How-To Conduct A Pedestrian Review	Previous  Index  Next
	What Is A Pedestrian Review? A pedestrian review (or walkability study) is an examination of the environment, facilities, and conditions of a specific area. The goal of the pedestrian review is to assess the quality of the walkable environment. Facilities, safety, security, aesthetics, pleasure, motorist behavior, and access to transit all contribute to walk-ability. Furthermore, a good pedestrian environment should be useable and safe for all including the young, the elderly and those with disabilities. Also refer to the Kalamazoo Non Motorized Transportation Plan.1 Why Conduct a Review? To raise awareness about facilities, considerations for improving facilities, the walking environment, and the overall safety of an area. To educate people about who is walking in an area and their specific needs. To focus attention on a specific opportunity or problem. To assess the pedestrian environment prior to a planning or design effort. When Should a Review Be Conducted? Pedestrian reviews can be conducted any time. They are helpful to assess what needs to be done to improve an area, how well existing facilities are performing, and to make mid-course corrections to existing plans and designs. Who Should Conduct the Review? Anyone can conduct a review, and the more people that are involved, the better. Including area residents, business people, children, people with disabilities, older people, people who may not speak or read English, design professionals, engineers and staff and elected and appointed members from the community will enhance the amount and quality of information gathered on the review. Upon deciding where to conduct the review, invite people who work in local businesses, residents, representatives from the neighborhood organizations as well as elected officials and local government staff. It might be beneficial to involve professional organizations that have expertise in transportation design or pedestrian design and safety. Where Should a Review Be Conducted? A pedestrian review must always be conducted at the site. It can be conducted at an intersection or a stretch of sidewalk as well as a downtown, a shopping center or shopping mall, a parking lot, a school a park, stadium, bus stop or any other place where people walk. How Is a Review Conducted? Use the sample review form on the following page. This form is adapted from the Kalamazoo Non Motorized Transportation Plan and can be customized for any particular area or site. Resources Federal Highways Administration http://www.walkinginfo.org/pdf/r&d/ucourse.pdf Paper on Pedestrian Audits http://www-civil.eng.monash.edu.au/people/centres/its/WorkshopsSeminars/PastActivities/caitr/Lillis.doc Sample Audit Forms http://www.dot.state.ia.us/trails/ped-bikeHandbook/Appendix4.html Conducting a Walkability Audit with ARCpad GIS http://www.uoregon.edu/~schlossb/arcpad/walkability/walkability.htm The Walkable Community Workshop Report (for an example of a report based on a series of audits) http://www.bikewalk.org/assets/Reports/WCW_NM.pdf