Walk 21 - Toronto Papers

Streets with people, or roads with cars?

Tim Pharoah, MSc, MRTPI, MCILT, MIHT, Urban Transport and Planning Consultant, London UK

Summary: This paper is about the impact of urban planning on walking. Walking depends on a built form that provides short distances between different activities. Places built before about 1920 were instinctively laid out to enable most trips to be made on foot: there were few other options. But now, catering for car-based lifestyles means that roads and parking make walking unpleasant, while trends towards fewer but larger facilities mean bigger catchments, longer trips, and so less possibility to walk. The paper brings together two linked arguments. First, designing streets and spaces for walking is not in itself sufficient to ensure that people will actually walk. To achieve streets with people in them on foot is necessary to take a wider urban planning approach in which attention is paid to the context of the street. Second, it is argued that resources devoted to the development of car-based areas means that we miss the opportunity to develop new walkable areas. As people wake up to the undesirability of car-based developments, from social, economic and environmental viewpoints, there is a need to shift the focus of development to give primacy to travel on foot. With more people walking, we can regain urban spaces that are lively, convivial and safe: streets with people rather than roads with cars. Recent regeneration projects in both Europe and North America have shown how town and city centres can be made more pleasant for strolling, and these provide positive experiences for people, and help to generate demands for more walkable cities. But most people spend most of their time outside of these special zones, in areas characterised by large-format shops, offices, and leisure centres, with acres of parking, where walking is difficult or impossible. These car-based areas take people away from more diverse and compact areas where walking can be prevalent, and they lead to people spending time in vehicles when otherwise they could be walking. The paper argues a change in the style of developments is needed to enable higher levels of activity on foot. It sets out five requirements for this to be achieved, including people-oriented street design, as advocated in “Manual for Streets”, the latest guidance from the British Government. The key test of whether new developments are successful is not whether streets and spaces look good, but whether they are used by people on foot. The paper offers a measurement tool that helps to provide data on street vitality. The paper concludes that providing high levels of car access is incompatible with walkable neighbourhoods. A choice has to be made when planning new developments, between a form that supports walking, and one that supports motorised travel. We cannot have both because the two forms are incompatible. The author’s view is that there is an urgent need to shift to urban forms that nurture walking, and which therefore provide us with convivial streets and spaces. ... More

Techniques for Assessing the Walkability of the Pedestrian Environment

C. E. Kelly, M. R. Tight, M. W.Page and F. C.Hodgson, Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK

Summary: This paper presents the results of a research project conducted in the UK designed to increase understanding of the factors which influence levels of walking and pedestrian route choice. It describes a number of techniques that were used to assess the pedestrian environment from a pedestrian’s perspective. These techniques included a computer based tool developed using stated preference surveys to determine the relative values of a range of factors in the pedestrian environment; an on-street survey that was designed to investigate values and attitudes towards different attributes of the pedestrian environment along a route; and finally an ‘on the move survey’ where pedestrian volunteers were interviewed while walking along the route in order to get an actual account of their experiences as they walk. A case study is then used to show the benefits and disadvantages of using these different techniques and compares the results of the three techniques along a pedestrian route in the City of Leeds in the UK. The results of this comparison show that there were a number of pedestrian attributes considered important by pedestrians when walking including pavement cleanliness, safe crossing places, and good connectivity. These aspects were highlighted in different ways through the three techniques. The computer based tool allowed different routes to be compared using the same criteria and provided a weighting for each of the important pedestrian factors and an overall score for the route. The technique did not pick up on the route specific factors that were affecting pedestrians as they walked. The on-street survey allowed a larger range of pedestrian factors to be considered using a 5 point scale from very good to very bad, which meant that certain factors which were not included in the tool were highlighted as being particular problems along specific routes. The final technique involved interviewing pedestrians as they walked along the route with specific questions asked as they crossed junctions and walked along links. This allowed a much greater exploration of the factors that affect how a pedestrian feels as they interact with the built environment and traffic. ... More

The Economic Value of Walkability

Todd Alexander Litman, Victoria Transport Policy Institute

Summary: This paper describes ways to evaluate the value of walking (the activity) and walkability (the quality of walking conditions, including safety, comfort and convenience). Walking and walkability provide a variety of benefits, including basic mobility, consumer cost savings, cost savings (reduced external costs), efficient land use, community livability, improved fitness and public health, economic development, and support for equity objectives. Current transportation planning practices tend to undervalue walking. More comprehensive analysis techniques, described in this paper, are likely to increase public support for walking and other nonmotorized modes of travel. ... More

