Transportation, Land Use, and Community Design
STRATEGY 1
Community planners should integrate active design principles into land-use, transportation, community, and economic development planning processes. (TLC-1)
TACTICS:
Integrate considerations for non-motorized travel and public health into formalized planning processes, such as master plans, comprehensive plans, zoning code updates, housing and commercial developments, metropolitan planning organizations’ (MPO) transportation improvement project lists, trail plans, and regional transportation plans, with specific focus on improving environments in low-income communities. (TLC-1.1)
Objective:
- By 2020, Metropolitan Planning Organizations, or similar agencies, will convene multi-disciplinary regional stakeholder committees to integrate considerations for non-motorized travel and public health into formalized planning processes.
- By 2025, multi-disciplinary regional stakeholder committees, across the U.S., will establish a baseline inventory of plans that have integrated active design principles within them.
Encourage local and state jurisdictions to adopt regulations that require buildings and transportation facilities to be designed according to principles that maximize safety and attractiveness for pedestrians and bicyclists. (TLC-1.2)
Objective:
- By 2020, Metropolitan Planning Organizations, or similar agencies, will convene multi-disciplinary regional stakeholder committees to encourage adoption of regulations that require buildings and transportation facilities to be designed according to principles that maximize safety and attractiveness for pedestrians and bicyclists.
- By 2025, the multi-disciplinary regional stakeholder committees will track local jurisdictions that adopt building and streetscape design guidelines based on consensus documents.
Establish parking policies that encourage and support active living and active transportation. (TLC-1.3) )
Objective:
- By 2020, at least one national city planning or transportation organization will incorporate an organizational goal for promoting best practices that encourage active living and active transportation into all of the organization’s relevant activities, such as educational accreditation, continuing education, guidelines, and other publications.
- By 2025, the multi-disciplinary regional stakeholder committees will track local jurisdictions that remove parking minimums and enact parking maximums in order to identify best parking-related policies that encourage and support active living and active transportation.
- By 2025, a national city planning or transportation organization will take the lead in compiling an inventory of planning documents that remove parking minimums and enact parking maximums, especially those that also encourage active living and active transportation.
STRATEGY 2
Communities should change zoning laws to require or favor mixed-use developments that place common destinations within walking and bicycling distance of most residents and incorporate designated open space suitable for physical activity. (TLC-2)
TACTICS:
Encourage local jurisdictions to replace separate-use zoning laws with those that require or favor mixed-use zoning or provide incentives for using a mixed use code. (TLC-2.1)
Objective:
- By 2020, national transportation and city planning organizations will partner with professional, industry, advocacy, and technical assistance organizations to develop a set of model zoning codes, practices, and procedures that require or favor mixed-use zoning and protect open space, farmland, and natural resources.
- By 2021, a multi-disciplinary committee will convene to develop a national database of land-use zoning policies.
Encourage state governments to provide incentives for local jurisdictions to adopt mixed-use zoning laws. (TLC-2.2)
Objective:
- By 2025, national transportation organizations will partner with state governments to increase the number of states that provide requirements or incentives for mixed-use zoning and related policies.
- By 2025, national and state transportation organizations will partner with state governments to increase the number of local jurisdictions that adopt mixed-use zoning and related policies.
Develop and disseminate policy tools to reduce the possible impacts of gentrification on low-income neighborhoods that adopt healthy design principles, as they become more desirable and experience rising home values. (TLC-2.3)
Objective:
- By 2020, state and local transportation, city planning, and housing organizations will partner with professional, industry, advocacy, and technical assistance organizations to develop and promote model codes, policies, and practices designed to reduce gentrification and displacement in housing while promoting equitable economic development.
- By 2025, a national transportation, city planning, or housing organization will take the lead in compiling an inventory of state and local organizations that have adopted codes, policies, and practices designed to reduce gentrification and equitable economic development.
