Pedestrians

Easy-to-compute index for identifying built environments that support walking

Schneider, RJ
Rodriguez, DA
Young, HM
2006

The variety and spatial co-variation of built environment attributes associated with non-automobile travel have resulted in the estimation of composite scores or indices summarizing these attributes. This paper builds on prior practical and research applications of these environmental scores or indices by proposing and testing a built environment index (BEI) calculated at the traffic analysis zone and that relies predominantly on widely available data. By computing the BEI using three different analytical methods used in prior research (principal components analysis, cluster analysis...

A Comparison of GPS and Travel Diaries to Characterize Walking Behavior

Cho, G
Rodriguez, DA
Clifton, KJ
Evenson, K
2008

While travel diaries are widely used to investigate walking behavior, the emergence of portable GPS units provides an innovative approach to characterizing walking behavior. This study compares the number and duration of daily walking trips reported in travel diaries with data extracted from a portable GPS unit and identified as the same walking trips. The study had two phases: (1) We used 35 person-days of travel data to determine the best algorithm for identifying walking trips from GPS data. The best algorithm had high Pearson (0.89) and Spearman correlation (0.85).

Defining Mixed-Use: Which Land Uses Promote Walking?

McConville, ME
Rodriguez, DA
Cho, G
Fleischhacker, S
Clifton, KJ
2010

Though researchers have explored the general impacts of mixed use development on physical activity, few have examined which specific land uses should be mixed. This study addresses this gap by examining the influence of the presence, intensity and diversity of land uses on utilitarian walking. Built environment data was related to utilitarian walking for individuals (n=251) in Montgomery County, Maryland. For a variety of land uses including banks, bus stops, fast food restaurants, grocery stores, libraries, rail stations, offices, parks, recreation centers, non-fast food restaurants...

How Neighborhood Design and Location Affect Three Types of Walking: Results from the Washington, DC Area

Cho, GH
Rodriguez, DA
2012

Understanding how the built environment on a neighborhood scale is associated with individuals' walking has been a common research objective in transportation and urban planning. In contrast to existing literature, this study is based on the assumption that a neighborhood's location defined at regional scale may be associated with walking and that this association may be separately identifiable from the influence of the neighborhood built environment on behaviors. The findings indicated that walking for commuting purposes was more strongly associated with neighborhood location than...

GIS Protocols

Forsyth, A
Koepp, J
Oakes, JM
Schmitz, KH
Zimmerman, J
Rodriguez, D
Song, Y
2006

To record the methods for environmental measurement used in the Twin Cities Walking Study so that the research team can replicate its own findings at a later date and different measurement staff share common definitions and processes. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are so multifaceted that seemingly simple decisions made at one time have ramifications for future work. Without a formal communications mechanism that makes such decisions explicit and organizes them, errors can be left unrecognized, thereby compounding measurement problems.

Seamless Travel: Measuring Bicycle and Pedestrian Activity in San Diego County and its Relationship to Land Use, Transportation, Safety, and Facility Type

Jones, Michael G.
Ryan, Sherry
Donlon, Jennifer
Ledbetter, Lauren
Ragland, David R.
Arnold, Lindsay
2010

This paper provides the data collection and research results for the Seamless Travel project. The Seamless Travel Project is a research project funded by Caltrans and managed by the University of California Traffic Safety Center, with David Ragland, PhD., as the Principal Investigator and Michael Jones as the Project Manager. The project is funded by Caltrans Division of Innovation and Research and is being conducted by the Traffic Safety Center of University of California Berkeley and Alta Planning + Design.Measuring bicycle and pedestrian activity is a key element to achieving the goals...

Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Evaluation in a SMART Corridor

Ragland, David R., PhD
O’Connor, Terri
2008

The San Pablo/I-80 corridor is a “SMART” transportation corridor that extends about 20 miles along the eastern shore of the San Francisco Bay. The corridor uses Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) technologies to increase and enhance transportation mobility.The goal of the SMART Corridor Plan was to improve vehicle mobility throughout the corridor. Since the plan focused almost exclusively on vehicular traffic, achieving these goals has the potential to raise the risk of injury to pedestrians and bicyclists without thorough analysis of the overall effects of the SMART corridor...

The Relationship Between Non-Motorized Mode Choice and the Local Physical Environment

Rodrı́guez, DA
Joo, J
2004

By estimating multinomial choice models, this paper examines the relationship between travel mode choice and attributes of the local physical environment such as topography, sidewalk availability, residential density, and the presence of walking and cycling paths. Data for student and staff commuters to the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill are used to illustrate the relationship between mode choice and the objectively measured environmental attributes, while accounting for typical modal characteristics such as travel time, access time, and out-of-pocket cost. Results...

The Impact of Neo-Traditional Neighborhood Developments on Travel Behavior

Khattak, AJ
Rodriguez, DA
2004

Although previous research has supported the view that neo-traditional or new urbanist designs result in more walking activity, several questions remain: Do residents of these neighborhoods substitute walking for driving trips, or do they make more trips overall? What is the role of self-selection of residents in these developments? This paper aims to address these questions by examining differences in travel behavior in a matched pair of neighborhoods (one conventional and one neo-traditional) in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, North Carolina. A detailed behavioral survey of 453 households and...

Can Neighborhood Design Encourage Physical Activity?

Rodriguez, DA
Khattak, AJ
Evenson, KR
2004

Although new urbanism continues to gain popularity worldwide, many of its effects remain unexamined. If neighborhood design can support or impede active lifestyles, we hypothesize that residents of new urbanist neighborhoods will exhibit higher levels of physical activity than residents of conventional communities. Following a quasi-experimental research design, this study evaluates physical activity patterns of residents in two distinctly designed neighborhoods, a new urbanist and a conventional suburban neighborhood in a central North Carolina community. The two neighborhoods were...