Conclusions

In the ten years since the National Bicycling and Walking Study (NBWS) was released, bicycling and walking issues have become more a part of the day to day activities of Federal, State, and local transportation agencies in the United States. Progress has been made towards to the twin goals of increasing use while improving the safety of the two modes.

The United States Department of Transportation has acted on the majority of the 60 items contained in the NBWS Federal Action Plan and has played a significant role in encouraging and enabling State and local governments to implement various elements of the NBWS Recommended Action Plan for State and Local Governments.

However, to achieve the specific goals of the study and to realize the vision of "a nation of travelers with new opportunities to walk or ride a bicycle as part of their everyday life" [17], the Department must renew its commitment to elevating bicycling and walking to become part of the transportation mainstream.

Proposed Action Items

• Develop a method of accurately recording bicycle and pedestrian trips
  
• Develop a method to measure and track bicyclist and pedestrian exposure rates
  
• Measure and track bicycle helmet use rates
  
• Better capture expenditure information for bicycle and pedestrian projects and programs
  
• Determine the impact of bicycle and pedestrian investments on air quality, public health, and other quality of life indicators

Improving Internal Support and Commitment to Bicycling and Walking

• Complete the unfinished action items in the Federal Action Plan of the NBWS
  
• Include bicycle and pedestrian goals in the next Department Strategic Plan
  
• Incorporate bicycle and pedestrian measures into each modal administration's annual performance plans
  
• Integrate bicycling and walking into all appropriate administration initiatives; include specific action items to improve conditions for bicycling and walking within such initiatives
  
• Promote greater awareness of pedestrian accessibility issues
  
• Develop and implement a strategy for improving the ability of Department headquarters and field staff to address bicycle and pedestrian issues as part of their everyday functions
  
• Integrate bicycle and pedestrian-related activities into the research agenda of the various modal administrations and business units within each agency (to diversify funding sources and broaden the scope of research to more than safety issues)
  
• Promote administration support for bicycling and walking to non-bicycling and walking audiences, as well as other identified high-risk audiences.

• Actively promote a "share the road" philosophy among all road users that stresses the importance and vulnerability of bicyclists and pedestrians
  
• Actively promote and reward communities that adopt land use and development policies that create more bicycle-friendly and walkable communities
  
• Implement and evaluate a national marketing campaign to encourage people to walk and bicycle more often
  
• Promote campaigns that target driving behavior (e.g. speeding, pedestrian and bicycle right-of-way violations, aggressive driving) that particularly endangers bicyclists and pedestrians
  
• Explore opportunities for new technologies (e.g. Intelligent Transportation System products) to be deployed for the benefit of bicyclists and pedestrians

Future Directions

Upon reauthorization of the surface transportation legislation, an implementation plan will be developed by the US DOT. In the context of developing the bicycle and pedestrian components of this implementation plan, the US DOT will take another look at each of these action items. In addition, opportunities for further collaboration with the health community to promote more active forms of transportation such as bicycling and walking will be explored.

The opening sentence of this report recalled a 1990 statement by the FHWA Administrator that bicycling and walking were the "forgotten modes." It was perhaps a measure of how far the Department as whole had come that in 1999 the FHWA Administrator wrote that, "we expect every transportation agency to make accommodation for bicycling and walking a routine part of their planning, design, construction, operations, and maintenance activities." In 2001, the Secretary of Transportation stated "Bicycle and pedestrian facilities and programs are an integral part of our nation's transportation system for the 21st century." He also pledged the full support of the Department in "efforts to mainstream bicycling and walking facilities and programs into our Nation's transportation system at all levels of government..." [18] With continued dedication and support, the Department can achieve the goals of the National Bicycling and Walking Study.

"Bicycling and walking can then become attractive options and valuable components within our Nation's transportation system." [19]