
Why should your community become more bicycle and pedestrian friendly?
Bicycle and pedestrian friendly communities are happier, healthier, and more livable places. Creating a more welcoming environment for bicycling and walking improves resident’s quality of life and your municipality’s bottom line. Encouraging biking and walking reduces a community’s automobile dependence. This allows residents to become more active, reduces air pollution, and creates an equitable transportation network open to all—regardless of age, physical ability, or income. Bicycle and pedestrian friendly communities benefit economically; encouraging local spending, spurring tourism, creating jobs, and attracting new homebuyers.

Biking and walking are healthy
Thirty minutes of physical activity a day has proven effective in preventing many serious health conditions. Providing a bicycle and pedestrian friendly environment encourages your residents to engage in routine physical activity.
Biking and walking are green
Automobile emissions are a leading cause of air pollution. Encouraging people to replace some of their shorter car based trips with walking and biking will reduce harmful emissions and improve your community’s air quality. Bicycling burns calories, not oil.
Biking and walking are equitable
Bicycle and pedestrian friendly communities provide more travel options for people of all ages, including children and the elderly. Biking and walking are affordable for everyone, regardless of income – expanding your entire community’s access to jobs and services.
Biking and walking mean business
A Rutgers University study found that biking and walking contributed $497 million to New Jersey’s economy in 2011. This was roughly proportionate to the projected economic impact for hosting the Super Bowl in 2014.

- Identify funding sources and assist with preparation of grant applications for pedestrian and bicycle friendly infastructure
- Assist with developing policies supportive of biking ans walking, such as Complete Streets (20 point Sustainable Jersey action item)
- Utilize GIS and GPS technology to inventory and map existing and proposed bikeways
- Identify future bikeway facilities to improve local and regional bikeway connectivity
- Provide assistance with bicycle and pedestrian Master Plans (10 point Sustainable Jersey action item) and studies
- Coordinate with local, county, regional, and state planning efforts
- Conduct bicycle safety and walkability audits (5 point Sustainable Jersey action item)
- Utilize geographic data collection, analysis and mapping expertise to assist local governments in making informed decisions with respect to biking and walking including:
- Bicycle and pedestrian crash analysis
- Bikeway network needs assessments
- Pedestrian network needs assessments
Assist communities to connect with residents and solicit valuable input by conducting a wide range of pubic outreach efforts including:
- Public meetings and visioning sessions
- Surveys
- Interactive websites
- Web-based maps that allow residents and visitors to identify and share the best places to walk and bike
- Social media and print based marketing campaignsCreate electronic and print bikeway maps utilizing GIS and GPS mapping technology
Work with schools to develop youth bicycle and pedestrian safety education programs and activities through NJDOT’s Safe Routes to School Program
How does your community become bicycle and pedestrian friendly?
Providing sidewalks and bike lanes is an important part of making your community bicycle and pedestrian friendly, but it is not the only tool at your disposal. Successful bicycle and pedestrian friendly communities take a comprehensive approach that addresses:
- Policy
- Programing
- Engineering

These comprehensive measures are developed through a two-step process that uses sound planning analysis to inform effective implementation strategies. Each stage of this process requires the coordination of multiple players and meaningful public participation.
THE TWO-STEP PROCESS

How Cross County Connection Can Help
Cross County Connection offers a range of services that will guide you through the two-step process and put your community on path to becoming a bicycle and pedestrian friendly, starting today!

- Bicycle and pedestrian crash analysis
- Demographic analysis
- Identification of walking and biking generators
- Infrastructure project prioritization modeling
Bicycle and Pedestrian Supportive Policies Adopting supportive policies provides a predictable and transparent process for implementing infrastructure improvements and safety programs. Cross County Connection can assist your community with the development of these bicycle and pedestrian supportive policies, including Complete Streets. Education and Encouragement Programs Effective programming will encourage your community to embrace biking and walking as an everyday form of transportation and ensure that residents do so safely. These programs will:
- Educate motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians on traffic laws and safe practices.
- Bring awareness to the multitude of health and other quality of life benefits biking and walking provide.
- Provide opportunities to bring your community together and have fun.
Cross County Connection can advise you on the programs and activities that best fit your community’s needs, including the popular Safe Routes to School and Sustainable Jersey programs. Bikeway Inventories Cross County Connection conducts periodic bicycle facility inventories for South Jersey’s seven counties: Atlantic; Burlington; Camden; Cape May; Cumberland; Gloucester; and Salem. These inventories document existing and proposed bikeways at a county-wide level. Inventories provide local governments with timely and accurate information on the region’s existing bikeway network, and assist in prioritizing future investment in bicycle infrastructure. Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plans (10 point Sustainable Jersey action item) Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plans are the most effective means to develop and bicycle and pedestrian friendly community. The master plan is a comprehensive document that ties all the engineering, programming and policy elements together into a cohesive form that will guide your community for next five, ten, or more years. Effective master plans address the 5 Es that are essential to making a biking and walking a viable transportation option in your community – Engineering, Education, Encouragement, Enforcement, and Evaluation. Cross County Connection has a depth of technical experience in all elements of bicycle and pedestrian master planning and can assist your community with the preparation of Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plans in one of two ways:
- Preparation of a Bicycle and/or Pedestrian Master Plan (fee for service).
- Sitting on Plan Steering Committees – Advising your consultants and ensuring the needs of your community are effectively addressed.
Bicycle and Pedestrian Resources:
South Jersey Bike Shop List Update
Download our Bicycle and Pedestrian Services Brochure
General Information
The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (funded by FHWA)
Funding
NJDOT Local Aid and Economic Development – An overview of available State and Federal Opportunities
Bikeway Design
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) – Guidance on Bicycle and Pedestrian Design Flexibility National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) -Urban Bikeway Design Guide AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities, 4th Edition (2012) – It must be purchased.
Pedestrian Facility Design
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) – Guide for the Planning, Design, and Operation of Pedestrian Facilities, 1st Edition Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) – Designing Walkable Urban Thoroughfares: A Context Sensitive Approach