Walkability and Walking Transportation Statistics and Data Paul Heberling Transportation Specialist U.S. Department of Transportation September 2014
Jul 05, 2015
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: