Pedestrians

Exploring Associations Between Physical Activity and Perceived and Objective Measures of the Built Environment

McGinn, AP
Evenson, KR
Herring, AH
Huston, SL
Rodriguez, DA
2007

The built environment may be responsible for making nonmotorized transportation inconvenient, resulting in declines in physical activity. However, few studies have assessed both the perceived and objectively measured environment in association with physical activity outcomes. The purpose of this study was to describe the associations between perceptions and objective measures of the built environment and their associations with leisure, walking, and transportation activity. Perception of the environment was assessed from responses to 1,270 telephone surveys conducted in Forsyth...

The Development and Testing of an Audit for the Pedestrian Environment

Clifton, KJ
Smith, ADL
Rodriguez, D
2007

Recognizing the need for consistent, reliable, and efficient methods to collect information about the walking environment, the authors have developed and tested a complete environmental audit methodology—the Pedestrian Environmental Data Scan (PEDS). In this paper, the development of the audit methodology is presented, including the design of the instrument, the creation of training and supporting materials, administration, and integration with handheld technology. Various tests of inter- and intra-rater reliability of our instrument have been conducted, including individual audit...

The Relationship Between Urban Form and Station Boardings for Bogota’s BRT

Estupiñan, N
Rodriguez, DA
2008

Despite emerging evidence about the association between the built environment and travel behavior, the relationship between bus transit demand and urban form remains largely unexplored. By relying on primary and secondary data analyzed with a geographic information system, this paper examines the built environment characteristics related to stop-level ridership for Bogotá’s successful bus rapid transit system. After accounting experimentally and statistically for the simultaneity between transit supply, transit demand, and the built environment, we find evidence of the importance of...

Space Syntax and Walking in a New Urbanist and Suburban Neighbourhoods

Baran, PK
Rodriguez, DA
Khattak, AJ
2008

Prevailing measures of street design have largely ignored the relational properties between local and global street design as correlates of walking behaviour. This study contributes to understanding relationships between the syntactical properties of street design and walking behaviour by examining whether space syntax measures in New Urbanist and conventional suburban neighbourhoods are associated with the walking patterns of residents in these communities. Relying on geographic information systems, survey data and travel diaries, the study relates control, local integration and global...

A Comparative Case Study on Active Transport To and From School

Fesperman, CE
Evenson, KR
Rodriguez, DA
Salvesen, D
2008

This study investigates active-transport-to-school initiatives through the Active Living by Design Community Action Model framework. The framework outlines five strategies that influence physical activity: preparation, promotion, programs, policies, and physical projects. A comparative case study was conducted to investigate active-transport-to-school initiatives at two North Carolina schools. A group of key stakeholders from each site was interviewed (N = 16), including principals, physical education teachers, public safety officers, city planners, regional transportation planners, city...

Recherche Originale: Une Etude de cas Comparative sur le Transport Actif Concernant les Allers-retours à L'école

Fesperman, CE
MRP, KRE
Rodriguez, DA
Salvesen, D
2008

Cette étude examine les initiatives de transport actif à l'école par le système Active Living by Design Community Action Model (vie active selon le modèle d'action de conception communautaire). Le système souligne cinq stratégies influençant l'activité physique : la préparation, la promotion, les programmes, les politiques et les projets physiques.

STC Matching Grant Annual Report

Rodriguez, DA
2008

While the conventional approach to safety planning has emphasized crash analysis with police-reported crash information, transportation professionals increasingly recognize the importance of identifying potential crash risk and considering environmental characteristics. In this proactive approach, individuals’ perception of crash risk provides important information in identifying potential crash risk. As built environment characteristics such as the presence of crosswalks, sidewalks, and number of lanes, are expected to influence the levels of pedestrian and bicycle safety, this study...

Relation of Modifiable Neighborhood Attributes to Walking

Rodriguez, DA
Aytur, SA
Forsyth, A
Oakes, JM
Clifton, KJ
2008
There is a paucity of research examining associations between walking and environmental attributes that are more modifiable in the short term, such as car parking availability, access to transit, neighborhood traffic, walkways and trails, and sidewalks. Adults were recruited between April 2004 and September 2006 in the Minneapolis-St Paul metropolitan area and in Montgomery County, Maryland using similar research designs in the two locations. Self-reported and objective environmental measures were calculated for participants' neighborhoods. Self-reported physical activity was collected...

Involvement of Park and Recreation Professionals in Pedestrian Plans

Evenson, KR
Aytur, SA
Rodriguez, DA
Salveson, D
2009

Professionals from many different disciplines are finding innovative ways to work together to increase physical activity to help create healthier communities. One process that can provide a focal point for promoting physical activity by park and recreation professionals, land use and transportation planners, public health practitioners, and other stakeholders is the development and implementation of pedestrian plans. A pedestrian plan is a public document that lays out a community’s vision for future pedestrian activity, identifies the actions required to realize that vision, ties...

The Built Environment and Health: Impacts of Pedestrian-Friendly Designs on Air Pollution Exposure

Nazelle, A De
Rodriguez, DA
Crawford-Brown, D
2009

In the wake of the growing popularity of pedestrian-oriented community designs, it is timely to assess potential risk trade-offs of such urban planning strategies. Pedestrian-friendly designs are currently being called for and implemented in the US to tackle in particular problems associated with insufficient physical activity in the population. Unintended consequences may emerge, however, especially due to potential increases in the inhalation of pollutants as the population walking or cycling in polluted environments increases. A risk assessment of such built environment...