Active transportation: walking and biking
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Active Transportation: Walking, Cycling, and Safer Streets
Active Transportation as Everyday Mobility
Active transportation refers to walking, cycling, wheeling, scooting, and other human-powered ways of moving through communities. The uploaded material shows that active transportation is not simply recreation; it is a practical transportation system for short trips, school commutes, access to transit, local errands, and everyday mobility.
Cities such as London demonstrate how walking, cycling, bike-share systems, public transit, and street redesign can shift large numbers of trips away from private cars. Other examples from Ireland, Canada, Kenya, the United States, and the United Kingdom show that active transportation works best when streets are safe, connected, comfortable, and useful for ordinary daily travel.
Safer Streets, Bike Lanes, and Complete Streets
A major theme across the material is the need for safer street design. High pedestrian death rates, conflicts between cars and vulnerable road users, and debates over removing bike lanes all point to the importance of sidewalks, protected bikeways, safer crossings, lighting, traffic calming, ADA upgrades, and slower vehicle speeds.
Complete Streets policies are presented as a practical framework for designing roads that serve pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, motorists, children, older adults, and people with disabilities. Instead of treating walking and biking as secondary uses, Complete Streets planning makes active transportation part of the core transportation network.
Public Health, Climate, and Economic Benefits
Walking and cycling provide several overlapping benefits. They help increase daily physical activity, reduce air pollution, cut greenhouse gas emissions, lower noise, improve road safety, and reduce dependence on cars for short trips. Public health sources in the material connect active travel with lower risks of preventable disease and premature death.
Active transportation can also support local economies. Trails, bike lanes, sidewalks, greenways, and walkable districts can improve access to jobs, schools, shops, parks, transit, and community destinations. Bike-friendly and pedestrian-friendly places often make streets more predictable, safer, and more attractive for residents, visitors, and local businesses.
Schools, Children, and Safe Routes
Several sources focus on active school travel. Walking, cycling, scooting, and wheeling to school can support children’s independence, daily exercise, road safety awareness, and healthier routines. However, the material emphasizes that encouragement alone is not enough. Children need safe crossings, connected sidewalks, traffic calming, protected routes, school travel plans, and community programs such as walking school buses and bike buses.
England’s target for increasing active school travel, school travel calendars, and Safe Routes to School resources all show how policy, infrastructure, education, and family participation can work together to make active school travel safer and more common.
Funding, Policy, and Connected Networks
The material repeatedly emphasizes that active transportation requires reliable public investment. Federal, state, and local programs fund sidewalks, bike lanes, trails, crossings, greenways, ADA upgrades, micromobility connections, and first-mile/last-mile transit access.
A key policy lesson is that isolated projects are less useful than connected networks. Sidewalks, trails, and bike lanes need to link homes, schools, jobs, transit stops, parks, commercial areas, and regional destinations. Transportation reauthorization debates, grant programs, and advocacy campaigns show that funding choices determine whether communities build safe, connected active transportation systems or remain car-dependent.
Equity, Access, and Mobility Justice
Active transportation is also an equity issue. Many people depend on walking, biking, rolling, and transit because they do not own cars, cannot drive, or prefer lower-cost transportation. The material highlights the importance of designing streets for people with disabilities, children, older adults, low-income residents, women, and communities that have historically received less infrastructure investment.
Bike giveaway programs, inclusive street design, African walking and cycling guides, and research on demographic disparities in bike lane benefits all show that infrastructure must be paired with equity goals, community engagement, affordability, and safety.
Data, Technology, and Climate Resilience
Active transportation planning increasingly depends on data. Pedestrian and bicycle counts, active travel surveys, mobile data, street audits, and evaluation frameworks help governments measure whether policies are actually improving safety, access, health, equity, and climate outcomes.
The material also points to new technology and climate adaptation needs. Thermal comfort route planning can help pedestrians and cyclists avoid extreme heat, while sensor-based safety systems may reduce conflicts at complex intersections. Greenways, shade, stormwater features, and cooler routes show how active transportation can also support climate resilience.
Conclusion
The uploaded material presents active transportation as a practical, healthy, climate-friendly, and equitable part of modern transportation policy. Walking, cycling, wheeling, bike lanes, sidewalks, trails, and Complete Streets are not optional amenities; they are essential infrastructure for safer communities.
The strongest lesson is that active transportation succeeds when communities combine connected networks, reliable funding, safe street design, school travel support, public health goals, climate planning, and equity-centered policy. When streets are built for people rather than only for cars, active transportation becomes a realistic daily choice for more residents.
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Why UK Government Official’s Simple Bike Commute Sparked an Online Backlash
| Momentum Staff | Momentum Magazine | June 22, 2026
The article looks at how a government official’s ordinary bike commute became a flashpoint in the debate over active transportation, showing how walking and cycling policies can trigger culture-war reactions even when the practical goal is simply replacing short car trips with healthier, lower-cost travel.
The 78% City: How London’s Core Became a Walking and Cycling Metropolis
| Momentum Staff | Momentum Magazine | June 17, 2026
This piece examines how central London has shifted toward walking, cycling, and shared-bike use, showing how dense streets, transit access, bike-share growth, and public-space changes can make active transportation a dominant part of everyday urban travel.
Pedestrian Death Rates Remain High
| Smart Cities Dive Staff | Smart Cities Dive | June 10, 2026
This article reports on the continuing pedestrian safety crisis in the United States, connecting high death rates to road design, vehicle speed, infrastructure decisions, and the need for safer walking and biking conditions.
Ministers Want 60% of Pupils in England Actively Travelling to School by 2035
| Peter Walker | The Guardian | June 11, 2026
The article covers England’s new targets for children walking, cycling, or wheeling to school, showing how school travel policy links public health, safer crossings, route design, and everyday physical activity.
