National Bicycling And Walking Study Five Year Status Report

An update of the five-year status report released in April 1999. This report identifies the latest data available, and updates progress since 1999. It consists of original material from the 1999 report, revised material, and new material.

The fiscal year 1991 U.S. DOT Appropriations Act directed the Secretary of Transportation to conduct a National Bicycling and Walking Study. The five objectives of the study as specified in the Act were to: (1) Determine the current levels of bicycling and walking and identify reasons they are not better used as means of transportation; (2) Develop a plan for the increased use and enhanced safety of these modes and identify the resources necessary to implement and achieve this plan; (3) Determine the full costs and benefits of promoting bicycling and walking in urban and suburban areas; (4) Review and evaluate the success of promotion programs around the world to determine their applicability to the role required of the U.S. DOT to implement a successful program; and (5) Develop an action plan, including timetable and budget, for implementation of such Federal transportation policy. The purpose of this Interim Report is to document progress in addressing these five objectives. In dealing with each objective, this report summarizes available information, discusses what additional information is required, and outlines the approach to be used in collecting it.

The purpose of this report is to recommend a plan of action for achieving the Study goals of doubling the percentage of bicycling and walking trips, while decreasing by 10 percent the number of crash-related injuries and deaths. The action plans presented are comprehensive in scope, covering activities directed at increasing public awareness of the benefits of nonmotorized transportation, improving facilities to make bicycling and walking more viable and attractive transportation options, providing needed educational and law enforcement support, and "institutionalizing" bicycling and walking into the nation's transportation system.

The Invisible Bicycle brings together different insights into the social, cultural and economic history of the bicycle and cycling in historical eras of ubiquitous bicycle use that have remained relatively invisible in bicycle history. It revisits the typical timeline of cycling’s decline in the 1950s and 1960s and the renaissance beginning in the 1970s by bringing forth the large national and local variations, varying uses and images of the bicycle, and different bicycle cultures as well as their historical background and motivations. To understand the role, possibilities and challenges of the bicycle today, it is necessary to know the history that has formed them. Therefore The Invisible Bicycle is recommended also to present-day practitioners and planners of bicycle mobility. Contributors are: Peter Cox, Martin Emanuel, Tiina Männistö-Funk, Timo Myllyntaus, Nicholas Oddy, Harry Oosterhuis, William Steele, Manuel Stoffers, Sue-Yen Tjong Tjin Tai, Frank Veraart.

Estimating Bicycle Facility Costs -- Measuring and Forecasting the Demand for Bicycling -- Benefits Associated with the Use of Bicycle Facilities -- Benefit-Cost Analysis of Bicycle Facilities -- Applying the Guidelines -- Endnotes -- Bibliography and sources -- Appendixes.