Bicycle and Pedestrian Education Program

This proposal seeks one year of funding for a comprehensive bicycle and pedestrian education program to be carried out through the Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation (IBPI), a multi-campus and multi-disciplinary program housed in the Center for Transportation Studies at Portland State University. The goals of this project are twofold: to enhance and expand opportunities for studying bicycle and pedestrian transportation throughout the university curricula; and, ultimately, to make Oregon the place that students at levels of education come to study bicycle and pedestrian transportation. Objectives for achieving these goals include: (1) Identify and develop opportunities for incorporating bicycle…

This proposal seeks one year of funding for a comprehensive bicycle and pedestrian education program to be carried out through the Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation (IBPI), a multi-campus and multi-disciplinary program housed in the Center for Transportation Studies at Portland State University. The goals of this project are twofold: to enhance and expand opportunities for studying bicycle and pedestrian transportation throughout the university curricula; and, ultimately, to make Oregon the place that students at levels of education come to study bicycle and pedestrian transportation. Objectives for achieving these goals include:

(1) Identify and develop opportunities for incorporating bicycle and pedestrian issues into multi-disciplinary undergraduate curricula. The IBPI director and graduate research assistant will work with faculty and chairs in various disciplines to identify opportunities for incorporating bicycle and pedestrian issues into existing curricula, and then develop appropriate course modules and methods for assessment. An emphasis will be placed on modules that involve experiential learning.

(2) Review existing engineering and planning curricula to ensure that all transportation courses include walking and bicycling needs where relevant, and develop new or revised course modules that can be integrated into existing curricula. A team of faculty and practitioners will identify the needs and opportunities for integrating bicycle and pedestrian issues—particularly those related to safety, planning and design—into existing undergraduate and graduate-level engineering and planning curricula. To increase the chances of implementation, the team will focus on developing new and revised modules which can be integrated into existing curricula.

(3) Test a pilot internship program (with the Community Cycling Center and the City of Portland) that provides graduate students with training and hands-on experience collecting data related to bicycle and pedestrian travel. IBPI will coordinate a joint training and internship program aimed at providing students with hands-on experience collecting bicycle and pedestrian-related data such as travel behavior, cyclist and pedestrian characteristics, barriers and costs of cycling, and facility evaluations. Students will take a course on bicycle-and pedestrian data collection methods and will then work with the Community Cycling Center and the City of Portland Office of Transportation to carry out specific projects. A program evaluation will be conducted by IBPI staff.

(4) Support opportunities for doctoral students to conduct research in the area of bicycle and pedestrian transportation. Two fellowships will be offered to doctoral students conducting research in the areas of bicycle and pedestrian transportation. These fellowships will help to generate research that is relevant to the needs of policy-makers and communities while also providing doctoral students at PSU, OSU and U of O with new opportunities for advanced study.

All resulting materials, including course modules, project outcomes and assessment results, will be disseminated via the IBPI website (http://www.ibpi.usp.pdx.edu).

This proposal directly contributes to the OTREC theme of Healthy Communities, both in terms of its content and its collaborative, community-based approach, and to the USDOT strategic objectives of Safety and Environmental Stewardship. Key outcomes include: new university curricula for engineers and transportation planners that are holistic and innovative; expanded opportunities for learning about bicycle and pedestrian issues in disciplines across the university, and new hands-on opportunities for students in transportation, planning and related fields to study and evaluate bicycle and pedestrian programs and facilities. The proposed education program is highly collaborative, involving a range of public and private organizations, as well as multiple disciplines and multiple campuses. By coordinating the proposal through the Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation, the activities and outcomes will have high visibility and strong potential for growth.

We are requesting a total of $134,909 in OTREC funds. Matching funds in the amount of $135,011 have been secured and will be used to support the student fellowships and internships, specific project activities, and administrative oversight.