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There's a professional association for people working on walking? But, of course. In a nation boasting 135,000 associations covering every aspect of life from infancy (National Association of Diaper Services) to death (National Concrete Burial Vault Association), and everything imaginable in between (including the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters), it seems only natural that there be an association to promote those promoting walking.
As the 1990's dawned, however, no such professional society for walking was even on the horizon. Walking, as well as bicycling, were overlooked by the traditional transportation professions and agencies and only a handful of people throughout the nation had any specific responsibility for pedestrians. Despite the loss of six thousand pedestrians a year in traffic crashes, and despite the fact that walking accounts for more trips than the nations transit systems, there were virtually no funds allocated to improve the walking environment or pedestrian safety. And for that handful of people who were working in this area, there was precious little guidance on what they should be doing.
Ten years later, the picture has changed radically. Federal funds are flowing towards walking improvements; "walkability" and "pedestrian friendly neighborhoods" are the buzzwords of the architectural, planning and engineering professions; traffic calming is "in"; and everyone from the US Access Board to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and Institute of Transportation Engineers is producing manuals and guidebooks on walking facilities.
In 1995, the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals was established to provide a voice and forum for those planners, engineers, academics, and advocates who were working to improve conditions for walking. To help ensure excellence in this emerging profession, the association has initiated a number of programs including:
• Benchmarking surveys of the profession in 1995 and 2000 to document salaries, job responsibilities, emerging issues, and concerns
• Training courses and workshops focusing on pedestrian facility design, professional development and other important issues
• A Best Practices manual, published in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration, documenting some of the most successful pedestrian programs and facilities in the nation
• Working with the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center to establish the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center through a grant from the United States Department of Transportation.
Another reason for establishing the group was to influence the content of the manuals and guidebooks that engineers and planners use to develop the transportation system. A handful of key publications, such as the AASHTO Green Book, the Highway Capacity Manual, and the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) shape almost every street and highway in the nation. Pedestrian professionals now have an organization through which to channel their comments, revisions, proposals and ideas - as they did during the development of the Millennium Edition of the MUTCD.
APBP members believe that walking is an integral and critical part of the transportation system, and that the presence of pedestrians is a good indication of the health and vitality of a community. Walking is the most basic form of transportation, and yet also the easiest to overlook or take for granted. Designing a safe, convenient, and comfortable walking environment requires planning, careful engineering, attention to detail, and ongoing maintenance and care. Physical improvements must go hand in hand with land use control, legal changes, enforcement, education and a complete package of measures that require coordination and support from politicians as well as professionals. APBP is one of the few organizations that brings together the many disciplines and interests needed to implement such a complete program.
To find out more about the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals, you can visit their web site at www.apbp.org.
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