UK Commits $8 Billion to Walking and Cycling in Ambitious Active Transportation Push
| Momentum Staff | Momentum Magazine | June 11, 2026
This article explains the United Kingdom’s major investment in walking, cycling, and wheeling routes, highlighting how national funding can expand safe crossings, connected networks, and practical alternatives to short car trips.
The Benefits of Great Places to Ride
| PeopleForBikes Staff | PeopleForBikes | June 3, 2026
The article summarizes the public benefits of bike-friendly places, including lower emissions, more physical activity, safer travel options, stronger local economies, and better first-mile and last-mile links to transit.
Our First Look at Transportation Reauthorization
| League of American Bicyclists Staff | League of American Bicyclists | May 22, 2026
This policy update explains how federal transportation reauthorization could affect walking and biking programs, especially Transportation Alternatives funding for sidewalks, bike lanes, trails, and safer street projects.
It’s Time for Congress to Connect America’s Active Transportation Networks
| Streetsblog Staff | Streetsblog USA | May 6, 2026
The article argues that the United States needs connected active transportation networks instead of disconnected bike lanes, sidewalks, and trails, emphasizing the value of seamless routes for people walking and biking.
Transportation Reauthorization Is Coming
| League of American Bicyclists Staff | League of American Bicyclists | April 20, 2026
This article discusses the approaching federal transportation bill and the debate over whether walking, biking, trails, and Transportation Alternatives funding should remain part of national infrastructure policy.
Congratulations to Our 2026 Advocacy and Education Award Winners
| League of American Bicyclists Staff | League of American Bicyclists | April 13, 2026
The article highlights leaders and organizations advancing bicycling education, advocacy, and active transportation, showing how local leadership helps turn walking and biking goals into safer streets and stronger programs.
A Real-Time Bike-Pedestrian Safety System With Wide-Angle Perception
| Mehmet Kerem Turkcan | arXiv | April 18, 2026
This research paper presents a prototype warning system for bike-pedestrian conflict points, showing how cameras, edge computing, and safety alerts could help reduce collisions at complex urban intersections.
Just 7 Ways Bike Lanes Make Life Better for Drivers, Too
| Momentum Staff | Momentum Magazine | March 16, 2026
The article explains how bike lanes can also benefit drivers by organizing street space, reducing conflicts, calming traffic, improving predictability, and helping shift short trips away from cars.
Meet the Winners of Our 2026 Community Spark Grants
| League of American Bicyclists Staff | League of American Bicyclists | March 12, 2026
This article profiles community-level bike projects, including programs that support e-bike commuting, bike-to-bus trips, education, and local active transportation access.
The Path to Building Connected Communities
| Smart Cities Dive Staff | Smart Cities Dive | March 12, 2026
The article describes how active transportation education and hands-on experience can help decision-makers understand sidewalks, bike routes, and street design from the perspective of everyday users.
Active Travel Takes Up to 660,000 Cars Off Irish Roads Every Day
| Momentum Staff | Momentum Magazine | March 5, 2026
This article reports on Irish active travel data showing that walking, wheeling, and cycling remove large numbers of car trips from roads, demonstrating the transportation value of everyday human-powered travel.
Fresno’s New Active Transportation Plan Sets an Ambitious Course
| Streetsblog California Staff | Streetsblog California | March 2, 2026
The article examines Fresno’s active transportation plan, including protected bikeways, sidewalk gap closures, safer crossings, ADA upgrades, traffic calming, and equity-focused investments.
Americans Demand Congress Fund Active Transportation Infrastructure
| Streetsblog Staff | Streetsblog USA | February 27, 2026
The article covers a national push to protect federal funding for sidewalks, bike lanes, trail networks, and other walking and biking infrastructure in the next transportation bill.
Thermal Comfort Path Planning Tool for Urban Mobility in Austin
This research paper presents a route-planning approach that helps pedestrians and cyclists avoid heat stress by choosing cooler, shadier routes, showing how climate adaptation and active transportation can work together.
More Than 1,000 Organizations Urge Congress to Protect Federal Funding for Walking and Biking
| Momentum Staff | Momentum Magazine | February 9, 2026
The article describes a large coalition calling for continued federal investment in sidewalks, bike lanes, crossings, trails, and connected active transportation routes.
Federal Trail, Walk, Bike Support Letter Statement
| Coalition Statement | League of American Bicyclists | February 2, 2026
This statement argues that walking and biking infrastructure improves safety, expands mobility choices, supports public health, strengthens local economies, and gives communities practical alternatives to car dependence.
Federal Trail, Walk, Bike Sign-On Letter
| Coalition Letter | League of American Bicyclists | February 2, 2026
The letter urges federal leaders to protect programs that fund sidewalks, bikeways, trails, crossings, and multimodal access, framing active transportation as basic infrastructure rather than a luxury.
The Best New U.S. Bike Lanes of 2025
| PeopleForBikes Staff | PeopleForBikes | January 12, 2026
This article highlights standout bike lane projects around the United States, showing how protected lanes, safer intersections, ADA upgrades, lighting, sidewalks, and transit access can work together.
Active Transportation, Sustainable Tourism and Climate Resilience
| Eco-Counter Staff | Eco-Counter | January 13, 2026
The article identifies major active transportation trends, including walking in cities, safer cycling, 15-minute neighborhoods, tourist flow management, and the integration of mobility into climate policy.
Shared Micromobility and Microtransit
| U.S. Department of Transportation | U.S. DOT | January 2026
This report explains how shared bikes, scooters, and small-scale transit services can complement walking and biking by solving first-mile and last-mile gaps and giving people more flexible ways to move without cars.
