The TRB Annual Meeting & My Fantasy Research Project [via Yay Bikes!]

Meredith Joy contributes a post on the Yay Bikes! site:

Last week, alongside 11,000+ transportation professionals from around the world, I attended the 91st Annual Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting in Washington D.C. I went to learn what’s happening in the world of transportation research, what the gaps are and how Yay Bikes! might contribute to the conversation. The good news: there is *lots* of exciting bicycle research being done out there, much more than ever before! But for all the inquiry into bike infrastructure, bike sharing programs, cyclists’ behavior and preferences, however, I did notice that one topic continues to be overlooked—cyclist education. Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think there is a single research paper devoted to the subject!

What We Assume About Cyclist Education

Education is among the most elevated of interventions to promote bicycling. As one of the “5 E’s” of bicycle planning, the availability of cyclist (and motorist) education is a major consideration in whether a place is deemed by the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) to be a Bicycle Friendly Community. There are a handful of cyclist education offerings, the most established and ubiquitous of which is the LAB’s Smart Cycling curriculum and instructor certification program, based largely on the tenets ofEffective Cycling. A competitive methodology called Cycling Savvy is now gaining traction, and of course Yay Bikes! has developed our own How We Roll methodology to teach road riding skills.

[continue reading at Yay Bikes!]