STRATEGY 3
Physical activity and public health organizations should advocate for funding and policies that increase active transportation and physical activity through greater investment in bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and transit. (TLC-3)
TACTICS:
Increase federal, state, and local investments, including the prioritization of low-income communities, to create and maintain seamless networks of high-quality sidewalks, crosswalks, bike facilities, greenways, trails, and transit that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, to provide individuals of all ages and abilities with safe opportunities for active transportation. (TLC-3.1)
Objective: By 2020, transportation advocacy organizations will track and rank (as a percentage of each state’s total budget) state-level spending that promotes active transportation.
Prioritize federal, state, and local resources to ensure that low-income communities (rural, urban and suburban), which are disproportionately affected by higher rates of bicycle and pedestrian deaths and injuries and which generally lack safe infrastructure for walking and bicycling, are able to access funds and technical assistance to improve bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and transit. (TLC-3.2)
Objective:
- By 2020, transportation advocacy organizations will collect and disseminate sample active transportation policies that include a strong emphasis on transportation equity.
- By 2025, transportation advocacy organizations will establish a database to track states and localities which adopt policies that prioritize active transportation funds for low-income communities.
Reform transportation spending at all levels to tie it to larger goals for health, safety, equity, and the environment—rather than to a focus only on traffic volumes and speeds. (TLC-3.3)
Objective: By 2020, transportation advocacy organizations will track the number of states and localities that utilize public health-related performance measures and impacts to determine transportation projects and priorities.
Use the tax code to provide incentives to private employers and businesses to implement programs and infrastructure that support bicycling, walking, and public transit. (TLC-3.4)
Objective:
- By 2020, transportation advocacy organizations will track the number of federal, state, and county laws that provide tax or other incentives designed to increase active transportation and related infrastructure.
- By 2025, transportation advocacy organizations will establish a database to track which states and localities provide tax or other incentives designed to increase active transportation and related infrastructure.
STRATEGY 4
Transportation and public health agencies should invest in and institutionalize the collection of data to inform policy and to measure the impacts of active transportation on physical activity, population health, and health equity. (TLC-4)
TACTICS:
Improve and expand existing data collection sources to assess active transportation patterns and trends that include local-area data. (TLC-4.1)
Objective:
- By 2020, transportation organizations will partner with local metropolitan planning organizations to build data analysis capacity to collect, maintain, and analyze active transportation data for all localities within the metropolitan planning organization’s jurisdiction.
- By 2023, transportation organizations will advocate for the addition of two questions to the American Community Survey (ACS) that gather more specific information about using active transportation for trip-making outside of work trips.
- By 2025, transportation organizations will track improvements in national, state, and local data collection on active transportation.
Develop new data collection sources for pedestrian and bicyclist counts and impacts of bicycle and pedestrian trips on economic and personal health. (TLC-4.2)
Objective:
- By 202o, transportation organizations will partner with metropolitan planning organizations to expand data collection capacity of metropolitan planning organizations for pedestrian and bicycle trips.
- By 2030, transportation organizations will regularly track new data collection on pedestrian and bicycle mode shift and related impacts at the national, state, regional, and local levels.
Develop performance metrics for walking and bicycling for transportation. (TLC-4.3)
Objective:
- By 2020, state transportation agencies and planning organizations will convene multi-sector commissions to draft performance metrics for active transportation.
- By 2022, state transportation agencies and planning organizations will establish performance measures that are specific to physical activity and health for transportation plans; and adopt a specific target to reduce traffic injuries and fatalities for pedestrians and cyclists.
- By 2032, a majority of states will require local jurisdictions with local planning commissions to adopt comprehensive plans that incorporate performance measures specific to active transportation and physical activity and a process for analyzing health impacts of physical activity.
Improve transportation modeling of active transportation trips and use of multimodal travel demand models. (TLC-4.4)
Objective:
- By 2022, a majority of local jurisdictions will have created internal departments and capacity to incorporate active transportation data and goals in transportation planning models.
- By 2030, traditional models used to predict automobile movements will be replaced by Activity Based Models that consider trip purpose and individual characteristics in order to assign the most appropriate travel mode to the trip (e.g., walk, bike, transit, or auto).
