Earn .50 Credit for the following certifications: APA / AICP, ASLA
20 min. Video Course | Quiz | Certificate of Completion
In the first part of this course, Bill Barker, FAICP, FITE, discusses how an off-road trail has many human health benefits. In the second part of this course, he discusses The Great Springs Project, which is creating network of springs-to-springs trails and protected natural areas of the Edwards Aquifer between San Antonio and Austin. Upon successful completion of this course, AICP professionals can earn .75 CE, and ASLA professionals can earn .75 CEPH.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify the mental and physical health benefits from off-road trails.
- Identify the scope, location and benefits of The Great Springs Project
- Name the 4,000 year old White Shaman cave painting that could be an early vision of this springs-to-springs trail
Mental and physical health benefits accrue from just being in nature, from active transportation, and from having a pathway away from motorized traffic. To the extent that the path user is displacing motorized travel, additional health benefits accrue to others in the community as well as the surrounding ecosystems.
Speaker: Bill Barker, FAICP, FITE, Regional Transportation Planning Director Great Springs Project, Inc.
A former Planning Director for VIA Metropolitan Transit in San Antonio, Interim Planning Director at the Fort Worth Transportation Authority, Director of Transportation for the North Central Texas Council of Governments (Dallas-Fort Worth’s Metropolitan Planning Organization), and General Engineer at the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, Bill brings a unique background in regional transportation planning to the Great Springs Project. Uniquely recognized as a Fellow by both the Institute of Transportation Engineers and the American Institute of Certified Planners, Bill offers in-depth expertise in coordinating and aligning municipal, county, state and federal planning initiatives. Additionally, Bill was Chairman of the Board of the Bexar Land Trust (now known as the Green Spaces Alliance of South Texas), signing critical land conservation easement agreements. Bill has been a former Adjunct Associate Professor in the graduate urban and regional planning program at the University of Texas at San Antonio and a former Advisory Board Member to the Hill Country Alliance.
As a consultant, Bill has helped public and private clients in seven states, Canada and Mexico as well as the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Transportation, and the Agency for International Development. In addition, Bill has been engaged in “think tank” projects with the Houston Advanced Research Center, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Center for Urban Transportation Research, the Gas Research Institute, and the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, where he was recognized for his distinguished service as Chairman of the Committee on Transportation Programming, Planning and Systems Evaluation. He has a B.S. in physics from the University of Florida and a M.A. in urban affairs from the University of Texas at Arlington.