The Impact of Active Travel on Journey Times, Congestion and Resilience
| Steve Parkes | Sheffield Hallam University | 2026
This paper examines how walking and cycling can affect travel times, congestion, resilience, health, and decarbonization, especially when cities provide the right infrastructure and conditions.
PATH Measuring Active Travel Success
| PATH Staff | Partnership for Active Travel and Health | 2026
This report focuses on the need to measure walking and cycling progress, arguing that active travel goals need credible evaluation systems to show whether policies are improving safety, health, climate, and access.
National Federal Funding and Planning for Biking and Walking
| League of American Bicyclists | League of American Bicyclists | 2026
This data resource tracks federal funding for bicycling and walking infrastructure, showing how programs such as Transportation Alternatives support sidewalks, bike lanes, trails, and safer active transportation networks.
State Rates of Biking and Walking
| League of American Bicyclists | League of American Bicyclists | 2026
This data page compares walking and biking commute rates across states, providing useful context for understanding where active transportation is already common and where stronger infrastructure could help.
Active School Travel Online Primary School Survey 2026
| NatCen Staff | National Centre for Social Research | 2026
This survey asks families and schools about walking, wheeling, and cycling to primary school, helping identify what makes active school travel easier, safer, and more appealing.
Schools Active Travel Calendar 2025-26
| Transport for Greater Manchester Staff | TfGM Bee Active | 2026
This school calendar encourages walking, wheeling, cycling, and scooting through pledges, competitions, and accreditation, showing how schools can build active transportation habits throughout the year.
Active School Travel Guide
| Medway Council Staff | Medway Council | 2026
The guide supports schools in encouraging walking, cycling, scooting, and wheeling, using campaigns and practical resources to increase safe, human-powered trips to school.
Walk and Roll: WSDOT Active Transportation
| Washington State DOT | WSDOT | 2026
This update highlights active transportation improvements such as curb extensions, lane narrowing, ADA ramp retrofits, pedestrian lighting, and traffic calming to make walking and biking safer.
Complete Streets
| Metropolitan Transportation Commission Staff | MTC | February 19, 2026
This resource explains Complete Streets as roads designed for people walking, biking, driving, and using transit, emphasizing safe access for users of all ages and abilities.
Why Cycling Is Gaining Ground in Canada’s Big Cities as Car Ownership Declines
| Momentum Staff | Momentum Magazine | March 20, 2026
The article connects declining car ownership in Canadian cities with rising interest in cycling, walking, and other active transportation options for commuting and everyday trips.
Bike Lanes That Reduced Crashes on National Mall Set for Removal
| Washington Post Staff | The Washington Post | March 20, 2026
This article reports on controversy over removing bike lanes that had improved safety on 15th Street NW, raising questions about whether political and event concerns should override proven safety benefits.
Why Some Members of Congress Want to Go Big on Greenways
| Kea Wilson | Streetsblog USA | March 18, 2026
The article explains a proposal to expand federal support for greenways, framing walking and biking paths as transportation infrastructure that can connect communities, transit, jobs, schools, and parks.
Three Strategies to Help You Win 2026 SS4A Grants
| Smart Growth America Staff | Smart Growth America | 2026
This article offers safety grant strategies, including walking school buses, bike buses, traffic gardens, and community engagement to make active transportation safer for children and families.
National Walk Safely to School Day 2026
| Courier Mail Staff | The Courier-Mail | May 2026
The article covers schools promoting walking to school, connecting active transportation with children’s health, road safety education, reduced traffic, and stronger community habits.
Kenya Urged to Prioritise Safe Streets for Walking and Cycling
| Citizen Digital Staff | Citizen Digital | June 4, 2026
This article reports on calls for safer and more inclusive streets in Kenya, where walking and cycling are essential daily transportation modes for many residents.
Mobility Challenge to Promote Walking and Cycling for Short Commutes
| Times of India Staff | The Times of India | January 2026
The article describes Bengaluru’s Hejje-Gala challenge, which encourages companies and workers to try walking and cycling for short commutes and first-mile and last-mile transit connections.
Active Travel Groups Call for Clear Targets on Walking and Cycling in England
| Guardian Staff | The Guardian | December 7, 2025
This article covers advocacy groups calling for measurable national walking and cycling targets, arguing that active travel policy needs clear goals, reliable funding, and connected routes.
America’s Trails Are Under Fire
| Rails to Trails Conservancy Staff | Rails to Trails Conservancy | November 26, 2025
The article warns that walking and biking path funding could be threatened in federal transportation debates, emphasizing how trails support mobility, health, recreation, and regional connectivity.
Street Review: A Participatory AI-Based Framework for Assessing Streetscape Inclusivity
| Rashid Mushkani and Shin Koseki | arXiv | August 2025
This research paper explores how resident feedback and AI analysis of street images can evaluate sidewalks, greenery, seating, maintenance, and accessibility, helping cities design more inclusive walking environments.
Where Americans Walk and Bike Most Often
| Axios Staff | Axios | July 15, 2025
This article reports on county-level walking and biking patterns, showing that dense, connected places tend to have higher active transportation rates while car travel remains dominant in much of the country.
Salt Lake County’s Car Dependence Leaves Walkers and Bikers Behind
| Axios Salt Lake City Staff | Axios | July 22, 2025
The article examines low walking and biking rates in Salt Lake County, connecting car dependence to street design, public health, air pollution, and neighborhood connectivity.
San Diego Trails in Active Transportation, Study Finds
| Axios San Diego Staff | Axios | July 25, 2025
This article looks at San Diego’s active transportation performance, showing how county size, land use, density, and infrastructure affect walking and biking rates.
