Bicycle and Pedestrian Program - Planning and Environment

The Bicycle & Pedestrian Program of the Federal Highway Administration's Office of Human and Natural Environment promotes bicycle and pedestrian transportation use, safety, and accessibility.

Each State has a Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator in its State Department of Transportation to promote and facilitate the increased use of nonmotorized transportation, including developing facilities for the use of pedestrians and bicyclists and public educational, promotional, and safety programs for using such facilities. The State Coordinators can help you with questions specific to your State.

The FHWA Bicycle & Pedestrian Program issues guidance and is responsible for overseeing that requirements in legislation are understood and met by the States and other implementing agencies.

On this site you can find information about the amount of federal funding spent on pedestrian and bicycle projects in your state, available federal funding sources, existing legislation, and guidance about accessible design.

FHWA also sponsors resources such as the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center to provide information on a wide variety of engineering, encouragement, education, and enforcement topics. The Center was established with funding from the US DOT and is operated by the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center, in cooperation with the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals.

Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program

Section 1807 of SAFETEA-LU created the Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program. The goal of this program is to demonstrate how improvements to walking and bicycling infrastructure can increase mode share for walking and bicycling. Four communities (Columbia, MO; Marin County, CA; Minneapolis Area, MN; Sheboygan County, WI) are each receiving 25 million dollars to improve their walking and bicycling networks. According to SAFETEA-LU, "The purpose of the program shall be to demonstrate the extent to which bicycling and walking can carry a significant part of the transportation load, and represent a major portion of the transportation solution."

Additional information about the program can be found at the Smart Mobility Network.

STEP Bicycle/Pedestrian and Health Research Topics

Surface Transportation Environment and Planning Cooperative Research Program (STEP) is an FHWA-administered source of funding for research related to planning, environment, and realty for FY2006-FY2009. Stakeholder input is required to identify the research topics that should receive priority consideration each program Fiscal Year. The feedback period for Fiscal Year 2009 has ended.

Current STEP authorization expires at the end of SAFETEA-LU on September 30, 2009. Reauthorization proposals have been introduced and are available for public comment.

Benefits of Walking and Bicycling

Learn more about the many benefits of walking and bicycling. In this section we list many research studies that attempt to quantify the health and environmental benefits of walking and bicycling.

Bicycle Commuting to US DOT

Enjoy the benefits of active transportation. Whether you are interested in commuting to DOT Headquarters or are just visiting, in this section you can:

get maps and directions to DOT headquarters
find information about bicycle parking at and around the building
find a bicycle mentor who can help you find the best travel route
join the Bicycle Commuter Group here at DOT
much more...