My flight to Alaska is swiftly approaching, but that isn't my focus this week. In the search for a capstone research question, and eventually a site to design, I first need to know where the academic and design thought has got to for the topic in question.
What is that, exactly? Hell if I know. Those who know me could predict this next part, and for those that don't, this is a good introduction. At present I want to know as much as possible about all the newest, most innovative bike and pedestrian design/policy implements being employed around the country, then create something better.
How do I go about that? Reading. Yes, much respect to all my public school teachers for giving me the ability to read and think critically (take that, Scott Walker). My mission is to talk to as many like-minded professionals (those in design and planning, who care about smart street infrastructure) and see what they recommend.
So far, I've got a draft of the U of M 2011 bike plan; a 2005 research report by Krizek and Barnes about predicting benefits of bike networks; a 2011 paper by Pucher out of Rutgers on cycling trends and policies; and a 2005 NCHRP tome on the investment analysis for bike facilities involving 5 research centers and universities. At present, this list is just a shotgun smattering of bike-related research and academic propaganda, but it's a start. As this endeavor rolls forward, I'm hoping to hone-in on the fringe of bike and pedestrian facility policy and design. I want to find the debated, maybe controversial, and probably unsupported-by-research edge of what contemporary professionals think is remotely feasible. Let's see where it goes...
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