Federal Bike/Ped Pilot Project a Success

The Federal Highway Administration Bike/Walk Pilot pilot program, authorized by the 2005 federal transportation reauthorization bill known as SAFETEA-LU shows conclusively that infrastructure investments increase bicycle and pedestrian mode share of trips.

The Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program (NTPP) "provided over 25 million dollars each to four communities to demonstrate how improved walking and bicycling networks can increase rates of walking and bicycling. FHWA was required to report on the results of the NTPP. An Interim Report was submitted to Congress in January 2008. A Final Report was submitted in April 2012."

For each region, partner agencies were chosen to administer the grant funds:

• Columbia, Missouri; via GetAboutColumbia
• Marin County, California; via Walk-Bike Marin
• Minneapolis, Minnesota; via Bike Walk Twin Cities
• Sheboygan County, Wisconsin via the county planning dept.

Smart Mobility, a project of the Rails to Trails Conservancy, that worked with FHWA added that "the Pilot is designed to demonstrate that bicycling and walking can represent a major part of an affordable, sustainable transportation solution."

Key outcomes of the NTPP described in this report [PDF] include:

• Counts in the four pilots saw an average increase of 49 percent in the number of bicyclists and a 22 percent increase in the number of pedestrians between 2007 and 2010.
• Mode share increases in the pilot communities to bicycling and walking and away from driving from 2007 to 2010 outpaced the national average from 2001 to 2008.
• For the communities in sum, bicycling mode share increased 36 percent, walking mode share increased 14 percent, and driving mode share decreased 3 percent between 2007 and 2010.

Thanks to Greenwire