FHWA’s Environment & Planning Office issues call for research ideas related to bicycles, pedestrians and health
News Brief
July 18, 2021
CHAPEL HILL, NC — FHWA Headquarters-funded Environment and Planning areas of research (including Bicycles/Pedestrians and Health topics) have relied on a single funding source entitled STEP (Surface Transportation Environment and Planning Cooperative Research Program). The Bicycle and Pedestrian Team at FHWA is seeking input and suggestions for the lines of research that should be pursued within this emphasis area.
The goals of the Bicycle /Pedestrian and Health emphasis area are to:
- Investigate and institutionalize the collection of bicycle and pedestrian trip/exposure data at national, State, and local levels;
- Provide technical knowledge and products needed by state and local officials in developing and implementing bicycle and pedestrian projects;
- Determine the health benefits of increased physical activity due to higher rates of bicycling and walking;
- Determine how to make the appropriate provision of bicycle and pedestrian projects a routine part of all transportation decisions; and
- Develop meaningful measures of effectiveness for bicycle and pedestrian projects and programs, such as quantifying environmental benefits due to improved walking and bicycling rates.
To submit comments, please visit http://knowledge.fhwa.dot.gov/cops/step.nsf/home/ and click on “Bicycle/ Pedestrian and Health” underneath the “Environment” heading. Please fill out the one-page form and submit by September 22. FHWA does not seek specific, detailed research proposals and discourages researchers from submitting proposals of that nature. Specific research work statements for this suggestion, if pursued under the STEP, would be crafted by FHWA, after careful consideration of stakeholder views.
For more information, please contact Gabe Rousseau at Gabriel.rousseau@dot.gov or 202-366-8044.
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