Mobility education

Mobility Education is a proposal to modify driver's education by integrating training in multiple modes of transportation. Developed in the Seattle area in 2004, the Mobility Education Foundation was established in 2007 to develop and promote the concept in the United States. The rationale behind Mobility Education is that every licensed driver should have skills to get around in multiple modes of transportation and, thereby, will also become a safer and more skilled driver. Typically, driver education courses involve approximately 30 hours of classroom and 6 hours of "behind the wheel" instruction. Mobility education supplements driver education with experience riding a bicycle, being a pedestrian, riding the bus, taking a ferry, and using other forms of transportation in addition to driving an automobile. The goal is to make everyone safer by putting them in the shoes of users of other modes of transportation.
A mobility education curriculum includes driver's education as well as:
*Training in cycling, bicycle as a vehicle with all the rights and responsibilities of vehicle drivers (RCW 46.61.755 in Washington State).
*Education regarding walkability and pedestrians in the transportation system.
*Training in how using transit and in transit trip planning.
*An introduction to new transportation technologies, fuels, and mobility tools.
In 2007, a Mobility Education bill was introduced in the Washington State legislature (House Bill 1588) but did not pass. In 2008, a compromise bill passed the legislative session (House Bill 2564), requiring the inclusion of pedestrian and bicycle safety education within the Driver's Education curriculum.
The first pilot course for mobility education was conducted in Federal Way, WA in the fall of 2007, at Todd Beamer High School.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu