01663552

Component

In 2004, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) implemented an ongoing grant program that supports the creation of a comprehensive bike or pedestrian plan by municipal governments within this state. Noting the uniqueness of this grant program and the potential uncertainty with respect to its impact, this paper seeks to evaluate its effectiveness using two mechanisms. First, it compares North Carolina against the neighboring states of Virginia and South Carolina with respect to the share of municipalities that have adopted bike or pedestrian plans since the grant program began; second, it presents a qualitative analysis of the program based on interviews with municipal staff that participated in the creation of plans funded by the grant, as well as those funded from other sources. This paper finds that the percentage of municipalities that have adopted a pedestrian or bicycle plan in North Carolina has increased by a much greater degree than its neighboring states since the implementation of the grant program. The adoption of bike plans also increased relative to its neighbors, albeit to a lesser degree. Regarding the qualitative assessment, the interviews suggest that, on balance, the outcomes of grant-recipient plans do not substantially differ from those in other plans. These findings indicate that NCDOT’s grant program has had an overall positive impact in municipal bicycle and pedestrian planning in North Carolina.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ANF10 Standing Committee on Pedestrians.

18-01645

English

6p

2018

Transportation Research Board 97th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Figures; References

Bicycling; City government; Grant aid; Planning; Walking

North Carolina Department of Transportation

North Carolina

Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2018 Paper #18-01645

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 8 2018 10:25AM