The latest installment from the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report 95/ Traveler Response to Transportation System Changes Handbook series, published in August 2012, examines pedestrian and bicyclist behavior and travel demand outcomes in a relatively broad sense. Identified as “Chapter 16 – Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities,” it has been many years in the making and the final product presents new as well as synthesized research. The development effort of Chapter 16 was joined by the National Center for Environmental Health of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), providing both financial and technical assistance.

The “Traveler Response Handbook,” as the series is more-familiarly known, was hailed by transportation planner and engineer practitioners in a survey that appeared in The Urban Transportation Monitor as one of the “most essential transportation publications.” It offers a synthesis of travel demand and the changes to it and manifestations of it that occur when transportation operational, policy, or facility changes are implemented. It is being published as a set of nineteen “chapter” volumes. Each chapter is available for free download from the Transportation Research Board website.

Chapter 16 covers non-motorized transportation facilities both in isolation as part of the total urban fabric, along with the effects of associated programs and promotion. It looks at not only transportation outcomes, but also recreational and public health outcomes. Link facilities (e.g., sidewalks, bicycle lanes, and on-transit) and node accommodations (e.g., street-crossing treatments, bicycle parking, and showers) are among the topics addressed. This presentation offers a brief selection of high-level findings and highlights from the work with an emphasis on “lessons learned.” The chapter is an important reference and resource to practitioners considering the impacts of enhanced or changed bicycle and pedestrian strategies, including facilities and promotion strategies. With the increased interest in increasing active transportation and understanding the benefits of investment in non-motorized transportation, the release of this latest chapter is very timely. Dick Pratt, Jay Evans, and Herb Levinson served as lead chapter authors.