Guidebook has twenty-four modules arranged into three sections:
Introductory Topics - Lessons cover history of non-motorized transportation, current level of bicycling and walking, and factors that influence the choice to bicycle or walk.
Planning - Lessons cover a wide range of planning issues, including pedestrian and bicycle crash types, how to prepare a local bicycle or pedestrian plan, adapting suburban communities to encourage bicycle and pedestrian travel, traditional neighborhood design, and revising local zoning and subdivision regulations to encourage bicycle and pedestrian friendly development.
Design- Lessons cover an extensive range of issues in non-motorized transportation design. Traffic calming, pedestrian accommodations at intersections, on-road bicycle facility design and trail design are among the topics addressed, with various levels of detail.
The Instructor’s Guide parallels the Student’s Guide. For each lesson, the guide suggests goals and objectives, activities and homework problems for the students, and provides overheads for the instructor to use while teaching the course. The Instructor’s Guide provides a synopsis of the information instructors should convey to the students.
The slides shows provide photographs illustrating various pedestrian and bicycle planning and design concepts. The accompanying scripts provide pertinent background information.
The Student’s Guide, Instructor’s guide, and scripted slide shows are on the Web at http://www.tfhrc.gov/safety/pedbike/pubs/05085/index.htm
In addition, future workshops may be held for university instructors interested in teaching the course. Information regarding this is available from Ann.Do@fhwa.dot.gov
Research, Development and Technology
Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center
6300 Georgetown Pike
McLean, VA 22101-2296
U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration