Implementing FHWA’s Focused Approach to Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety: A Safety Workforce Development Virtual Symposium in Florida under COVID-19

The Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA’s) Focused Approach to Safety identifies pedestrian and bicycle safety as an emphasis area and provides targeted efforts for promoting pedestrian and bicycle safety through financial, staff, and training support. Pedestrian and bicycle safety is also a prioritized safety area in Florida. In 2020, the Florida Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) hosted a pedestrian and bicycle safety best practices virtual symposium in a four-part webinar-series format, supported by FHWA Accelerating Safety Activities Program (ASAP). The purpose of this event was to equip statewide professionals with the most effective and appropriate countermeasures and best practices for improving pedestrian and bicycle safety. The event was a successful workforce development experience based on training evaluations related to number of attendees and their location distribution, attendee evaluations on webinar quality, speaker knowledge and skills, and improvements in attendee understanding of pedestrian/bicycle safety. Educational materials relevant to pedestrian and bicycle safety topics were developed to enhance training delivery. The event also provided an opportunity to verify the advantages of online training compared to in-person events in terms of increased hosting capacity and training effectiveness, better time management, and increased communication opportunities among presenters and attendees. The experience obtained and lessons learned provided significant benefits for future safety workforce development training planning and coordination.