Bicycle Friendly America Summer 2017 - 7

and the closely associated reductions in
fatalities and serious injuries, is a key part
of the Vision Zero philosophy that ITE
is aggressively pursuing which states that
"no loss of life is acceptable" within the
transportation system. Through this emphasis on safety and healthy transportation options, ITE and APHA can work to
achieve health equity, or the opportunity
for everyone to achieve their highest level
of health, by optimizing the conditions
in which people live, learn, work and play.
One of the first steps in achieving a shift
to multimodal and active transportation
options is to collect and improve access
to supporting data. With funds from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Federal Highway Administration, APHA and ITE partnered to create
a website featuring data from The Bicycling and Walking in the United States:
2016 Benchmarking Report, which traces
the rise of walking and biking across the
nation. APHA and ITE, in partnership
with the League of American Bicyclists,
have released this interactive website to
make critical data from this report accessible and user-friendly. The website offers
users a platform to explore how the various benchmarks for biking and walking
activity have progressed in U.S. cities and
states over the last decade. In addition, by
providing peer comparison capability for
the Benchmarking Report data, the website will help transportation professionals
understand how similarly-sized cities and
states are performing on a variety of active
transportation performance measures.
In a climate of perennially-constrained
budgets, agencies increasingly rely on performance measures to justify the expansion of any transportation infrastructure.
By integrating active transportation infrastructure investment data with the various
public health metrics also available, ITE
and APHA hope the website will contribute to a collective lift for biking and
walking activity nationwide. This lift will
result in improved public health, greater
access equity for low income communities
and communities of color, and reduced
fatalities on our nation's roadways-all of
which are important elements in creating
healthier communities.
SUMMER 2017

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION
LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE
LAUNCHES
KEN MCLEOD

he Active Transportation Leadership Institute (ATLI) launched at the National
Bike Summit! ATLI is envisioned as a national support network for established
and emerging local advocacy groups across the county. The Institute's goal is to
be a gathering place, a classroom, and a place to share resources with one goal-
advancing bicycling and walking from coast
Building off this great launch at to coast. We had two great sessions to get the
conversation started. As part of the League's
the National Bike Summit, ATLI is commitment to listening and learning, the seshosting a series of webinars open sions were structured to maximize peer learning and discussion.
to the public and informed by the On Monday, the first day of the Summit,
Interim Executive Director Bill Nesper led
needs of advocates.
advocacy staff on creating an unconference
schedule for the day-long session of the Institute. We received over 40 suggestions
for sessions, which focused on the needs of advocacy organizations and how the Institute can serve
those specific organizational needs.
On Thursday, the League hosted 70 registered
advocates in an all-day session of the Active
Transportation Leadership Institute. There were
numerous thought-provoking discussions about
topics such as building a nonprofit with a business sense, organizing local and regional coalitions, and reaching car-oriented neighborhoods
with messages about walking and biking. Participants also discussed the importance of continuing
the mission of the Alliance for Biking & Walking,
by building a movement of groups, individuals
and advocates.
Building off this great launch at the National
Bike Summit, ATLI is hosting a series of webinars
open to the public and informed by the needs of
advocates. We're also excited to bring back mutual aid calls where advocates can meet to discuss
issues and share their experiences. If you'd like
to be involved in these events watch for them at
http://institute.bikeleague.org/webinars/.
Ken McLeod is the League's Policy Director
BICYCLE FRIENDLY AMERICA 7

http://www.bikingandwalkingbenchmarks.org/ http://www.bikingandwalkingbenchmarks.org/ http://www.bikingandwalkingbenchmarks.org/ http://www.bikingandwalkingbenchmarks.org/ http://institute.bikeleague.org/webinars/

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Bicycle Friendly America Summer 2017