Causal Impacts of Protected Bike Lanes on Cycling Behavior With Demographic Disparities
| Marcel Moran, Malik Salman, Takahiro Yabe | arXiv | July 2025
This study uses New York bikeshare data to examine whether protected bike lanes increase cycling, while also showing that infrastructure benefits may not reach all demographic groups equally without equity-focused planning.
What If We Designed Cities Like a Doctor?
| Liz York | Next City | July 8, 2025
The article explores how city design can be treated as a public health intervention, connecting walkability, daily movement, street design, and neighborhood conditions to long-term health outcomes.
Designing Streets for People in Boca Raton, Florida
| Smart Growth America Staff | Smart Growth America | July 10, 2025
This article describes a local effort to improve awareness, safety, and quick-build street design for people walking, biking, and using scooters in Boca Raton.
Colorado DOT Releases Draft Active Transportation Plan
| Dan Zukowski | Smart Cities Dive | June 16, 2025
The article covers Colorado’s draft active transportation plan, which includes walking, biking, micromobility, safety, mobility options, and greenhouse gas reduction.
PeopleForBikes’ Top Policy Priorities for 2025
| Maddie Godby | PeopleForBikes | June 6, 2025
This article outlines policy priorities for bicycling, including e-bike access, safe infrastructure, outdoor recreation access, and transportation planning ahead of major public events.
Reclaiming Our Roads From Cars
| Next City Staff | Next City | April 30, 2025
This article looks at slow streets, open streets, and shared streets as ways cities can prioritize walking, biking, public life, and neighborhood safety over fast car movement.
Nationwide Call for Continued Federal Investment in Trails
| Rails to Trails Conservancy Staff | Rails to Trails Conservancy | April 16, 2025
The article reports on local officials and business leaders calling for continued federal support for trails, walking, and biking networks as tools for economic development, mobility, health, and safety.
Active Travel
| UK Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology | POST Parliament | March 18, 2025
This briefing explains active travel as walking, wheeling, and cycling for purposeful trips, summarizing benefits for public health, air quality, road safety, street life, and carbon reduction.
How Does Walking and Cycling Help to Protect the Environment?
| Walk Wheel Cycle Trust Staff | Walk Wheel Cycle Trust | February 4, 2025
The article explains how walking and cycling can reduce air pollution, cut carbon emissions, lower noise, reduce congestion, and make streets healthier.
Nearly $9B in Federal Transportation Funds and Loans Announced
| Smart Cities Dive Staff | Smart Cities Dive | January 15, 2025
This article covers federal transportation investments that include multimodal infrastructure, showing how large funding packages can shape transit, walking, biking, and urban access.
Do Car-Free Zones Hurt Disabled People? Experts Explain
| Next City Staff | Next City | January 6, 2025
The article examines disability and car-free street debates, explaining that many disabled people rely on walking, rolling, transit, and safer streets rather than private cars.
Transforming Transportation Through Complete Streets
| Howard County Government | Smart Cities Dive | January 23, 2025
This article describes how Howard County used Complete Streets policies, pedestrian planning, sidewalks, bike lanes, pathways, and trails to reshape local transportation infrastructure.
When It Comes to Active Transportation in Europe, It Starts With Street Parking
| Momentum Staff | Momentum Magazine | December 30, 2024
The article explains how reallocating street parking can create room for bike lanes, wider sidewalks, safer intersections, and more people-centered urban transportation.
Embracing the 15-Minute City: 7 Reasons Why Bicycles Are the Perfect Mode of Transportation
| Momentum Staff | Momentum Magazine | November 20, 2024
This article connects bicycles to 15-minute city planning, showing how cycling supports local businesses, reduces car dependence, saves money, improves health, and expands access to everyday destinations.
How Transportation for America’s Principles Support Complete Streets
| Smart Growth America Staff | Smart Growth America | October 28, 2024
The article argues that safety should come before speed in transportation planning, supporting Complete Streets policies that protect people walking, biking, and taking transit.
The Numbers Are In: Trump Boosted Roads, Biden Backs Biking and Walkers
| Route Fifty Staff | Route Fifty | October 10, 2024
This article reviews how federal grant priorities vary by administration, including differences in support for road expansion, transit, pedestrian projects, and cycling infrastructure.
The Active Transportation Alliance Is Helping Illinois Communities Win Walk-Bike Grants
| Streetsblog Chicago Staff | Streetsblog Chicago | August 23, 2024
The article explains how Illinois communities can use state and federal funding to build walking, biking, and multi-use trail projects that connect and improve local transportation systems.
Chicago’s Bike Giveaway Program Is a Win for Mobility Justice
| Lucas Frisancho | Next City | July 5, 2024
The article profiles Chicago’s free bike program, showing how access to bicycles can support mobility justice, reduce transportation hardship, and help more people use active transportation.
Health Benefits of Walking and Cycling: Preventable Early Deaths
| Health Foundation Staff | The Health Foundation | July 1, 2024
This evidence summary estimates preventable early deaths linked to higher walking and cycling levels, connecting active travel policy to public health gains.
Improving the Quality of Walking and Cycling in Cities
| International Transport Forum | ITF-OECD | February 15, 2024
This report reviews how cities can improve walking and cycling quality through safer infrastructure, better networks, comfort, accessibility, and planning that treats active mobility as core transportation.
Five Ways to Grow Support for Trails, Walking and Biking
| Rails to Trails Conservancy Staff | Rails to Trails Conservancy | February 9, 2024
The article gives advocacy strategies for expanding trail and active transportation networks, including identifying local needs, building coalitions, and showing demand for connected routes.
