Volunteers needed for NPS bike count

Dear Urban Affairs and Planning students,

Our former student Thomas Sheffer, now Community Planner for the National Park Service/George Washington Memorial Parkway, has asked for help. The National Park Service is coordinating a major bike/pedestrian trail counting event along the Mount Vernon Trail in mid September and is in need of volunteers. While the final dates have not been finalized as of yet, counts will likely take place on Saturday, September 10th and Tuesday, September 13th.

Please take a look at the attached flyer and the email below.  Please also note that Thomas thinks that the count data could be used for a capstone project.

Please send you emails about the count directly to: Timothy Bevins or Thomas Sheffer:
Timothy_Bevins@partner.nps.gov or Thomas_Sheffer@nps.gov

Thanks,

Ralph

Here is Thomas' email:

Hi Ralph,

I hope the first week of classes is going well!

As I mentioned in our conversation last week, the National Park Service is coordinating a major bike/pedestrian trail counting event along the Mount Vernon Trail in mid September and is in need of volunteers. Working collaboratively with Arlington County, the data from these counts will contribute to a national bike and pedestrian survey (http://bikepeddocumentation.org) as well as ongoing planning efforts to help improve the safety, capacity, and connectivity of the Mount Vernon Trail. Time commitment would only be for a few hours in addition to a training run by Arlington. Attached is a flyer with additional information.

This a great opportunity for students – data collection, transportation planning, pedestrian/trail planning, agency cooperation, National Parks, volunteer experience – it really covers a lot of bases!  Additionally, the NPS planning efforts connected to this count have a range of potential opportunities for capstone projects for students that have a particular interest in these areas.

While the final dates have not been finalized as of yet, they will likely take place on Saturday, September 10th and Tuesday, September 13th. If you can pass this on to students you think may be interested, I would greatly appreciate it. This is only a couple weeks away, so please have those interested contact Tim Bevins, the coordinator for this count, asap at timothy_bevins@partner.nps.gov.

Thanks!

Thomas

Thomas Sheffer
Community Planner
George Washington Memorial Parkway
office 703-289-2512
mobile 202-320-6282