Walkability and Walking

Transportation Statistics and Data

Paul Heberling

Transportation Specialist

U.S. Department of Transportation

September 2014

Walkability and Walking

• Pedestrian Statistics – Overview

– General Safety

– Equity

• Pedestrian Infrastructure Statistics – Equity

– Design Safety

– Economic Implications

– Funding

• Pedestrian Data Going Forward – Gaps

– Initiatives

Pedestrian Statistics: Overview

• 2009 National Household Travel Survey – In the U.S., 10.4% of all trips

are on foot • Rises to 12.7% in large cities

– Youth make up larger proportion, at 17%

– Of all trips, 28% are 1 mile or less and 40% are 2 miles of less – which would be a 30 minute walk

- U.S. DOT, “Summary of Travel Trends,” 2009

- Alliance for Biking and Walking, “2014 Benchmarking Report,” 2014

Pedestrian Statistics: Overview

• 2012 National Survey of Bicyclist and Pedestrian Attitudes and Behavior – 90% of respondents

had walked outside for 5 minutes or more in the last year, and 70% in the last week

– 29% walked more often than a year previous, while 19% walked less

- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “National Survey of Bicyclist and Pedestrian Attitudes and Behavior,” 2012

Pedestrian Statistics: Overview

• 2014 American Community Surveys Report

– First focusing solely walking and biking

– 2.8% of respondents travelled to work by foot

• Over 4% in cities

– Equity:

• By income, those making under $10,000 were also

most likely to walk to work, at over 8.2%

- U.S. Census Bureau, “Modes Less Travelled: Bicycling and Walking to Work in the United

States:2008-2012,” May 2014

Pedestrian Statistics: Safety

•Latest data from 2012:

- 4,743 pedestrians

killed

- Up 6% from

2011

- 14% of total

- ~76,000 injured

- Average of 1

fatality very 2 hours

and 1 injury every 6

minutes

- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,

Fatality Analysis Reporting System

Pedestrian Statistics: Safety

• 73 percent pedestrian fatalities in urban areas

• 77 percent at non-intersection locations

• 90 percent in “normal” weather conditions

• 67 percent at night

Pedestrian Infrastructure: Equity

• Recent article in Governing Magazine

– Disproportionately high pedestrian deaths in

low-income communities

• Census tracts in bottom 1/3 income level in cities

have twice the number of pedestrian deaths

• In cities, Census tracts with below average poverty

rates have 5.3 pedestrian deaths per 100,000

residents, while those with high poverty rates have

12.1 pedestrian deaths

Pedestrian Infrastructure: Equity

• African-Americans suffer 60% higher pedestrian fatalities than non-Hispanic whites

• Hispanics suffer 43% higher

• More than half of all pedestrian fatalities occur on arterials, and over 60% occur on roads with speed limits of 40 mph or higher

- National Complete Streets Coalition,

“Dangerous By Design,” 2014

49%

89%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

low income high income

Neighborhoods with Sidewalks

Gibbs, RWJF

Pedestrian Infrastructure: Safety

Medians and Pedestrian Crossing Islands

• 46% reduction in pedestrian crashes

• 39% reduction in total crashes.

Pedestrian Infrastructure: Safety

Sidewalks/Walkways on both sides of Road

• 88% reduction in “walking along the road” pedestrian crashes.

Paved shoulders of at least 4 feet

• 71% reduction in “walking along the road pedestrian crashes.”

HAWK: Pedestrian Hybrid Signal

• 69% Reduction in Pedestrian Crashes.

• 29% Reduction in Total Crashes.

Pedestrian Infrastructure: Safety

Protected left-turn signal phasing

• 70% reduction in left-turn crashes.

Pedestrian countdown signals

• 10 to 15% reduction in pedestrian crashes.

• These are now standard traffic control devices in the United States.

Exclusive Pedestrian Phase

• Up to 50% reduction in pedestrian crashes (for high-pedestrian volume sites only).

Overhead Lighting Along Road in Pedestrian Areas.

• 40 to 60% reduction in nighttime crashes (including pedestrian crashes).

Pedestrian Infrastructure: Safety

Road Reconfiguration (Road Diet)

• Conversion of four-lane undivided roadway into three lanes with two through- lanes and a center two way left turn.

• Up to 25% reduction in total crashes (including pedestrian crashes).

Pedestrian Infrastructure: Safety

Pedestrian Grade-Separation (Overpass

or Underpass)

• Up to 90%, but only if it is well-planned

and designed for high pedestrian use.

Pedestrian Infrastructure: Safety

In Street Pedestrian

Crossing Sign

• Up to 80% driver

compliance

(yielding) in study

locations.

Pedestrian Infrastructure: Safety

Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon

• Similar in operation to emergency flashers

on police cruisers.

• Up to 90% driver compliance (yielding) in

study locations.

Pedestrian Infrastructure: Safety

Complete Streets Pilots:

More pedestrians, fewer injuries

2002 to 2012:

pedestrians increased, but number of

pedestrian fatalities dropped by 29% and

injury rates fell by 18-55% in pilot sites.

Pedestrian Infrastructure:

Economic Implications

Lancaster, CA

- $10 million road ‘diet’, landscaping

Results: – Lower speeds

– Fewer crashes

Outcomes: – $125 million

investment

– 40 new businesses

– 800 new jobs

– Vacancy rate: 4%

– Sales tax revenue up 26%

- NCSC, “It’s a Safe Decision,” 2010

Pedestrian Infrastructure:

Economic Implications

• Brookings Institute study – More walkable places perform better

economically, with higher office, retail, and residential rental rates and home sales

- Christopher Leinberger, “Walk this Way: the Economic Promise of Walkable Places in Metropolitan Washington, DC,” 2012

• Recently, New York has been innovative in measuring economic impacts of walkability – Case study of expanded pedestrian facilities in

Union Square North found 49% fewer commercial vacancies

- “Measuring the Street: New Metrics for the 21st Century Street,” 2012.

Pedestrian Infrastructure:

Funding •Funding peaked in

2009 at over $1 billion

after the American

Recovery and

Reinvestment Act

•In FY2013, funding

was $626.2 million

•As of Sep. 3, 2014,

funding was at $590.5

million

Pedestrian Data Going Forward:

Gaps

• How to categorize trips: the “last mile”

• Methods and practice for surveying and

counting could be improved

• Often, data is entered through systems

that may not be compatible

Pedestrian Data Going Forward:

Initiatives

• Numerous efforts across the field – For example, projects to measure sidewalk

roughness

• Secretary’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Initiative – Reevaluating Standard Approaches

• Updates to standardized recording databases

– New Approaches • UTC convening

• “Datajam”

• Transportation Research Board workshop

• Cross-disciplinary Dialogue – CDC – US DOT conference

Please join us for the Secretary’s

remarks at the Plenary tomorrow

Thank you Contact information:

paul.heberling@dot.gov