STRATEGY 5
Transportation and public health agencies should implement initiatives to encourage, reward, and require more walking, bicycling, and transit use for routine transportation. (TLC-5)
TACTICS:
Provide requirements and incentives for employers and municipalities to implement comprehensive transportation demand management programs to encourage increased active commuting (walk, bike, transit). (TLC-5.1)
Objective:
- By 2025, transportation and government entities will partner with national employer wellness organizations to provide a baseline of best-practice comprehensive transportation demand management programs that encourage active commuting.
- By 2030, transportation and government entities will partner with national employer wellness organizations to promote best-practice requirements and incentives that have been shown to effectively increase transportation demand management programs encouraging active commuting.
- By 2035, transportation and government entities, in partnership with national employer wellness organizations, will track and report on transportation demand management programs that encourage active commuting.
Develop and disseminate market-based tools to encourage active transportation. (TLC-5.2)
Objective: By 2025, national active transportation leaders will develop and promote a database of existing evidence-based and market-oriented transportation demand management tools that encourage active transportation.
Support community bicycle sharing programs. (TLC-5.3)
Objective:
- By 2020, a national committee composed of leaders from local jurisdictions, public health, and transportation will be convened to track the existence, location, and quality of bicycle sharing programs.
- By 2025, the national committee will identify bicycle sharing best practices and the quality of existing bicycle sharing programs in the United States.
- By 2025, the national committee will promote and assist regional and local leaders with implementing and expanding community bicycle sharing programs within their jurisdictions.
Promote and expand existing Bicycle-Friendly and Walk-Friendly Community, Campus, and Business award programs. (TLC-5.4)
Objective:
- By 2025, national active-transportation organizations will identify and disseminate findings on economic, environmental, and health benefits of high performing communities.
- By 2030, national pedestrian and bicycle advocacy and education organizations will promote and expand existing Bicycle-Friendly and Walk-Friendly Community, Campus, and Business award programs.
Develop and implement best-practice programs and policies that support Safe Routes to Schools. (TLC-5.5)
Objective:
- By 2020, a national transportation or education advocacy organization will develop a database to track changes in school siting policies.
- By 2020, a national transportation or education advocacy organization will develop a database to annually measure and track school travel mode share.
- By 2025, school districts will track and report changes in school travel mode shares in the database.
Institutionalize professional education and certification programs’ inclusion of best practices and evolving research in active transportation design and policies, for engineers, planners, architects, landscape architects, public health, public policy, and related professions. (TLC-5.6)
Objective: By 2025, professional education and certification programs will establish best practice criteria for course content related to active transportation in city planning, transportation engineering and planning, and public health courses.
Implement comprehensive transportation safety programs using best practices to minimize pedestrian and bicycle collisions, injuries, and fatalities. (TLC-5.7)
Objective:
- By 2025, national transportation partners will develop and disseminate a comprehensive list of best-practice transportation safety programs that have been shown to minimize pedestrian and bicycle collisions, injuries, and fatalities.
- By 2030, state and regional transportation partners will develop a baseline of state, regional, and local jurisdictions that adopt evidence-based pedestrian and bicyclist safety programs.
Use events, short-term interventions, and demonstration and pilot projects to create knowledge of and demand for permanent infrastructure and policy improvements for walking, cycling, and transit. (TLC-5.8)
Objective: By 2025, state and local transportation partner agencies and national advocacy organizations will have developed a national communication strategy for sharing success stories of short-term interventions, demonstrations, and pilot projects that create knowledge of and demand for permanent infrastructure and policy improvements for walking, cycling, and transit.
Adjust physical activity outreach, promotion, and messages appropriately for various target audiences; do not focus solely on “exercise” promotion. (TLC-5.9)
Objective: By 2025, transportation and government entities will partner to develop physical activity outreach, promotion, and messaging resources that recognize the benefits of active transportation-oriented designs.