title: Master plans for pedestrian and bicycle transportation: community characteristics.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent research demonstrates the importance of targeting the built environment to support individual physical activity, particularly for people experiencing health disparities. Master plans to promote biking and/or pedestrians (BPMPs) are a potential method for environmental change. This descriptive study aims to provide a snapshot of plan attributes and better understand demographic, social and transportation characteristics of communities with BPMPs.
  
  
  METHODS
  We collected a census sample of BPMPs from 4 states. Population and commuting data were obtained from national statistics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  294 master plans were included, with most plans representing municipalities. 62% of plans targeted biking only, one-fifth targeted biking and walking, and 15% targeted walking only. The sampled locations have a similar demographic profile as the overall U.S. for median age and household income, people of color, high school education, and income inequality. The degree of racial diversity of sampled communities is slightly less than the U.S. average and the percentage of people who walk to work were slightly higher.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Given that communities with master plans have a similar profile as the overall U.S., BPMPs could feasibly be spread to communities throughout the country. Further research is planned to describe BPMPs in detail toward informing future plan development.
authors.affiliation: Health Promotion Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Lesley
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Steinman
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Doescher
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Levinger
authors.forename: Cynthia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Perry
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eyler
authors.forename: Semra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aytur
authors.forename: Angie L I
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Cradock
authors.forename: Kelly R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Evenson
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Heinrich
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kerr
authors.forename: Jill
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Litt
authors.forename: Yucel
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Severcan
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Voorhees
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001642:Bicycling; D002140:California; D002958:City Planning; D004779:Environment Design; D005260:Female; D006291:Health Policy; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008923:Missouri; D009043:Motor Activity; D009657:North Carolina; D011634:Public Health; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D040241:Social Marketing; D016138:Walking; D014861:Washington; D055815:Young Adult