Key takeaways:
- Nearly one in four U.S. adults reported traffic as a barrier to walking where they live.
- Of the survey respondents who reported traffic as a barrier to walking, vehicle speed was identified as the leading safety concern for people walking regardless of geographical area.
- Of survey respondents who reported traffic as a barrier to walking, the most common solution to increase safety was improving sidewalks and separating the sidewalk from the road.
- There is a mismatch between what people report as preferred safety improvements and what current guidance on speed reduction for improved safety recommends. For example, while vehicle lane reduction is a common method for safety improvements related to speed, only 10 percent of participants chose this as a preferred safety improvement method.
- Compared to those who walk for leisure or activity, people who walk as a mode of transportation were more likely to report the volume and type of vehicles as a concern and to select safety strategies that slow down vehicles.
Implications:
- There is a disconnect between what the general public wants in terms of safety improvements and what may be best practice or research-backed solutions. Collaborative messaging from practitioners may be beneficial for improving awareness about the safety potential for improvements that reduce vehicle speed and combat misconceptions about potential drawbacks.
Methods:
- Data were from Porter Novelli’s FallStyles, a nationwide internet panel survey conducted in October 2019 of 3,284 adults in the U.S.
- Survey respondents reported demographic characteristics and travel behavior. They were also asked about their perceptions of traffic and unsafe walking conditions and opinions on strategies to improve walking safety.
Citation:
Soto, Graycie W., Geoffrey P. Whitfield, Bryant J. Webber, John D. Omura, Tiffany J. Chen, Hatidza Zaganjor, and Kenneth Rose. “Traffic as a Barrier to Walking Safely in the United States: Perceived Reasons and Potential Mitigation Strategies.” Preventive Medicine Reports 30 (December 2022): 102003. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2022.102003.
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