Modeling Large-Scale Walking and Cycling Networks
| Meead Saberi and Tanapon Lilasathapornkit | arXiv | March 29, 2024
This research paper uses mobile phone, crowdsourced, and built-environment data to model walking and cycling volumes, helping planners understand where active transportation infrastructure is most needed.
Active Transportation Infrastructure Investment Program Factsheet
| Rails to Trails Conservancy Staff | Rails to Trails Conservancy | April 12, 2024
This factsheet explains how connected trails, sidewalks, and protected bike lanes can fill gaps between homes, jobs, schools, transit, and commercial centers.
Blue Skies and Healthy Lives: How Active Travel Is Transforming Cities
| C40 Staff | C40 Cities | September 5, 2024
This article explains how walking and cycling can cut urban transport emissions, improve air quality, support health, and help cities act on climate goals.
Building a Bike-Friendly City
| Karen Kroll | Smart Cities Dive | October 2, 2023
The article describes what makes a city bike-friendly, including low-stress networks, Complete Streets, protected infrastructure, education, encouragement, enforcement, and evaluation.
New Federal Guidance Unveiled for Bicycle, Pedestrian and Micromobility Infrastructure
| Smart Cities Dive Staff | Smart Cities Dive | May 19, 2023
This article covers federal guidance for biking, walking, and micromobility, showing how national standards can support safer local street design.
Active-Travel Modelling: Networks for Walking and Cycling Commuting Analysis
This study develops methods for analyzing walking and cycling commute networks, showing how distance, street layout, and data quality affect active travel planning.
New Federal Cash Headed to Trail Projects Nationwide
| Route Fifty Staff | Route Fifty | January 19, 2023
This article reports on federal funding for trail networks and active transportation connections, showing how large-scale trail investments can support regional mobility.
Protected Cycle Lanes Need to Be an Urgent Government Priority
| Walk Wheel Cycle Trust Staff | Walk Wheel Cycle Trust | October 3, 2022
The article argues for protected cycle lanes as a safety and public health priority, connecting cycling infrastructure to climate action, transport affordability, and reduced car dependence.
Cycling and Walking Can Help Reduce Physical Inactivity and Air Pollution
| WHO Europe Staff | World Health Organization | June 7, 2022
This article explains how walking and cycling can reduce inactivity, lower pollution, save lives, and mitigate climate change when supported by safe infrastructure and policy.
A Bike Advocate Mayor on a Mission to Create People-Friendly Streets
| Route Fifty Staff | Route Fifty | May 27, 2022
This profile explores how local leadership can make streets safer and more useful by combining bike lanes, transit priority, density, and practical alternatives to driving.
A Major City Moves to Ban Right Turns on Red
| Route Fifty Staff | Route Fifty | October 5, 2022
The article explains how banning right turns on red can protect people walking and biking through intersections, especially as pedestrian and cyclist deaths rise.
After the Biking Boom, Some Cities Beef Up Infrastructure
| Jason Plautz | Smart Cities Dive | October 4, 2021
This article looks at cities investing in protected bike lanes after the pandemic biking boom, including major bridge and corridor projects in large U.S. cities.
Two Dozen Upcoming L.A. County Walk/Bike Projects Funded
| Streetsblog LA Staff | Streetsblog Los Angeles | March 3, 2021
The article lists Los Angeles County walking and biking projects funded through active transportation and first-mile/last-mile programs, showing how regional planning can connect people to transit and destinations.
UK Launches Major Cycling Policy Shift With £2bn Investment
| European Transport Safety Council Staff | ETSC | July 29, 2020
This article describes a major UK cycling and walking policy package, including protected bike lanes, cycle training, and bikes prescribed for health.
Why and How Kids Should Walk or Bike to School
| Next City Staff | Next City | August 27, 2019
The article explains how Safe Routes to School programs can increase walking and biking, reduce child injuries, and build healthier daily travel habits.
Streets for Walking and Cycling
| ITDP Africa and UN-Habitat | Institute for Transportation and Development Policy | 2018
This guide focuses on African cities, emphasizing street design for safety, accessibility, comfort, walking, cycling, and public life.
Safer Streets, Stronger Economies
| Smart Growth America Staff | Smart Growth America | 2015
This report evaluates Complete Streets projects and finds that redesigning streets for all users can improve safety, increase walking and biking, and often cost less than conventional road projects.
Working Together to Promote Active Travel
| Public Health England | UK Government | 2016
This briefing explains how local authorities can promote walking and cycling to improve health, reduce environmental harm, support productivity, and lower public costs.
Trails and Transit
| Rails to Trails Conservancy Staff | Rails to Trails Conservancy | 2025
This guide explains how trails and transit work together, with walking and biking routes providing safer first-mile and last-mile connections to stations and stops.
Policy and Advocating for Active Transportation
| Rails to Trails Conservancy Staff | Rails to Trails Conservancy | 2025
This policy page explains why trails, walking, and biking need federal support, framing active transportation networks as essential infrastructure for health, safety, mobility, and local economies.
RTC Impact Report and Fiscal Year 2025 Annual Report
| Rails to Trails Conservancy Staff | Rails to Trails Conservancy | 2025
This annual report describes how federal, state, and local trail programs support walking and biking infrastructure, economic development, mobility, and connected communities.
Active Travel Policy Template
| PATH Staff | Partnership for Active Travel and Health | 2025
This template helps governments set goals, actions, and safety priorities for walking and cycling policies, linking active travel to climate, public health, equity, and livable places.
Safer Active Travel: Addressing a Global Blind Spot
| PATH Staff | Partnership for Active Travel and Health | 2025
This report focuses on road safety for people walking and cycling, arguing that governments need stronger measures to protect vulnerable road users and build healthier connected cities.
