CDC Special Interest Projects (SIPs)

Investigation of Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan (SIP 10)

The SIP 10 is a collaboration between the San Diego Prevention Research Center and members of the national Physical Activity Policy Research Network (PAPRN). The PAPRN' s aim is to conduct transdisciplinary policy research by:

• identifying physical activity policies
• identifying the determinants of the policies
• describing the process of implementing policies
• determining the outcomes of physical activity policies

In the last year, SDPRC has contributed to the PAPRN national projects including an analysis of PE bills throughout the US. We assessed over 100 bills in California from 2001. Few evidence-based strategies for PE were adopted in legislative bills.

The main SIP 10 project is an investigation of Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plans. The study will inform local, state and national planners on the content and processes required to better develop and implement master plans to improve bicycle and pedestrian opportunities. A successful plan is defined as being adopted, funded and some proposed projects being implemented. The study has identified cities and counties in California that have developed Bicycle and Pedestrian plans. For the years up to and including 2007, we have found 76 Bicycle Plans, 7 Pedestrian plans, and 14 combined Bicycle and Pedestrian plans out of 478 cities in California. An epidemiological analysis has been performed on the incidence of plans, assessing census level data that may be related to having a city plan. Plans were more often found in urban than rural cities and in cities with higher average household incomes.

We have created an 18 page coding tool to assess the content of the plans to quantify factors that may lead to a successful Master Plan. We have included best practice from transportation planning, complete streets and public health evaluation in the tool. Over 80 plans have been coded in California. The content of the plan itself is only part of the picture, there also may be individuals, groups and processes external to the plan content that influence its success. We are conducting interviews with city planners to assess these external factors and to establish how many projects are being implemented. Funding details are provided by the California Department of Transportation as well as by cities themselves. Our analyses will allow us to assess the quality of existing plans and determine which factors are most strongly related to plan success.

The project will result in several products.

1. A masterplan quality indicator tool which planning agencies can use to assess future plans in order to make better decisions about funding projects.
2. Publications and presentations of findings from the national study comparing plan quality in different regions of the US.
3. Publication of the California findings showing which key indicators predict plan success.
4. Advice to planning agencies on how to improve the scope of work descriptions they provide to cities involved in proposing master plans.
5. Guidelines to cities and planners on best practice for pedestrian and bike master plans.