Active Transportation Planning Beyond the Greenbelt: Key Challenges and Opportunities to Active Transportation Planning in Smaller Municipalities

North American communities have seen an increased popularity and a greater awareness of the benefits of active transportation modes in recent decades. Perhaps as a result, significant policy and planning measures have been taken in various urban regions to improve existing active transportation infrastructure and through those, promote and enable walking and cycling. While much is known about the active transportation planning practice and related challenges in the urban context, smaller and rural municipalities often remain overlooked. Through conducting a literature review, surveys, and telephone interviews with planning staff and key informants at 13 municipalities within the Greater Golden Horseshoe Region (GGH) in Ontario, Canada, this research examines the key challenges and opportunities that rural and smaller communities in the ‘Outer Ring’ of the GGH experience in relation to implementing active transportation infrastructure. The findings show that rural municipalities experience six overarching challenges when it comes to implementing active transportation infrastructure. They are: resources; public support; liability; design; environments; and authority. Most Outer Ring municipalities have active transportation plans, and political and professional support toward improving active transportation infrastructure. This paper also highlights approaches that were adopted to overcome some of the abovementioned challenges. The findings from this research are expected to help municipal planners, politicians and community-based organizations in learning about current practice and approaches in the rural setting, and can be used as a guide to support the development of active transportation infrastructure and complete communities in these regions.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ADB50 Standing Committee on Transportation Planning Applications.
• Authors:
  • Culp, Danielle
  • Loewen, Neil
  • Mitra, Raktim
  • Lea, Nancy Smith
  • Hess, Paul M
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 97th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2018-1-7 to 2018-1-11
• Date: 2018

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Photos; References;
• Pagination: 15p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Infrastructure; Nonmotorized transportation; Rural areas; Small cities; State of the practice; Transportation planning
• Geographic Terms: Ontario (Province)
• Subject Areas: Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; Policy;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01660040
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 18-04776
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 14 2018 10:47AM