Active Transportation Workshop in Pennsylvania’s Northern Tier
PROBLEM STATEMENT:
A myth has been perpetuated that walking and bicycling do not hold value as utilitarian and tourism modes for rural America. However, lived experiences in the rural context suggest otherwise, as documented by research projects like Case Studies of Communities of Less Than 10,000 People with Bicycle & Pedestrian Infrastructure. This project will work with locals in the “Northern Tier” of Pennsylvania, more specifically McKean, Elk and Cameron Counties (and potentially Potter and Warren), to host a workshop on active transportation, drawing from knowledge gained through the aforementioned recently completed research project.
The workshop is part of WTI’s NADO: Quick Response Technical Assistance project.
In the spring of 2023, an active transportation workshop, open to the broader Northern Tier region of Pennsylvania, was held in Kane, Pennsylvania, a town of 3,384 people. The objectives of the workshop were to introduce participants to active transportation infrastructure, funding, programs, and more. Overall, the workshop was a success, most notably to support the recognition that planning for active transportation in small towns and rural areas is needed. The information contained within the report for this project could help to provide the framework for future active transportation workshops in other small towns and rural areas across the United States of America.