Pedestrians

Travel Behavior in Neo-Traditional Neighborhood Developments: A Case Study in USA

Khattak, AJ
Daniel Rodriguez
2005
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 two...

GIS Protocols

Forsyth, A
Koepp, J
Oakes, JM
Schmitz, KH
Zimmerman, J
Daniel Rodriguez
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.

The North Carolina Physical Activity Policy Research Center: Making Connections with North Carolina Planners

Evenson, KR
Fesperman, C
Aytur, S
Brown, A
Daniel Rodriguez
Salveson, D
2006

Physical activity participation for youth and adults is suboptimal in North Carolina. There is growing interest among policy makers to promote physical activity, yet research in this area is limited. The North Carolina Physical Activity Policy Research Center was established in 2004 to conduct research on physical activity and policy. This cross-disciplinary center brings together faculty and researchers from the University of North Carolina School of Public Health and the College of Arts and Sciences. Current projects include understanding and documenting polices that affect walking...

Can Consumer Information Tighten the Transportation/Land-Use link? A Simulation Experiment

Levine, J
Daniel Rodriguez
Song, J
Weinstein, MA
2006

Where people live, work, shop, and recreate fundamentally determines their local travel options. In this study, we use an experimental research design to test how strongly the dissemination of integrated accessibility and housing information influences individuals’ residential location choices. We hypothesize that individuals who receive information about accessibility to transit and accessibility to important destinations in an area as part of each rental unit listing they see are more likely to choose to live in highaccessibility neighborhoods than are individuals who do not receive such...

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

McGinn, AP
Evenson, KR
Herring, AH
Huston, SL
Daniel Rodriguez
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...

Can New Urbanism Encourage Physical Activity?: Comparing a New Urbanist Neighborhood with Conventional Suburbs

Daniel Rodriguez
Khattak, AJ
Evenson, KR
2007

If neighborhood design can support or undermine active lifestyles, then residents of new urbanist neighborhoods can be expected to exhibit higher levels of physical activity than residents of conventional communities. This study compared various measures of physical activity for residents of a new urbanist neighborhood to those for a group of conventional suburban neighborhoods in central North Carolina, finding no statistically significant differences, even after adjusting for individual and household characteristics. However, we did detect differences in where people were...

The Development and Testing of an Audit for the Pedestrian Environment

Clifton, KJ
Smith, ADL
Daniel Rodriguez
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
Daniel Rodriguez
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...

A Comparative Case Study on Active Transport to and from School

Fesperman, CE
Evenson, KR
Daniel Rodriguez
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...

Space Syntax and Walking in a New Urbanist and Suburban Neighbourhoods

Baran, PK
Daniel Rodriguez
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...