The frog perspective, insights from transport autonomy of children and child friendly public space

Raf Canters & Elke Bossaert, Mobiel 21 vzw

Summary: Due to traffic and social safety concerns, children on the one hand are often restricted in their mobility or accompanied on their journeys. On the other hand a growing independence is expected from children, especially from the age of 10 years onward. During the transition to secondary school age, children’s daily mobility grows significantly more autonomous. Sadly enough, several studies indicate that children are progressively more being driven by car and that the age for autonomous journeys increases. This paper focuses on the transport dependency and autonomy of children, as well as the ways they experience it and expect it to be. The general and policy-related objective of the paper is to reveal how to make mobility projects more children oriented by including children in the projects. The target group focused upon is children aged 10-13 years old. The dimensions of ‘independence’ and ‘autonomy’ are very important for this group and their mobility attitudes and behaviour are developing rapidly. This becomes utterly tangible in their journeys and their mobility. On the one hand these children are still very dependent on their parents, if not for approval than for the financial aspects. On the other hand they want to (learn to) be independent for a growing amount of activities. The mode of transport is a crucial point of discussion that can both endorse as well as hold back autonomous journeys. Our research indicated that 58% of 10-11 years old prefers to have the journey to school with friends; this rises to 74% by the age of 12-13 years old. Children mention this social aspect of the journey spontaneous. Furthermore the research indicated that whereas the age group 10-11 years old was receptive for the message that sustainable modes are healthier and more environmental friendly, the age group of 12-13 years old was increasingly more indifferent for this kind of profits. Mobility management projects that aim at children might have to focus more on the social aspects of sustainable mobility to sell their products when aiming directly at this target group. Based upon the action part of the research we extracted several steps to set up mobility initiatives with participation of children. The paper and presentation will elaborate on these steps by using practical and real-life examples from the action research. The findings are primarily based on the recent Flemish research project “Transportation dependence and transportation autonomy of children”. This project was conducted within the Belgian Federal SPSD II programme “Sustainable production and consumption patterns”. ... More

The Impact Study on Social Experiments of Traffic Management to Progress Visitors’ Circler Trips on Foot in the Temple Town

Mamoru Nagai, et al. Utsunomiya University

Summary: In Nikko Temple Town, Social experiments of traffic managements have been conducted these several years adopting PIC (participatory, incremental, collaboration) approach. This was reported in the paper, titled “Toward the Reestablishment of Pedestrian Environment in Temple Towns”, presented in the last Walk 21 Conference in Melbourne by us. Following the paper, this paper deals with the social experiments, especially focusing on the second social experiment, conducted in 2006, aimed at proceeding visitors’ circler trips on foot in the temple town. Its impacts are clarified through the impact study and policies on the next social experiment are discussed. Characteristics of the approach are summarized to several steps in each social experiment and the process from the first experiment to the second experiment is described. In other words, reasons why the goal of the second social experiment were decided to proceed visitors’ circler trips on foot in the temple town are explained. The social experiment was composed of two programs with objectives to achieve the goal. The first program deals with the parking lots. The experiment of temporary parking lots has been tried several times from the first social experiment. Based on results of the experiment, the city government is going to reconstruct a parking lots, which City officials use to commute, for tourists also to be able to use it contemporarily. The parking lots is located about 800 meters away from “Two Shrines and One Temple District”. Objectives of the program are to assess effects of the reconstruction on visitors’ circler trips on foot and feasibility of its management by NPO from the economic aspect to forecast the traffic demand. The NPO conducted management of the parking lots in the program for 20 days, which includes a survey on users’ behaviors in the temple town and discount services for shopping in “Higashi-Machi Shopping Street”. As the results of the impact study, followings are directed. First, the reconstruction of parking lots is effective to enhance visitors’ circler trips on foot. Second, visitors by cars need the information & guidance system to parking lots and traffic demand for the parking lots depend upon the system. Objectives of the second program are to enhance circler trips on foot with greater interest to provide tourist information, including maps about tourist attractions and interpreter guides by inhabitants at the tourist spots. A questionnaire survey was conducted against participators in orienteering game, called “Walk Rally”, to comprehend the effects of information services on enhancing circler trips on foot and to research their needs on pedestrian environment and on the tourist information. About 900 visitors participated in the game in two days. Providing the tourist information affects not only pedestrians’ total walking time but also their number of dropping spots. Tourist information which visitors need differs according to their attributes and their transportation means to approach the tourist destination. Based on results of the second social experiment, IT systems for information & guidance to parking lots and for tourist information for pedestrians are discussed toward the next social experiment of traffic management. ... More

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