Toronto Papers
"How Carsharing Can Reduce the ''Drive to Drive'' and Improve Walkability"
Chris Bradshaw, Ottawa Canada
Summary: The Kyoto Accord has brought a new wave of scrutiny to the private automobile. But it is focusing us on only one of the car’s impacts: emissions. The car problem, however, as walking advocates know, is much broader and more profound. What the author addresses in this paper, is how the sharing of cars, as opposed to our regime of private ownership, can achieve dramatically greater walkability by effecting changes in many areas that are usually ignored: how cars are used and how they are designed, both of which are influenced by the form of car-access. The potential of turning away from the current One-Person, One-Car Orientation (OPOCO) will evoke protestations. “People love their cars!” Since society provides shared rights-of-way but leaves car-access up to the individual, we have created a feast-or-famine proposition in which there are too many cars, the cars are poorly utilized, and they are much larger than the vast majority of trips require. In the last 15 years carsharing has joined taxis, car-rental, and ridesharing as ways to share cars: together I call them Metered Access to Shared Cars (MASC). They jointly represent a way to not only greatly reduce peak demands for both roads and parking lots – which increases sprawl – but to make the way cars are driven more pedestrian-friendly. MASC reduces OPOCO’s “drive to drive” by: a) shifting costs from fixed to variable, eliminating car-owners’ efforts to do extra driving to amortize $6000-12,000/year invariable costs, while making the whole cost of each trip more readily apparent; b) having shared cars everywhere people need to be so they don’t have to take a car around everywhere just to have one available if the need arises; and c) increasing the “fuss” of car access by requiring a short walk and some planning. MASC also reduces the amount of car – weight, power, rigidness of its shell – used for each trip by making the vehicle choice a trip-by-trip decision, rather once-every-five-year decision. MASC brings into play many driving/vehicle factors that walkability debates usually ignore, specifically the five Fs: how Frequent/Far, Fast, and “Fazed/Frantically” the vehicle is driven, and how “Fat” and “Filthy” the vehicle being driven is. The paper shows how each is reduced when MASC is used, primarily through reducing sprawl, increasing scrutiny of driver behaviour by the provider, and allowing for the introduction pedestrian-friendly neighbourhood vehicles (NVs) in place of standard highway-friendly cars. Because most MASC vehicles are equipped with GPS readers, as well as scheduling and tracking software, sharing – both consecutive and simultaneous – becomes practical. The author sees carsharing and ridesharing merging first to introduce it to suburban neighbourhoods and business parks where carsharing is non-existent and ridesharing is very limited. He offers 11 additional actions that will bring about a new form of car-access and a new environment for walking, hopefully in time to shape the form of the “automobilization” of Asia, Africa, and South America. ... More
(Re)Connecting land use planning and public health: supporting walkability initiatives from within a regional health authority
Sherrill Johnson, PhD, Population Health Consultant, Capital Health
Summary: Health systems everywhere are currently struggling with the burden of 21st century public health problems, most notably chronic disease and injuries. In light of growing concerns about the sustainability of the health care system, interest has been growing in exploring how different types of urban design can promote health and influence the prevention of population-level factors that contribute to disease and injury. The evidence demonstrates that there is an association between land use planning and the health of populations. The most researched area to date for connecting land use planning and public health is the impact of urban design on levels of physical activity. Low density suburban neighbourhoods contribute significantly to physical inactivity. The design of these neighbourhoods and their distance from daily destinations (groceries, services) typically requires a high degree of automobile dependence and decreases opportunities for active transportation, such as walking, cycling and use of public transit. The evidence shows that people who live in walkable communities (those that have mixed land uses, connected streets and higher population density) walk more and drive less than those who live in suburban communities. This paper highlights the links between land use planning and public health and makes the case for public health input into land use decision-making processes. ... More
A Walk on the Wild Side
Marcia Cummings Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians
Summary: Walking in the city can be very relaxing, until you have to start dealing with the barriers and obstacles prevalent on our sidewalks—merchandise, bicycle racks, garbage cans, etc. They may not seem like barriers to you, but to someone who is blind they can turn a relaxing walk into a nightmare. How do we reclaim our sidewalks? ... More
“I really need to get out more”: the inclusive (universal) design of streets with older people in mind
Rita Newton et al. SURFACE Inclusive Design Research Centre, The University of Salford, UK
Summary: This presentation for Walk21 reports on the findings from a major UK government funded research project which investigated the extent to which the detailed design of neighbourhoods are supportive of older people in getting out and about. The research was part of a consortium project which was funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council looking at aspects of inclusive (universal) design for getting outdoors (I’DGO). Using a research sample of 200 people aged 65+ living in a range of settlement types and housing settings within the UK, in-depth interviews were undertaken to determine their preferences for different environmental design features at the scale of detailed design (for example, a participants preferred walking surface, preferred style of public seating) within a neighbourhood environment, and the reasons for these preferences. A physical audit was then undertaken of the street in which they lived, and of their wider neighbourhood environment using the Street Walkability Audit Tool which was developed with older people in mind using principles and practices of inclusive design. Findings are presented from 3 attributes of detailed design which focus specifically on footways, namely width, materials, and adjacent and shared use (cyclists and pedestrians). Findings from other attributes are available on the I’DGO Consortium website at www.idgo.ac.uk. The overall indicate that our research participants live in neighbourhoods which do not support the undertaking of daily activities. Typical barriers are poorly maintained footways, uneven surface finishes, insufficient seating along routes to activities, inadequate provision of controlled crossing points and the like. The implications of these barriers suggest that older people are prevented in getting out and about; and when they do go out, they experience the direct effects of poor design and maintenance, thereby compromising their enjoyment and quality of life. Keywords: environmental checklist, inclusive design, neighbourhoods, older people, streets, universal design, walkability audit. ... More
“No Lingering in Lewisham.”
Andrew Stuck, Rethinking Cities Ltd.
Summary: No Lingering in Lewisham! was a collaborative project that explored ‘play’ spaces in Lewisham – spaces that are provided, adopted, imagined, special and future - and the pedestrian journeys between them. Working with young teenagers at a secondary school in the north end of the borough, an innovative consultative process was devised, to inform stakeholders on what makes a great ‘play’ space. Teenagers ‘hanging about’ are often viewed as a negative leisure activity (for example, in shopping centres groups are often moved on for lingering). The project sought to provoke a creative response to this issue that involves young people mapping alternatives that invited debate with the local council and residents. The workshops were designed to stimulate creative responses to local urban planning of ‘play’ spaces (from walkways to fields) with those who wouldn’t usually be invited or concern themselves with this kind of intervention. They included auditing and mapping of routes and lingering places, stakeholder role play, modelling of desired places and routes, face-to-face and on-line conversations with policy planners, and presentations made by young people. The key objective was to involve local users in gathering information and having ideas on what makes a successful and sustainable play space for the city/locality. Target user groups included local councillors, policy planners, local residents, young people and teachers. In particular, the project aimed to impact on future access to and planning of public/private space in the built environment and how young people are invited into these decision-making processes. The paper will outline the process and how it was developed, identify the critical “moments of truth” and the lessons learned, and provide an evaluation of the project and the next steps that include the process being adopted borough-wide as a valid consultative tool involving young people. Project collaborators included the Design school at Goldsmith’s College of Art & Design (University of London), the Inter-Cultural Cities Project, officers and councillors from Lewisham Borough Council, including the Young mayor, and students and teachers at Deptford Green School. ... More
Not found exactly what you were looking for?
Try a keyword search or define by subject using the Walk 21 Paper Search.