State Bicycle and Pedestrian Program

Program Information

The Virginia Department of Transportation's State Bicycle and Pedestrian Program promotes bicycling and walking within the state. Since the late 1970s it has provided:

• planning assistance to state and local transportation planners

• activity coordination for various bicycle committees 

• bicycle and pedestrian education and safety promotions

In order to make the State Bicycle and Pedestrian Program successful, many people within VDOT and from other agencies and interests participate in activities related to the program.

• State Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator
• District Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinators
• Internal Bicycle and Pedestrian Task Force
• Bicycle Accommodations Review Team
• Bicycle Advisory Committee

VDOT also partners with other state agencies in the areas of healthy communities, safety education and encouragement of biking opportunities. Program staff also assists with bicycle and pedestrian related studies.

Healthy Communities

VDOT participates in the Virginia Department of Health's Division of Chronic Disease's healthy communities project. This project, which is one of 11 projects nationwide being supported by the Center for Disease Control, focuses on making the places where people live, work and go to school healthier by introducing physical activity into the community environment.

VDOT and the Department of Conservation and Recreation are working together to encourage non-motorized access as part of park master planning and the use of non-traditional transportation corridors, such as greenways, in our transportation mix. Greenways add to a healthy community by providing the opportunity to use alternate transportation modes and to have a place to exercise.

Education

To support bicycle safety education programs, VDOT works with the Department of Education, the Department of Health's Center for Injury Prevention and the Department of Motor Vehicles. These programs help educators, civic groups and parents teach children about traffic rules and safe riding as well as help children gain bicycle handling skills.

Encouragement

VDOT and the Virginia Tourism Corporation promote Virginia as a bicycling destination. In the past they have produced the Virginia Bicycling Guide to provide information to bicyclists interested in the variety of riding opportunities in the state. The Guide is currently out of print, but look for a new edition for Summer 2006, together with a new statewide bicycling map.