~ Pedestrian and Bicycle Planning Course Sample Syllabus

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COURSE OVERVIEW

Current transportation thought, design, and practices are being reevaluated as we strive towards healthy, mobile, and sustainable cities and regions.  Integration of pedestrian and bicycle planning into transportation planning is essential in creating a sustainable system to achieve these goals. 

Pedestrian and bicycle transportation are influenced by micro-scale elements of the built environment, such as sidewalks, bicycle lanes, traffic speeds, and roadway crossings, as well as by macro-scale characteristics, such as community-wide pathway systems and regional land use and street grid patterns.  As a result, addressing walking and bicycling issues requires the bridging of many disciplines, including urban planning/design, civil engineering, and others.  Thus, this course brings experiences from professionals in many fields (both public and private) and researchers at the local and national level into the classroom to provide diverse perspectives on effective ped/bike planning strategies. 

This course is designed to critically discuss the key issues affecting the non-motorized transportation practice today:

• Benefits and challenges of creating walkable and bikeable environments
• Influence of land use and network connectivity on mode choice
• Pedestrian and bicycle design fundamentals
• Methods to assess bicycle and pedestrian safety and access
• Processes to create, implement, and evaluate bicycle and pedestrian plans
• Elements of a comprehensive non-motorized transportation program

A series of short, individual and group assignments are intended to engage students in relevant issues, encourage critical thinking, and build written and verbal presentation skills. A semester-long client-based project (SP) will allow student groups to work on real-world pedestrian and bicycle projects in their community and directly apply their knowledge from the class. Throughout the course, students will be exposed to current issues and various national and international perspectives through films and guest lectures from widely-recognized experts in the field. 

CLASS PARTICIPATION

This class relies on active participation from students. You are expected to complete the reading assignment listed in the syllabus and any assignment before the start of class that day. We will periodically discuss current events along with the reading assignments. Please send any news stories you would like to discuss to the instructors in advance of the class.

ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING

The assignments will be discussed in detail on the first day of class, and written instructions will be provided on Blackboard. Please contact the TA or instructor with any questions.

#	Percentage of Total Grade	Available	Due	Description
1	10	TBD	TBD	In-class presentation on benefits of walking and bicycling (group)
2	5			Wheelchair lab summary (individual)
3	10			In-class presentation critiquing local pedestrian or bicycle plans (group)
4	5			Public hearing summary (individual)
SP-1	20			Field data collection and analysis (group)
SP-2	20			Policy/plan recommendations (group)
SP-3	20			Final package and budget(group)
SP-4	10			Final Presentation (group)
Total	100

Late assignments will receive a 10% penalty for each day late.

HONOR CODE

NOTE TO INSTRUCTOR: ADD HONOR CODE LANGUAGE HERE IF APPLICABLE

CLASS SCHEDULE

Date	Day (of Week)	Topic	Comments
TBD		1 – Course and Assignment Overview and Student Survey	Note to Instructor: Can list when assignments are due in this column
		2 – Introduction to Pedestrian and Bicycle Planning
		Class Activity: Summarize Health, Social Equity, Environment, and Economic Development Issues
		3 – Pedestrian Design and Human Behaviors
		Class Activity: Wheelchair Lab
		4 – Bike Design
		5 – Site Design and Review
		6 – Anatomy of a Pedestrian/Bike Master Plan
		7 – Evaluating Pedestrian Master Plans
		Class Activity: Present Critique of Ped/Bike Plans
		8 – Land Use, Connectivity, and Urban Design
		9 – Safety Evaluation: Audits and Crash Data Analysis
		10 – Connection with land use and transportation plans, TDM, Policies
		11 – Performance Measures
		12 – Demand Estimation and Analysis
		13 – Facility Analysis Tools
		14 – Public participation, coalition building, and partner buy-in
		15 – Funding (and development review), Implementation, and Institutionalization
		16 – Data Collection Part I: Needs, Sources, Methods, Measures	Note to Instructors: Lecture 16 can be split into two lectures
		17 – Education, Enforcement, and Encouragement
		18 – International Design, Planning, and Policy
		19 – Trail and Park Planning
		Final Student Presentations