Bike Plan Source Community Needs and Concerns

If there is one key to successful bicycle plan implementation, it is paying attention to public needs and concerns. Involving a wide variety of the community in an inclusive and meaningful way can pave the way to real world success in meeting those needs. For example, Seattle's bicycle coordinator attributes much of that city's success in the bicycle field to its strong commitment to public involvement.

On the other hand, ignoring public involvement--or giving it short shrift--can not only limit a plan's support and its likelihood of implementation; it can also reduce the plan's relevance to the community. For example, one bicycle plan suggested over $2 million in bikeway development but it didn't include any money for replacing dangerous grates. Yet the grates were serious problems for that community's riders.

How does one identify community needs and concerns? Simply put, it's a matter of creating a variety of means to gather people's ideas, problems, and current travel habits. The kinds of input needed include, for example:

People's current bicycling habits: Finding out what bicycling is like in the community is a basic step to measuring change as the result of any planning efforts. How much do they ride; how far, how often, and when? Where do they ride; what routes do they use? Where do they not ride and why? For what purposes do they ride? For what purposes would they ride and what are their limits? How many people ride regularly and what are their characteristics? How do they differ from those who don't ride or who ride very little?
People's attitudes about bicycling: Asking the public how they feel about bicycling can uncover unexpected support and it can identify key "sticking points" in people's attitudes. Do citizens see bicycling as something that is good, bad, indifferent, irrelevant, or integral to the community's existing or potential quality of life? Could they see spending public money on bicycle improvements? What concerns do people have about bicycling? Do they believe it is dangerous? Do they believe it is a way to have fun on the weekend but a bad idea for work trips? Are they mad about "those darn bicyclists"? Do they see bicycling as fun or dangerous for their kids?
People's specific concerns and problems: Aside from general attitudes and habits, it's useful to ask people for help identifying specific problem locations. This can form the basis of a "problem identification map" and, ultimately, a list of projects for the Transportation Improvement Program. Where are the bad sections of road? Where does the trail disappear into the bushes? Which intersections don't work well? Which potholes never seem to go away? Which arterial (or bridge or underpass) has no extra room for comfort?
People's ideas for solutions and opportunities: Finally, it's not enough to focus on what people see as "wrong" in the community. Most folks have ideas on what should or could be done to fix things. They often have specific visions of particular improvements they'd like to see. While some of the ideas may be farfetched, others could be very do-able. Even the "farfetched" ideas, however, should be closely scrutinized; they often contain the stuff that will ignite a community's sense of vision and cooperation. What kinds of projects would they like to see happen? What little-known resources can they identify and how could these be used? Where are the opportunities for trails? Which roads would be great for bicycling IF ONLY something small was done?

Searching out needs and desires:

How can such information be gathered? There are a variety of means, all of which have their pluses and minuses. For example, mail or phone surveys can be costly and must be carefully administered to ensure validity. But surveys can reach a broad spectrum of the community and add credibility to a plan's recommendations. Similarly, "town meetings" can bring out a small cadre of "hardcore" bicyclists; but they can provide important feedback on specific roadway problems.

The following are some of the most popular approaches:

Bicycle advisory boards: Forming a board can lend an on-going users' presence and sometimes subtle influence within local government;
Town meetings: These can help identify community needs and promote potential solutions;
Outreach to community groups: By attending meetings of existing groups, it's possible to reach active citizens who don't necessarily see themselves as "bicyclists;"
Surveys: Surveys can reach far more members of the community and can help overcome the "special interest" image of bicycling;
Visual preference surveys: A particular type of survey, such projects typically involve showing members of the public alternative design strategies for addressing different issues and asking them to rate their satisfaction;
News releases: News releases can alert the public to specific meetings, projects, or needs;
Charettes: Charettes can help find a solution to a particular problem by involving all the relevant "stakeholders;"
Newsletters: Regularly published newsletters can help get the word out in more detail and bring more targeted feedback than is generally possible through mainstream media.

This is certainly not an exhaustive list of possible approaches. However, it does include some of the most commonly used. For more information on these, see the reference section below.

References:

Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning Under ISTEA: Participant Workbook; Bicycle Federation of America; National Highway Institute, 1994
Innovations in Public Involvement for Transportation Planning; FHWA, 1994
Livable Streets; Donald Appleyard; Univ. of California Press, 1981
Visions for a New American Dream; Anton Clarence Nelssen; APA, 1994

Topics for further study:

The effects of ISTEA on local, regional, and state public involvement processes
Visual preference surveys as tools for public involvement
How officials can (and do) use public involvement processes to co-opt the public

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