ABSTRACT: The United States has an unparalleled high automobile dependency. It is widely accepted that trends in motorization on college campuses equate those experienced by society at large. In the last decade, transportation planners have been struggling not only to provide access to campuses but also to minimize traffic impacts in neighboring communities. An array of transportation demand management strategies is being implemented to alleviate congestion and to improve safety for all users. The main purpose of this paper is to reflect on the opportunity to create sustainable "town-gown" communities from the bicycle and pedestrian planning viewpoint. My argument is that, due to their pro-active educational milieu, college campuses are privileged places to communicate sustainability and to help reshaping society’s transportation patterns. I will report the results of a survey of the following eight campuses: Cornell University, University of Wisconsin at Madison, University of Colorado at Boulder, University of California at Santa Barbara, Sanford University, University of California at Davis, University of Oregon at Eugene, and University of Washington at Seattle. My key findings emphasize that bicycle and pedestrian planning is usually considered by campus administrations but not to its full extent, and that more can be done to integrate nonmotorized modes in the alternative transportation package. This paper should be of interest to transportation and city planners, landscape architects, campus planners, TDM coordinators, environmental advocates, and professionals engaged in implementing alternative transportation strategies.

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Author and Copyright Information

Copyright 2002 by author

Carlos J. L. Balsas, AICP
Ph.D. Candidate and Instructor
Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning
Hills North
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003
Phone: 413-545-2255
Fax: 413-545-1772
Email: balsas@larp.umass.edu