August 26, 2013
New ped/bike planning and design lessons available for course instructors
CHAPEL HILL, NC — The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center is pleased to announce the release of new bicycle and pedestrian planning teaching modules for undergraduate students.
The Pedestrian and Bicycle Transportation Short Series is designed to augment undergraduate courses in basic civil engineering and/or transportation planning. The series consists of three lessons covering Planning for Pedestrians and Bicycles, Pedestrian and Bicycle Facility Design, and Pedestrian and Bicycle Data and Performance. The modules are ideally suited to be integrated into an existing course, such as the first or introductory course in transportation engineering.
Each of the educational modules contains presentation slides for a 50-minute lecture, speaker notes for instructors, references, and recommended additional readings. The program also includes one supplemental assignment. The modules can be used individually or sequentially.
"Interest in bicycling and walking is growing nationally. Introducing undergraduate students to pedestrian and bicycle planning and design basics will create more well-rounded transportation professionals capable of addressing the complex transportation challenges of the future,” said Carl Sundstrom, PBIC staff member and co-author of the new curriculum.
The teaching modules were developed, pilot tested and evaluated by an interdisciplinary team from the UNC-Chapel Hill Department of City and Regional Planning, the UNC Highway Safety Research Center (which houses the PBIC), and Auburn University’s Department of Civil Engineering. The effort was funded by the Southeastern Transportation Research, Innovation, Development and Education Center and the PBIC.
This is a first of its kind supplemental curricula designed to fit within existing university courses. PBIC currently offers several semester-long courses for graduate and undergraduate students studying civil engineering and planning.
All PBIC course materials can be found online at http://www.walkinginfo.org/training/university-courses/Short-Series.cfm. Access to the instructional materials is limited to instructors.
Since its inception in 1999, PBIC's mission has been to improve the quality of life in communities through the increase of safe walking and bicycling as a viable means of transportation and physical activity. The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center is maintained by the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center with funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration.
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