Paul M. Hess

SITE DESIGN AND PEDESTRIAN TRAVEL

Research findings are summarized regarding the relationship between site design and pedestrian travel in mixed-use, medium-density environments, and recommendations are set forth for improving pedestrian facilities in suburban neighborhoods. A quasi-experimental method is used to study pedestrian volumes into 12 neighborhood commercial centers in the central Puget Sound region. Sites were matched for population density, land use mix, and income, but they varied in terms of neighborhood site design as measured by block size, and by the length and completeness of sidewalk systems. Urban sites with small blocks and extensive sidewalk systems were found to have, on average, three times the pedestrian volumes of suburban sites with large blocks and short, incomplete sidewalk systems. There are, however, many suburban pedestrians, with volumes varying between 50 and 103 people per hour walking into the suburban commercial centers studied. The majority of suburban pedestrians use streets with sidewalks where available. Also, suburban pedestrians are more likely both to jaywalk and to use crosswalks than their urban counterparts. People under age 18 and people of color were overrepresented in suburban pedestrian populations compared with their makeup in the local residential population. These findings point to the importance of providing facilities to improve pedestrian safety for people who cannot or do not want to drive in such areas. Recommendations include completing sidewalk networks, creating walkways to connect all building entrances to public sidewalks, and increasing the opportunities for pedestrians to cross streets safely.

EFFECTS OF SITE DESIGN ON PEDESTRIAN TRAVEL IN MIXED-USE, MEDIUM-DENSITY ENVIRONMENTS

Whether high or low incidence of pedestrian travel in mixed-use, medium-density environments is due to site design characteristics, and specifically to presence of direct, continuous, and safe pedestrian systems, is examined. Twelve neighborhood centers or sites in the Puget Sound area of Washington were selected by matching gross residential density, median income, automobile ownership, and intensity and type of neighborhood commercial development. Pedestrians and bicyclists were recorded that traveled into the commercial area. A clear break emerges between urban and suburban sites. The average urban pedestrian volume is 37.7 pedestrians per hour per 1,000 residents, which is 3 times higher than the 12.5 pedestrians per hour per 1,000 residents in suburban sites. These results strongly support the hypothesis that, when holding other variables constant, the urban versus suburban difference in route directness and completeness of pedestrian facilities (namely, block size and sidewalk length) affects pedestrian volumes. The research also questions the common belief that people do not walk in the suburbs. Given appropriate land use conditions, pedestrian facility improvement programs in suburban areas can support pedestrian travel and have a significant influence on mode choice.

Measuring Land Use Patterns for Transportation Research

Density and land use mix are focused on as the two primary variables for characterization of land use in transportation research. As commonly constructed, these variables do not capture well actual development patterns on the ground, thus obscuring a potentially strong relationship between land use and transportation behavior. To overcome these limitations, parcel-level data and geographic information system software were used to identify and measure attributes of land use. These data are at a level of resolution that closely corresponds to the spatial distribution of development patterns. A method for location of concentrations of medium- to high-density housing and commercial development in suburban areas identified in previous research is described. The method includes the use of metrics derived from landscape ecology to model these development patterns and, specifically, their shapes and their functional and spatial

The Influence of Local Food Environments on Adolescents’ Food Purchasing Behaviors

This study examined the relationship between the neighborhood food environment and the food purchasing behaviors among adolescents. Grade 7 and 8 students (n = 810) at 21 elementary schools in London, Ontario, Canada completed a questionnaire assessing their food purchasing behaviors. Parents of participants also completed a brief questionnaire providing residential address and demographic information. A Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to assess students’ home and school neighborhood food environment and land use characteristics. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess the influence of the home neighborhood food environment on students’ food purchasing behaviors, while two-level Hierarchical Non-Linear Regression Models were used to examine the effects of school neighborhood food environment factors on students’ food purchasing behaviors. The study showed that approximately 65% of participants reported self-purchasing foods from fast-food outlets or convenience stores. Close proximity (i.e., less than 1 km) to the nearest fast-food outlet or convenience store in the home neighborhood increased the likelihood of food purchasing from these food establishments at least once per week by adolescents (p < 0.05). High fast-food outlet density in both home and school neighborhoods was associated with increased fast-food purchasing by adolescents (i.e., at least once per week; p < 0.05). In conclusion, macro-level regulations and policies are required to amend the health-detracting neighborhood food environment surrounding children and youth’s home and school.

Route-Based Analysis to Capture the Environmental Influences on a Child's Mode of Travel between Home and School

This study examined environmental influences on a childs mode of travel between home and school. Grade 7 and 8 students (n = 614) from twenty-one schools throughout London, Ontario, participated in a school-based travel mode survey. Geographic information systems (GIS) were employed to examine environmental characteristics of the childs mode of travel between home and school measured at the scale of the likely travel route. Logistic regression was used to assess what factors influence both the to- and from-school trip. Over 62 percent of students living within 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) of school walked or biked to school and 72 percent walked or biked home from school. Actively commuting to school was positively associated with shorter trips, with distance being the most important correlate. Boys were significantly more likely to use active travel modes than girls. Higher traffic volume along the route was negatively related to rates of active travel and children from higher income neighborhoods were less likely to actively travel than children from lower income neighborhoods. In terms of environmental characteristics, the presence of street trees was positively associated and higher residential densities and mixed land uses were negatively associated with active travel to school. For the journey home, crossing major streets and increased intersection density were negatively associated with active travel. The findings of this research give evidence that active travel is associated with the environmental characteristics of walking routes. This information should be considered for urban planning and school planning purposes to improve childrens walking environments.