Active Travel Interventions and Urban Health Outcomes
| Nature Index Staff | Nature Index | 2025
This topic summary reviews evidence that well-designed walking and cycling infrastructure can increase active travel, improve public health, and support equity when planned with communities.
Wider Benefits of Active Travel and Public Transport
| BMJ Rapid Response Author | BMJ | September 10, 2025
This piece highlights broader benefits of active travel and public transport investment, including reduced inequality, safer travel options, improved health, and more sustainable daily mobility.
Greenways Encourage Active Transportation
| Smart Cities Dive Staff | Smart Cities Dive | August 18, 2025
This article covers New York City’s greenway plan, showing how pedestrian and bicycle paths can connect underserved communities, jobs, parks, stormwater benefits, and climate resilience.
Why Are We Still Building Car-Oriented Development Next to Transit?
| Next City Staff | Next City | September 16, 2025
The article critiques car-oriented development near transit and contrasts it with places that prioritize walking, cycling, transit access, compact land use, and lower car dependence.
The Weekly Wrap: EPA Wants to Get Rid of Emissions Reporting
| Next City Staff | Next City | September 19, 2025
This news roundup includes discussion of transportation grants affecting pedestrian and cycling infrastructure, showing how federal decisions can shape local active transportation projects.
Bicycle Friendly University 2026 Application Preview
| League of American Bicyclists | League of American Bicyclists | October 27, 2025
This application preview shows how colleges and universities are evaluated on bicycle programs, active transportation staffing, campus safety, education, and support for student mobility.
Active School Travel in Northern Ireland
| Walk Wheel Cycle Trust Staff | Walk Wheel Cycle Trust | 2025
This article describes a school program designed to help children walk, cycle, and scoot to school, combining education, support, and practical active travel planning.
Active Travel for Children
| Whitby Active Travel Staff | Whitby Active Travel | 2025
This resource explains child-focused active travel, including bike training, school travel support, and the role of walking and cycling in independence and healthy habits.
Complete Streets Can Be Implemented in Any City, Town, or Community
| CityHealth Staff | CityHealth | 2025
This policy page explains how Complete Streets can give all neighborhoods safer access to walking, biking, transit, play, work, and essential destinations.
National Complete Streets Coalition
| Smart Growth America Staff | Smart Growth America | 2025
This resource defines Complete Streets as a planning approach that enables safe access for pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, and transit riders of all ages and abilities.
Implementing Complete Streets in Small Towns and Rural Communities
| Smart Growth America Staff | Smart Growth America | 2025
This article explains how smaller communities can improve walking and biking safety with practical designs such as pedestrian lanes, advisory shoulders, sidewalks, and context-sensitive street changes.
Every Street Can Be a Complete Street
| Smart Growth America Staff | Smart Growth America | 2025
This article describes how communities can use maintenance projects, pop-up demonstrations, and practical design changes to add bicycle, pedestrian, and transit access.
Grassroots Advocates Advance the Complete Streets Movement
| Smart Growth America Staff | Smart Growth America | 2025
The article traces how bicycle and pedestrian advocacy helped build the Complete Streets movement, showing the importance of local organizing in changing transportation policy.
How to Achieve a Walking and Cycling Transformation in Your City
| C40 Knowledge Hub Staff | C40 Knowledge Hub | 2025
This guide describes how cities can expand walking and cycling through connected networks, protected lanes, wider sidewalks, safer intersections, and policies that make active travel practical.
Improving Safety for Walking, Biking, and Rolling
| U.S. Department of Transportation | U.S. DOT | September 30, 2025
This resource explains the federal safety focus on people walking, biking, and rolling, connecting active transportation growth to the need for safer roads and better design.
Benefit-Cost Analysis Guidance for Active Transportation
| U.S. Department of Transportation | U.S. DOT | 2025
This guidance explains how walking and cycling projects can be evaluated for benefits such as physical activity, reduced mortality risk, and transportation improvements.
RAISE 2025 Round 1 Award Fact Sheets
| U.S. Department of Transportation | U.S. DOT | 2025
These fact sheets describe federally funded transportation projects, including multimodal improvements that support walking, biking, transit access, universal design, and safer streets.
TTAC 2024 Report
| Transforming Transportation Advisory Committee | U.S. DOT | January 2025
This report provides recommendations on transportation innovation, including surface transportation issues involving walking, biking, transit, safety, accessibility, and people-centered mobility.
Active Travel Takes Planning, Safety, and Data
| Eco-Counter Staff | Eco-Counter | January 13, 2026
This article shows how pedestrian and bicycle counts can help cities understand travel patterns, evaluate investments, manage tourist flows, and integrate active mobility into climate resilience plans.
Walking and Biking Infrastructure Impacts Active Transportation Rates
| PeopleForBikes Research Staff | PeopleForBikes | 2025
This research page summarizes studies on how walking and bicycling infrastructure affects active transportation rates, helping planners connect investment choices with measurable increases in use.
Biking, Walking, and Public Transit Are Connected Systems
| Rails to Trails Conservancy Staff | Rails to Trails Conservancy | 2025
This article explains that walking and biking often serve as the first and last legs of transit trips, meaning active transportation networks can make public transportation more useful and accessible.
Greenways as Climate and Mobility Infrastructure
| Smart Cities Dive Staff | Smart Cities Dive | August 18, 2025
The article presents greenways as infrastructure that can combine walking, biking, stormwater management, shade, economic development, and access to parks and jobs.
