Bicycle & Pedestrian Priority Areas (BPPA)
Program Summary
The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (SHA) works to improve safety for all users and encourages economic prosperity and community vitality by cooperating with local governments to enhance multimodal transportation. SHA may, in collaboration with local jurisdictions, designate a Bicycle and Pedestrian Priority Area (BPPA), a geographical area where the enhancement of bicycle and pedestrian traffic is a priority. A BPPA designation facilitates the planning of bicycle and pedestrian facilities in areas with a high potential for bicycling and walking. This collaborative approach helps State and local transportation agencies overcome a wide range of impediments to bicycle and pedestrian travel, regardless of facility ownership.
BPPA Plan
The BPPA designation lets SHA, subject to available resources, lead development of a BPPA Plan (BPPAP) for improvements that make the area safer and more accommodating for vulnerable road users. BPPAP development will focus on context-driven bicycle and pedestrian improvements that align state, local and stakeholder goals to expand existing or planned bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.
BPPAP development requires a close partnership between SHA, local jurisdictions and other stakeholders. SHA will convene a BPPAP working group, including the appropriate SHA district office, the applicant, local implementing agency (if different from the applicant), local planning agency (if different from the applicant) and other local stakeholders. The BPPA applicant must solicit participation from affected stakeholders and select participants for the BPPAP working group.
BPPAP development includes:
- Facilitating State, local and stakeholder coordination.
- Planning bicycle and pedestrian improvements with stakeholder input, land-use plans and master plans.
- Identifying roadway geometric and operational recommendations to align State and local bicycle and pedestrian planning.
- Estimating construction costs for proposed bicycle and pedestrian treatments.
Local agency roles and responsibilities include:
- Demonstrating local support for bicycle and pedestrian mobility.
- Participating in State and local workgroups for each designated BPPA.
- Coordinating local community stakeholders and advocacy groups.
- Monitoring and evaluating outcomes.
| WHAT BPPAs DO | WHAT BPPAs DO NOT DO |
|---|
| Coordinate State, local, and private stakeholders | Provide State funding for capital improvement projects |
| Align state and local planning goals | Replace existing transportation plans and goals |
| Provide for potential innovative bicycle and pedestrian treatments | Supersede existing bicycle and pedestrian design guidelines
|
If there are no SHA roadways within a BPPA, the local jurisdiction leads and funds BPPAP development.
Designated BPPAs
SHA has designated the following BPPAs:
- Bethesda Central Business District (Montgomery County)
- Hagerstown (City of Hagerstown)
- Town of Kensington (Montgomery County)
- Largo Town Center (Prince George's County)
- Piney Branch/University Boulevard (Montgomery County)
- Prince George’s Plaza Metro (Prince George’s County)
- Rockville Town Center (Montgomery County)
- Silver Spring Central Business District (Montgomery County)
- Shady Grove (Montgomery County)
- Takoma Langley Crossroads (Montgomery County)
- Village of Tilghman (Talbot County)
- Wheaton Central Business District (Montgomery County)
- White Flint (Montgomery County)
How the Program Works
Local jurisdictions can apply annually to SHA to designate one or more areas as BPPAs. SHA reviews the application and evaluates available resources to determine whether to designate the requested BPPA(s).
Application process and screening criteria.
The BPPA designation process includes the following steps:
Application Submittal - Local agencies submit BPPA application to SHA.
- Application Screening – Subject to resource availability, SHA reviews submitted BPPA applications.
- BPPA Designation - SHA will designate BPPA(s) with the SHA Administrator’s concurrence. The number of designations is limited by SHA staff’s capacity to evaluate BPPA designation(s) and draft BPPAP(s).
- BPPAP Development – Subject to resource availability, SHA leads the BPPAP development in partnership with the local jurisdiction and affected stakeholders. If no SHA roadways are within a BPPA, the local agency leads and funds BPPAP development.
- BPPA Evaluation - State and local agencies track and evaluate outcomes as they implement BPPAP recommendations.
Application Screening
SHA designates up to two BPPA(s) annually in areas with high potential for bicycling and walking. Selection criteria include:
- Urban areas, main streets and/or tourist centers with high potential for bicycling and walking as transportation modes. These include areas identified by the MDOT Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan as short-trip opportunity areas.
- A focused area, generally less than one-half-mile radius.
- Areas with surmountable obstacles to bicycling, walking and safety.
- Areas that emphasize multimodal transportation.
- Areas that proactively address equity and remove barriers to opportunities.
- Local commitment to bicycling and walking, demonstrated by consistency with comprehensive and sector plans, prior investment in bicycle and pedestrian efforts, investment in BPPA efforts, and active maintenance of bicycle and pedestrian facilities.
Getting Started
The BPPA application period opens the first full week of September and closes the last week of October. State BPPA designation decisions will be made the first full week of January.
Supplemental information is below.
Additional Resources
If you have questions, contact:
Shane SarverBicycle and Pedestrian Planner
Regional and Intermodal Planning Division
State Highway Administration
707 North Calvert Street MS C-502
Baltimore MD 21202
410-545-5662
ssarver@mdot.maryland.gov