There are unique barriers to active modes of transportation in rural communities. Rural environments typically lack pedestrian facilities and bike lanes; stores, schools, jobs, and services are sometimes located far apart from homes; and parks and recreation facilities are rare. In addition, some small town and rural residents see "active transportation" - the ability for people to be physically active in the course of daily life, e.g. walking to school or the supermarket or bicycling to work - as out of place in the rural context.
Understanding these barriers is the first step towards finding opportunities to remove them. In fact, the active living movement is gaining momentum in small towns, rural and tribal communities in every region of the US. This Web Forum will feature a frank roundtable discussion of how, through persistence and inspiration, small towns can implement policies, programs, and environmental changes that support walking and biking. Learn about strategies, tools, and resources that you can use to improve your community so that children and adults can be more physically active and healthier on a daily basis.
Join us for what will surely be a dynamic and thought-provoking forum on how rural communities can support walking and biking. Unlike our traditional events, this Web Forum will feature an entirely unscripted, round table conversation with five leaders in the field of promoting Active Transportation. We look forward to your comments and questions to help shape our open discussion.
Prior to the Web Forum, we invite you to read the report Active Transportation Beyond Urban Centers: Walking and Bicycling in Small Towns and Rural America.
Presenters
Eric, Oberg, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
Jennifer Rice, Humboldt Area Foundation
Ronald Cossman, Social Science Research Center
Mark Duncan, Starkvilel in Motion
Tracy Hadden Loh, Moderator, Rails-to-Conservancy