Bike Chicago and the Equity Case for Free Bicycles
| Lucas Frisancho | Next City | July 5, 2024
This article shows that giving bikes to residents facing transportation hardship can make active transportation more accessible, especially when paired with education and community support.
Protected Bike Lanes and the Evidence for Safety
| PeopleForBikes Staff | PeopleForBikes | January 12, 2026
This article uses examples of new U.S. bike lanes to show how protected bikeways, better lighting, safer crossings, and sidewalk upgrades can reduce conflicts and make cycling more practical.
Walking and Cycling as Everyday Climate Solutions
| WHO Europe Staff | World Health Organization | June 7, 2022
This article frames walking and cycling as climate and health solutions because they replace polluting trips while adding physical activity into daily life.
Complete Streets and Childhood Health
| Smart Growth America Staff | Smart Growth America | 2010
This article connects Complete Streets with children’s health, arguing that safe bicycle and pedestrian facilities can help children take more active trips and get more daily physical activity.
Walking and Cycling for Healthy Local Economies
| Rails to Trails Conservancy Staff | Rails to Trails Conservancy | 2025
This report discusses how trails and active transportation networks support mobility, tourism, commerce, and local economic development while improving access for people who walk and bike.
Active Transportation and Food Access
| Food Active Staff | Food Active | May 2025
This position statement links safe walking and cycling routes with access to schools, supermarkets, and community food settings, showing how transport design can affect health equity.
Walking and Cycling Networks Need Reliable Funding
| Rails to Trails Conservancy Staff | Rails to Trails Conservancy | 2025
This policy page argues that reliable federal support is needed to build connected trails, sidewalks, and bikeways that allow more people to walk and bike safely for transportation.
Active Transportation and the 15-Minute City
| Momentum Staff | Momentum Magazine | November 20, 2024
The article explains why bicycles fit 15-minute city planning, helping people reach shops, schools, services, parks, and transit without relying on cars.
Walking and Cycling for School Independence
| Walk Wheel Cycle Trust Staff | Walk Wheel Cycle Trust | 2025
This article shows how school active travel programs can build children’s independence, road safety awareness, confidence, and healthy routines.
Federal Guidance for Safer Micromobility Streets
| Smart Cities Dive Staff | Smart Cities Dive | May 19, 2023
The article explains how federal design guidance can support safer streets for cyclists, pedestrians, scooter users, and other micromobility riders.
Active Travel and Public Health Win-Wins
| Public Health England | UK Government | 2016
This briefing describes walking and cycling as win-win policies that improve health, quality of life, local productivity, the environment, and public budgets.
Walking, Biking, and Road Safety in the U.S.
| U.S. Department of Transportation | U.S. DOT | September 30, 2025
This resource highlights the need to make active transportation safer as more trips shift toward walking, biking, rolling, and transit-connected travel.
Bicycle Infrastructure and Demographic Equity
| Marcel Moran, Malik Salman, Takahiro Yabe | arXiv | July 2025
This study shows that protected bike lanes can increase ridership while also revealing that infrastructure alone may not close equity gaps without targeted policies, outreach, and access programs.
Walking and Cycling in Hotter Cities
This research shows why shade, heat mapping, and thermal comfort matter for active transportation as climate change makes walking and biking more difficult during extreme heat.
Smart Street Design for Bike-Pedestrian Conflict
| Mehmet Kerem Turkcan | arXiv | April 2026
This paper explores technology that could warn cyclists and pedestrians about conflicts at intersections, showing how active transportation safety can combine infrastructure, sensors, and community-informed design.
Active Transportation as a Core Urban Planning Tool
| International Transport Forum | ITF-OECD | February 15, 2024
This report explains that walking and cycling should be treated as serious urban transportation modes, requiring quality design, safe networks, and comfort for everyday users.
Walking and Biking Count Data for Better Decisions
| Eco-Counter Staff | Eco-Counter | January 13, 2026
The article explains how counting pedestrians and cyclists can help cities decide where to invest, evaluate whether projects work, and manage streets more safely.
Active Transportation Networks as Regional Infrastructure
| Rails to Trails Conservancy Staff | Rails to Trails Conservancy | April 12, 2024
This factsheet argues that regional walking and biking networks can connect homes, jobs, schools, transit, and commercial centers, turning isolated projects into useful transportation systems.
Safe Routes to School as Active Transportation Policy
| Next City Staff | Next City | August 27, 2019
This article shows how Safe Routes to School combines infrastructure, education, and community support to help more children walk and bike safely.
Bike Lanes, Sidewalks, and the Economy
| Streetsblog Staff | Streetsblog USA | February 27, 2026
This article presents active transportation infrastructure as an economic investment, connecting sidewalks, bike lanes, and trail networks to jobs, business activity, health savings, and mobility choices.
Walking and Biking in Car-Light Neighborhoods
| Next City Staff | Next City | September 16, 2025
The article contrasts car-oriented development with neighborhoods built around transit, walking, and cycling, showing how land use shapes whether active transportation becomes realistic.
Street Design for African Walking and Cycling Cities
| ITDP Africa and UN-Habitat | Institute for Transportation and Development Policy | 2018
This guide emphasizes that many African cities already depend heavily on walking and cycling, so street design should prioritize safety, dignity, comfort, and accessibility for those users.
Walking and Cycling Are Public Health Infrastructure
| Health Foundation Staff | The Health Foundation | July 1, 2024
This evidence summary connects active travel levels with preventable deaths, showing why sidewalks, bike lanes, and safer streets can be understood as health infrastructure.
Biking and Walking as First-Mile and Last-Mile Solutions
| Rails to Trails Conservancy Staff | Rails to Trails Conservancy | 2025
This article explains how active transportation links people to transit stops and stations, making buses and trains more useful for daily travel without a car.
