Benefits from Bicycling and Pedestrian Infrastructure Improvements

The shift of commuters towards the use of active transportation modes is becoming more pronounced. To accommodate this change, cities across the U.S. are increasingly focusing on improving bicycle and pedestrian facilities. This increased demand can benefit from multi-modal highway development or stand-alone pedestrian and bicycle projects which in turn can induce additional active transportation (AT) demand. Measuring the benefits of infrastructure improvement is central to prioritizing projects, and active transportation can result in health, congestion, safety, and recreational benefits. This paper identifies and summarizes potential benefits stemming from pedestrian and bicyclist infrastructure and estimates the economic value of pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure improvements. These benefits can be direct to the user of the facility and/or indirect to society. Understanding the benefits of such improvements can assist policymakers in deciding which projects will be funded. The methodology described will be proposed for implementation in Kentucky through its Strategic Highway Investment Formula for Tomorrow (SHIFT), a quantitative approach for scoring projects and ranking them according to these benefits.