The Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy’s Fall 2016 Graduate Studio program offered a course that advanced the goals of Healthier New Brunswick, a network of partners in the City of New Brunswick that are working together to ensure that all residents have equal access to the services and conditions that allow for good health and well-being, including access to active modes of transportation.

The product of the studio was an analysis of the health impacts of the potential new bike share program planned for the Rutgers-New Brunswick community [Regional Bicycle Share Program (Knight Cycle)].  The client for this studio was the Rutgers University Department of Institutional Planning and Operations (IPO), but the findings and recommendations are applicable to not just the Rutgers community, but also to New Brunswick, Highland Park and Piscataway, all municipalities who will be participating in the project.

This studio examined the physical, mental, social, and economic health of the users and residents of Rutgers campus and the surrounding areas, and how the bike share program could affect health in both positive and negative ways. The targeted population for this analysis was both people who currently bike and those who do not, while paying close attention to equity issues and vulnerable populations. The analysis results in recommendations for locations of bike share hubs, and for implementing the program in ways that ensure bike share usage for lower-income residents in the region.

Read the full studio report here.

For further information contact Dr. Karen Lowrie, Environmental Analysis and Communications Group & Planning Healthy Communities Initiative, Rutgers University at klowrie@rutgers.edu.