Active Transportation and Mobility Justice
| Lucas Frisancho | Next City | July 5, 2024
The article shows that bike access programs can reduce transportation inequality by giving low-income residents a practical, low-cost way to reach work, school, services, and transit.
Complete Streets for Small Town Character
| Smart Growth America Staff | Smart Growth America | 2025
This article explains how small towns and rural communities can improve walking and biking without losing local character, using flexible design tools suited to local streets.
Walking and Cycling Need Clear National Targets
| Guardian Staff | The Guardian | December 7, 2025
This article argues that active travel plans are stronger when they include measurable targets, long-term strategy, connected infrastructure, and reliable funding.
Bike-Friendly Cities Make Cycling Normal
| Karen Kroll | Smart Cities Dive | October 2, 2023
The article explains that cycling becomes normal when cities build low-stress networks, educate users, support safe behavior, and make biking feel ordinary rather than risky.
Active Transportation and Climate Resilience
| C40 Staff | C40 Cities | September 5, 2024
This article connects walking and cycling to climate resilience by showing how active mobility can cut emissions, reduce air pollution, and improve everyday health in cities.
Walking and Biking Projects Need Community Support
| Rails to Trails Conservancy Staff | Rails to Trails Conservancy | February 9, 2024
This article explains how residents can build support for trails, sidewalks, bikeways, and active transportation networks by documenting needs, telling local stories, and organizing coalitions.
Active Transportation Should Be Measured, Not Just Promised
| PATH Staff | Partnership for Active Travel and Health | 2026
This report argues that walking and cycling commitments need measurement frameworks so governments can track safety, usage, equity, health, and climate progress over time.
Safe, Connected Routes Make Active Transportation Useful
| Streetsblog Staff | Streetsblog USA | May 6, 2026
This article argues that people are more likely to walk and bike when routes connect across neighborhoods, destinations, trails, bike lanes, and sidewalks instead of ending abruptly.
Walking, Biking, and the Future Transportation Bill
| League of American Bicyclists Staff | League of American Bicyclists | April 20, 2026
This article explains why the next transportation bill matters for active transportation, especially the future of federal programs that fund bike lanes, sidewalks, crossings, and trails.
Active Transportation Makes Streets Work for More People
| Smart Growth America Staff | Smart Growth America | 2025
This resource explains how Complete Streets design helps streets serve pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, motorists, older adults, children, and people with disabilities.
Walking and Cycling Are Everyday Prevention
| WHO Europe Staff | World Health Organization | June 7, 2022
This article shows how walking and cycling can prevent disease by making physical activity part of ordinary daily travel rather than something people must schedule separately.
Active Transportation Funding Is a Safety Issue
| Smart Cities Dive Staff | Smart Cities Dive | June 10, 2026
This article connects pedestrian deaths with transportation funding choices, showing why sidewalks, crossings, traffic calming, and bike-pedestrian infrastructure matter for public safety.
Children’s Active Travel Needs Safer Crossings
| Peter Walker | The Guardian | June 11, 2026
The article shows how active school travel depends on safe crossings, connected routes, and infrastructure near schools, not just encouragement for children and parents to walk or cycle.
Walking and Biking Are Practical Short-Trip Replacements
| Momentum Staff | Momentum Magazine | June 11, 2026
This article explains how active transportation investments target short everyday trips, giving people realistic ways to walk, cycle, or wheel instead of driving.
Cycling Infrastructure Can Reduce Crashes
| Washington Post Staff | The Washington Post | March 20, 2026
This article uses the National Mall bike lane controversy to show how protected cycling infrastructure can produce measurable safety gains and how removing it can raise risks for vulnerable road users.
Walking and Cycling Policy Needs Equity Goals
| Cycling Weekly Staff | Cycling Weekly | June 2026
This article examines concerns that active travel policy may miss gender equity unless it addresses safety, confidence, route quality, and barriers that keep many women from cycling.
Bike Lanes Are Part of a Complete Transportation System
| Dan Zukowski | Smart Cities Dive | June 16, 2025
This article shows how active transportation plans can combine bicycles, walking, scooters, wheelchairs, transit access, safety, and climate goals into one broader mobility strategy.
Safe Streets Grants Can Support Walking School Buses
| Smart Growth America Staff | Smart Growth America | 2026
This article explains how Safe Streets grants can support community programs such as walking school buses, bike buses, and traffic gardens that teach children active transportation safety.
Active Travel Is a Climate Policy Tool
| PATH Staff | Partnership for Active Travel and Health | 2025
This policy template frames walking and cycling as tools for reducing pollution, improving public health, cutting emissions, supporting transit, and building inclusive communities.
Walking and Biking Are Underused in Many U.S. Counties
| Axios Staff | Axios | July 15, 2025
This article shows that active transportation remains below 10 percent of trips in many U.S. counties, pointing to the need for density, connectivity, safer streets, and better local planning.
Active Transportation Helps Reduce Car Dependence
| Axios Salt Lake City Staff | Axios | July 22, 2025
This article uses Salt Lake County as an example of how wide streets, fast traffic, and disconnected infrastructure discourage walking and biking.
County Size and Land Use Shape Active Transportation
| Axios San Diego Staff | Axios | July 25, 2025
This article shows that active transportation rates can be influenced by county geography, suburban land use, density, and whether neighborhoods are close enough for walking and biking trips.
Bike and Pedestrian Data Can Improve Planning
| Meead Saberi and Tanapon Lilasathapornkit | arXiv | March 29, 2024
This research highlights how better data can help planners estimate walking and cycling demand, identify infrastructure gaps, and make evidence-based decisions about active transportation networks.
