Walk 21 - The Board Papers

Addressing Pedestrians in Roadway Level of Service Analysis: A San José, California Case Study

John Brazil, Bike/Ped Program Coordinator, City of San José

Summary: As city staff plan for long-term growth, they often use roadway Level-of-Service (LOS) analysis to determine transportation impacts from development. But by focusing on the movement of motor vehicles, traditional LOS analysis fails to address pedestrian facility needs. While a few cities have proposed completely eliminating LOS analysis in favor of a different model, San José has instead modified its LOS analysis to better address pedestrian, bicycle, and transit modes. This paper summarizes how San José’s Transportation Impact Policy incentives walkable, transit friendly communities by exempting certain geographic areas from LOS requirements in exchange for improvements to pedestrian, transit, and bicycling infrastructure. ... More

Advocacy for recreational walkers: The Federation of Victorian Walking Clubs (VicWalk)

David Reid, Barbara Guerin; Federation of Victorian Walking Clubs (VicWalk) Inc.

Summary: This paper describes how a peak body is striving to provide effective advocacy for recreational walkers. A peak body representing walkers provides a channel of communication between the land managers, planners, trail designers and health experts who wish to promote walking; and the walkers themselves. VicWalk represents 10,000 walkers across eighty community based walking clubs in Victoria. Across Australia, similar State federations of walking clubs represent some 40,000 people. Founded in 1934, VicWalk's objectives include promotion of recreational walking, development and maintenance of walking tracks, dissemination of information on safety and walking routes, promotion of public land conservation and the creation of national parks; and maintenance of a search and rescue group. VicWalk has commenced a review of its operations and future direction and has identified three strategic objectives: Enhance value to members and community, Proactive representation and wider sphere of influence, Improved management and governance of VicWalk. VicWalk realises that it must demonstrate value to its members but also must demonstrate that its members contribute value to the community. To be an effective advocacy body VicWalk must be able to demonstrate that it represents a significant constituency and must develop strategic relationships. The organisation has limited resources but must become more strategic and business like. Through its three strategic objectives, VicWalk aims to achieve effective advocacy for all recreational walkers in Victoria. The results to date are encouraging. ... More

Aerobic yield during walking - a methodological example and a case study

Erik Stigell, Golam Sajid & Peter Schantz

Aerobic yield during walking a methodological example and a case study

Erik Stigell Golam Sajid & Peter Schantz

Summary: The medical, physiological and psychological scientific literature provide increasing amounts of information dealing with the dose-response relationship of physical activity on different variables of value in relation to health and well-being. The picture that so far has emerged indicates that different variables have clearly different responsiveness to physical activity. Whereas the effects on some variables, e.g. energy expenditure, follow a linear relationship with increasing physical activity others have different levels of thresholds. E.g., it appears that lipid and cholesterol profiles demand quite extensive activity, giving rise to an aerobic yield and energy expenditure of 1200-2400 kcal/week, to be affected in a desirable fashion (Durstine et al. 2001). Furthermore, effects on longevity and type II diabetes are examples of variables indicating a need for substantial levels of physical activity and energy expenditure to attain more desirable levels of effects (Helmrich et al. 1991, Paffenberger et al. 1986). From a pedagogical point of view this body of knowledge remains rather abstract until it is translated into quantities of concrete body movements such as walking different distances. These kind of experiences within the population appear important not only from the point of view of public health, but also from a planning perspective. With such experiences the city planner and the traffic engineer can get a feeling of to what extent the environments have to stimulate to and be supportive environments for walking. ... More

After traffic calming a new design ethos emerges

David Engwicht

Summary: Traffic Calming is a totally inappropriate response to the erosion of social life in neighborhoods. I will cite case studies which demonstrate that the best method of reducing traffic speeds is to build the social life of the street while at the same time changing the design signals so motorists feel like they are in an outdoor living room rather than a traffic corridor. This requires reducing the number of traffic control devices rather than introducing new ones. I will tackle the thorny issue of retrofitting typical wide, straight streets in post-industrial cities using the redesign of Tuckers Road in Christchurch as an example. I will suggest 8 design rules. I will also give an example of a neighborhood-based program, The Neighborhood Traffic Tamers Kit, that empowers residents to build the social life of their street and tame traffic at the same time. This program is integrated and dovetails with the school program, the subject of the other presentation. ... More

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