PA Walkable Communities Collaborative
The mission of the Pennsylvania Walkable Communities Collaborative is to increase walking and expand walkable communities across Pennsylvania. The steering committee consists of the following nine agencies and organizations:
The Pennsylvania Departments of Aging, Community and Economic Development, Conservation and Natural Resources, Health and Transportation; AARP; American Planning Association – PA Chapter; the Pennsylvania Downtown Center and the Pennsylvania State Alliance of YMCAs.
Engage Key Stakeholders
Understand Who Can Help
There are many people and entities involved in the process of planning, constructing, operating, and maintaining roads, sidewalks and shared-use trails. This section describes typical roles of agencies and groups involved in addressing pedestrian and bicycle issues and how to approach them for help.
Identifying Stakeholders and Strategic Partners to Catalyze Change
Identifying and engaging the right people in a community process or project to achieve a safer, more accessible, and more attractive atmosphere for pedestrians can be the difference between a project’s success and failure. Beyond identifying stakeholders, communities should work to form strategic partnerships and advisory committees to strengthen the planning process.
A Guide to Building Healthy Streets - Who are the Key Players in Complete Streets Implementation
There are a number of key stakeholders that should be engaged during discussions of creating a more walkable community. Pages 10-12 lists each of these key stakeholders and describes how they might lead or support implementation efforts.
Planning for Walking and Bicycling: Kentucky's Guide to Creative Active Transportation Opportunities in Local Communities
This resource describes the purpose, components and outreach strategies of pedestrian and bicycle planning.
Steps to a Walkable Community: A Guide for Citizens, Planners, and Engineers
This guide provides strategies to move towards a more walkable community.
Assess Routes for Walkability and Safety
Walkability Checklist
Everyone benefits from walking, but walking needs to be safe and easy. Take a walk and usse this checklist to help determine if your neighborhood or community streets are a friendly place to walk.
Pedestrians First: Tools for a Walkable City
This tool is a mechanism for tracking, measuring and understanding the features that promote walkability in cities.
AARP Walk Audit Tool Kit
A step-by-step self-service guide for assessing a community’s walkability.
AARP Walk Audit Tool Kit Leader Guide
How to host a walkability workshop and community walk audit.
Pedestrian and Bicycle Friendly Policies, Practices, and Ordinances
This handbook provides information about practices, policies, and ordinances from various jurisdictions throughout the United States that enhance pedestrian and bicycle safety and accommodations. This report also highlights some educational campaigns that promote the Share the Road concept and encourage the use of non-motorized methods of transportation.
Massachusetts DOT: Municipal Resource Guide for Walkability
This guide is intended to provide communities with the tools and information needed to hold discussions on why and how to improve walkability.
Identify Priority Locations and Projects
Engaging the Community and Making a Plan
This guidance details how to design and implement a pop-up demonstration project.
Crossing the Street
This document focuses on the physical and design details that influence street crossings.
Improving Walkability within Existing Urban Design
A walkable community is a sustainable community. By identifying and focusing on areas where vehicle traffic severs otherwise walkable routes, communities can reconnect existing corridors and improve walkability without making major adjustments to street design.
Additional Resources
PennDOT's Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP)
The LTAP program is designed to help Pennsylvania's municipalities make the best use of their roadway maintenance dollars.
Transportation and Land Use Planning
Are you involved with municipal land use and transportation planning activities? Could your municipality use assistance to help shape future land use or transportation projects? Would you like to learn how to advance your community's planning and transportation-related goals? Have you heard about PennDOT Connects, but would like to know more about the free training and assistance available to your municipality? If you answered "Yes" to at least one of these questions, your community could benefit from PennDOT Connects Assistance.
TechSheet: Tools to Achieve Common Comprehensive Plan Goals
A truly effective transportation system accommodates all anticipated modes efficiently. This Tech Sheet lists some of the tools available to municipalities to minimize modal conflicts and provide for transit usage that can reduce single occupant vehicular traffic, thereby improving safety and reducing congestion.
Community and Local Government Assistance
This PennDOT published resource that explains funding sources for municipal and county governments. The document lists grants, reimbursements and loans available to communities and local governments for transportation related initiatives for 2017-18 and MPO/RPO contacts in Pennsylvania.
PennDOT's Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan
PennDOT is developing an updated Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan for Pennsylvania that will outline a vision and framework for improving conditions for walking and bicycling across Pennsylvania. The Master Plan will also identify and help prioritize strategies that increase the number of people walking and bicycling. Once completed, the Master Plan will be a resource for Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), Rural Planning Organizations (RPOs), and Municipalities throughout Pennsylvania.
Rural Walking in Massachusetts: A Tool Kit for Municipalities
This report provides an introduction to different types of walking facilities that can be constructed in rural areas.