When you're planning a lesson on transportation, look first to the resources in your own community. There likely are great organizations nearby who can help you give your kids an insider's perspective. Here in Kansas City, our kids visited:

• The Mid-America Regional Council
• The Kansas City Area Transit Authority
• The Young Eagles
• The Federal Air Traffic Control Center
• YRC Worldwide
• The Missouri Bicycle Federation
• The Missouri Department of Transportation
• Kansas City, MO Water Department's Natural Gas Vehicles Project

Our Own Transportation KC Study

Our kids prepared and distributed a 22-question online survey, using Survey Monkey. More than 180 households responded. To read more about this survey, click here.

Transportation Challenges

The following sources provide a wealth of useful information - both local (Kansas City metropolitan area) and U.S.A. We hope you will find them as interesting as we did.

• "Adaptive Land Use Scenario," Mid-America Regional Council, 11/2009.
• "How Bad Is Sprawl? 100 Largest U.S. Urbanized Areas," Sprawl City, http://www.sprawlcity.org/hbis/index.html .
• "Urban Sprawl and Air Quality in Large US Cities," Journal of Engineering Management, Issue 86, 2008, Pages 688-698, http://www.coa.gatech.edu/~stone/Publications%20folder/UrbanSprawlandAQ_....
• "Breath-Taking: Premature Mortality Due to Particulate Air Pollution in 239 US Cities," Natural Resources Defense Council, www.nrdc.org/air/pollution/bt/3760.asp, 1/22/2010.
• "Aggressive Driving: Where You Live Matters," Surface Transportation Policy Report, 4/1/1999, http://www.transact.org/report.asp?id=58.
• AAA Automobile Study, http://www.aaanewsroom.net/Main/Default.asp?CategoryID=6&ArticleID=600
• National Highway Transportation Study (NSTS) Summary of Travel Trends, 2001, http://nhts.ornl.gov/2001/pub/STT.pdf.
• Sightline, 2008, http://www.sightline.org/maps/charts/climate-CO2byMode.
• Environmental Defense Fund, 2009, http://www.edf.org/article.cfm?contentID=5300.

Ride-Sharing

• "We Test the Tips: What Really Saves Gas? And How Much?" Edmunds.com, http://www.edmunds.com/advice/fueleconomy/articles/106842/article.html.
• U.S. Fuel Economy, http://www.fueleconomy.gov/Feg/driveHabits.shtml.
• "We Test the Tips: What Really Saves Gas? And How Much?" Edmunds.com, http://www.edmunds.com/advice/fueleconomy/articles/106842/article.html.
• U.S. Fuel Economy, http://www.fueleconomy.gov/Feg/driveHabits.shtml.
• "We Test the Tips: What Really Saves Gas? And How Much?" Edmunds.com, http://www.edmunds.com/advice/fueleconomy/articles/106842/article.html.
• U.S. Fuel Economy, http://www.fueleconomy.gov/Feg/driveHabits.shtml.
• iCarpool, http://www.icarpool.com/en/MainPage.aspx?gclid=CMHA1OaNrpwCFRPyDAodUmOJkw
• eRideShare, http://www.erideshare.com/
• Ride Share Online, http://www.rideshareonline.com/
• Ride Shark, http://www.rideshark.com/
• Car Pool World, http://www.carpoolworld.com/
• Car Pool King, http://www.carpoolking.com/us/en-gb/?gclid=CNuqta2RrpwCFRghDQodqlqn7w

Bike Rental Programs, Safety and Innovative Vehicles

• "Velib," Liveable Streets Initiative, STREETFILMS.org, July 15, 2008, http://www.streetfilms.org/velib%E2%80%99/.
• "Bicycle-Sharing Program to Be First of Kind in U.S.," The New York Times, April, 27, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/us/27bikes.html.
• "Paris’ Popular Bike Program May Inspire Others," NPR, September 15, 2007, NPR, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14429468.
• "Bike Rental Program Peddles Smart Cards," RFID Journal, November 30, 2005, http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/view/2013/1/1.
• Washington D.C. Ride Share Program, Clear Channel Outdoor, https://www.smartbikedc.com/program_information.asp.
• "Bicycle Sharing System," Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_sharing_system.