|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
||||
George Washington Institute of Public Policy
In Arlington, Virginia, a steady evolutionary change in biking policy during the last three decades has yielded some of the nation's best biking assets. It has a comprehensive, well-connected, highly integrated, well-mapped, and well-signed system of shared-use paved trails, bike lanes, bike routes, and other biking assets, such as workplace showers. Understanding the conditions that led to Arlington's current biking system can provide lessons in the strategy and tactics of active-living politics.
One potentially effective political strategy that was successful in Arlington is for activists to pressure elected officials to select professional managers who see bikeways as crucial to the overall transportation system. Then it is important to formalize the government-citizen relationship through an advisory panel. Also, in Arlington, the incremental creation of biking assets helped create demand for more and better facilities. In turn, this created political support for expanding and upgrading. Finally, Arlington used potentially negative circumstances (e.g., the building of highway corridors, the introduction of the Metro) as opportunities to change the built environment in ways that have encouraged more active living.
Catlin, T., E. Simoes, and R. Brownson. 2003. Environmental and Policy Factors Associated with Overweight among Adults in Missouri. American Journal of Health Promotion 17 (4): 249-285.[ISI][Medline]
Dahmus, M. 2005. Pros and Cons of Bike Lanes. Michael Bluejay's BicycleUniverse.info. April 2. bicycleuniverse.info/transpo/bikelanes.html.
Ewing, R., and R. Cervero. 2001. Travel and the Built Environment: A Synthesis. Transportation Research Record 1780: 87-114.[CrossRef]
Ewing, R., T. Schmid, R. Killingsworth, A. Zlot, and S. Raudenbush. 2003. Relationship between Urban Sprawl and Physical Activity, Obesity, and Morbidity. American Journal of Health Promotion 18: 47-57.[ISI][Medline]
Frank, L., and P. Engelke. 2001. The Built Environment and Human Activities Patterns: Exploring the Impacts of Urban Form on Public Health. Journal of Planning Literature 16: 202-218.
Gessel, M. 1987. WABA History. Washington Area Bicyclist Association. www.waba.org/about/history.php (November 21, 2007).
Goldberg, D., L. Frank, B. McCann, J. Chapman, and S. Kavage. 2007. New Data for a New Era: A Summary of the SMARTRAQ Findings. January. www.act-trans.ubc.ca.
Handy, S., M. Boarnet, R. Ewing, and R. Killingsworth. 2002. How the Built Environment Affects Physical Activity: Views from Urban Planning. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 23 (suppl. 2): 64-73.[CrossRef][ISI][Medline]
Humpel, N., N. Owen, and E. Leslie. 2002. Environmental Factors Associated with Adults' Participation in Physical Activity: A Review. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 22: 188-199.[CrossRef][ISI][Medline]
Jenkins, C. 2003. Crossing Proposal Splits Members of Communities Near Spout Run. Washington Post, January 16.
Kingdon, J. 1995. Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies. 2nd ed. New York: HarperCollins.
League of American Bicyclists. 2003. League Names Arlington County a Bicycle-Friendly Community. Press release, November 12.
McCaffrey, S. 2005. Survey: Arlington Tops in Nation for Walkers. Arlington Sun-Gazette, March 17.
Perdue, W., L. Gostin, and L. Stone. 2003. Public Health and the Built Environment: Historical, Empirical, and Theoretical Foundations for an Expanded Role. Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics 31: 557-567.
Pucher, J., and L. Dijkstra. 2003. Promoting Safe Walking and Cycling to Improve Public Health: Lessons from the Netherlands and Germany. American Journal of Public Health 93: 1509-1516.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2001. The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). 2003. Northern Virginia Regional Bikeway and Trail Network Study. Richmond, VA: VDOT.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
