FHWA Course on Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation

< Previous

Table of Content

Next >

LESSON 2: PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE ACTIVITY TODAY (INSTRUCTOR'S NOTES)

Objectives:

Upon completion of this lesson, students will be able to:

1. Estimate current levels of walking and biking activity in their community.
2. Explain how and why people decide to walk or bike.
3. Plan strategies to increase walking and biking activity.
4. Recognize various "at-risk" highway user populations (i.e., the young and the elderly) and how the risks to these groups can be managed through the promotion of walking and biking strategies.

Pre-Instruction:

Components	Activities
Motivation	Find someone in your community who regularly uses his or her bicycle for commuting, shopping, or other non-recreational trips. Ask this person to talk to your class about their experience as a person who is able to get along without being overly dependent on an automobile.
Objectives	Present and explain the four lesson goals listed above (V-2-1).

Information Presentation:

Components	Activities
Information Sequence	Outline the presentation of the lecture (V-2-2).
Information	Illustrate how much biking and walking people actually do. Summarize the factors that influence an individual's decision to walk or bike (V-2-3). Point out that there are many different strategies that can be used to encourage more bicycling and walking (V-2-4). Discuss how people who are transportation disadvantaged (i.e., children, older adults, and the disabled) can benefit from improvements to the biking and walking systems.
Example(s)	Use the graphics from the text to highlight how much biking and walking people already do.

Student Participation:

Components	Activities
Practice	During the class period, ask students to write down their travel activities for the day by mode. Ask them to consider which trips might have been replaced by a bicycle or pedestrian trip. Engage the class in a discussion of their results. Probe individuals as to why they believe that some of their trip-making could not have been done by walking or biking.
Feedback	Provide comment and feedback to the class as appropriate.

Follow-Up:

Components	Activities
Enrichment	Assign reading for Lesson 3. Ask the students to look for pedestrian and bicycle accident statistics from some national database (e.g., U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics (http://www.bts.gov). Have them bring to class the most amazing or surprising statistics that they find.
Review

Lesson Objectives:

• Estimate current levels of walking and biking activity in their community
• Explain how and why people decide to walk or bike
• Plan strategies to increase walking and biking activity
• Recognize the risks of certain special user groups and how these risks can be managed through the promotion of walking and biking strategies
  

Lesson Outline:

• How much biking and walking do people actually do?
• Factors that influence walking or biking decisions
• Strategies that can be used to encourage bicycling and walking
• Benefits for the transportation disadvantaged from improvements to the biking and walking systems
  

Factors Influencing Walking/Biking Decisions:

• Distance
• Time
• Attitude
• Situation
• Safety
• Destination
  

Strategies to Encourage Bicycling and Walking:

• Build on existing support
• Press the transit connection
• Expand the current role of non-motorized transportation activities
• Monitor changes in bicycle design
  

Lesson Summary:

• People are already biking and walking
• There are a variety of reasons why people choose to bike or walk or not bike or walk
• There are many ways to encourage bicycling and walking in the community
• Bicycling and walking help to maintain independence and mobility for the transportation disadvantaged

 

< Previous

Table of Content

Next >