PEDESTRIAN SAFETY AND TRANSIT CORRIDORS

This research examines the relationship between pedestrian accident locations on state-owned facilities (highways and urban arterials) and the presence of rider boardings and alightings from bus transit. Many state facilities are important metropolitan transit corridors with large numbers of bus stops users, so that these facilities expose higher numbers of pedestrians to traffic and an increased number of collisions. The research also examines the association between pedestrian collisions and other pedestrian travel generators, such as concentrations of retail activity and housing, as well as environmental conditions such as wide roadways, high traffic volumes, and high speed limits. On the basis of a retrospective sampling approach and logistic regression models, the study shows that bus stop usage is strongly associated with pedestrian collisions along state facilities. Less strong but significant associations are shown to exist between retail location and size, traffic volume and number of traffic lanes, and locations with high levels of pedestrian-vehicle collisions. The findings suggest that facilities with high numbers of bus riders need to accommodate people walking safely along and across the roadway. They support the development of state department of transportation (DOT) programs for multi-modal facilities that integrate travel modes in major regional facilities within local suburban communities and pay specific attention to the role of transit in shaping the demand for non-motorized travel on the facilities. Also, state DOT, local jurisdiction, and transit staff must work together to identify facilities and locations where bus riders are at risk and take appropriate steps to ensure pedestrian safety.

Avenues or Arterials: The Struggle to Change Street Building Practices in Toronto, Canada

This paper explores why Torontos policies for improving pedestrian conditions are not better reflected in the design of arterial streets as the city tries to refashion them into pedestrian-oriented ‘Avenues’. Professional frameworks shaping street design date from the first half of the 20th century and reflect a consensus between the fields of planning and engineering. Recently, this consensus has broken down in terms of the design of arterial streets. The role of engineering standards in this story has been told, but this study also examines how other institutionalized practices continue to operate making design changes difficult. Understanding why this occurs has lessons beyond Toronto and is intended to help cities to better match street-making practices to new visions of pedestrian-oriented streets.

Pedestrian location identification tools: Identifying suburban areas with potentially high latent demand for pedestrian travel

Planning tools were developed for local and state agencies to identify locations with latent demand for pedestrian travel that are currently underserved with pedestrian infrastructure. Prior research in the Puget Sound showed that approximately 20% of the suburban population lives in dense, compact areas with latent demand for pedestrian travel. The tools are designed to enable agencies to target capital investments in nonmotorized infrastructure to areas with the highest potential for pedestrian trips. They are a first step toward delineating suburban pedestrian zones. After a review of existing methodologies to identify areas with pedestrian travel demand, two tools were developed that use geographic information system software. One tool benefits from highresolution parcel-level data with specified land use attributes. The other tool, however, relies on commonly available census block data and aerial photography. It is more labor intensive than the first tool and requires familiarity with reading urban form and development patterns. The tools identify locations with potential for pedestrian travel based on two attributes. First, the locations contain land uses that are functionally complementary, that is, commonly linked by travel. The land uses are dense residential development (travel generators) and retail areas and schools (travel attractors). Second, these land uses are also spatially complementary, that is, sufficiently close to each other to be linked by walking.

Fronts and Backs: The Use of Streets, Yards, and Alleys in Toronto-Area New Urbanist Neighborhoods

With New Urbanist ideas reshaping the form of American and Canadian suburban development, this research surveys residents of three Toronto-area neighborhoods to explore how residents use the streets, yards, and alleys immediately adjoining their houses. Despite the presence of attractive front yards and streets, because most of the residents surveyed rely on automobiles stored in alleys for traveling to work or shop, the backdoor is the de facto main entry to their houses. Backyards are also used more frequently and for a wider range of activities than are front yards, and alleys are sites of informal socializing with neighbors. These patterns, however, are not tied to rates of recreational walking or the use of the front yard as an intentional social space, something many residents clearly value.

Compact, concurrent, and contiguous: smart growth and 50 years of residential planning in the Toronto region

In this article, we use parcel-based land-use data to analyze 50 years of residential development in the Toronto region. We test two hypotheses: (1) Toronto’s form does not conform to conventional definitions of suburban sprawl and (2) Toronto’s suburban development shows high levels of continuity over time with relatively high densities and mixed housing types. Contrary to recent research suggesting a convergence of urban forms among North American metropolitan regions, Ontario’s robust planning system has created a distinctive, highly consistent pattern of residential development that has, for half a century, achieved many of the core goals of smart growth including relatively compact, contiguous, and concurrent development. This form continues to be automobile dependent, however, and is not producing many of the benefits ascribed to smart growth. Rather than continuing to adopt United States-inspired smart growth policies, a more ambitious set of initiatives will be required to address current regional challenges.