Colorado Active Transportation Mile Markers Project
Charlier Associates, Inc. (CAI) led the project team in an in-depth research and outreach effort to identify the best practices in measuring bicycle and pedestrian travel. The Colorado Active Transportation Mile Markers are a set of preferred, consensus measures that will help communities, government agencies and non-profit organizations effectively and accurately measure travel by pedestrians and bicyclists. The goal of implementing such consensus measures is to standardize methods and indicators, as is done for motorized travel, so that accurate pedestrian and bicycle travel information can be used to: monitor changes in travel behavior; compare information across jurisdictions; make decisions about infrastructure investments; and support the overarching goal of Kaiser Permanente to improve and monitor public health by encouraging physical activity.
The project included a nation-wide research phase, during which the project team spoke to experts in active transportation measurement about various methods of measurement ranging from travel surveys, facility counts, inventory measures and other dimensions affecting the active transportation environment. This was followed by a statewide outreach effort to discuss and prioritize the measurement needs associated with active transportation with professionals in the field. Using the information gathered through the research and outreach efforts, the project team then generated a list of preferred indicators and identified associated data collection efforts. The Colorado AT Mile Markers were presented in a webinar in April 2012 to a national audience and are currently in the implementation phase.
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