Walking

• Between 1977 & 1995, trips made by walking declined 50% while driving trips increased. ¹
• One-fourth of all trips people make are one mile or less, but three-fourths of these short trips are made by car. ¹
• Among children between the ages of 5 and 15, walking and bicycling declined 40% from 1977 to 1995. ¹
• For school trips of one mile or less, only 31% are made by walking; within 2 miles, just 2% of school trips are made by bicycling. ²
• 70% of people surveyed would walk (or bike) up to 1/2 mile for shopping or personal business if the journey was safe and pleasant. ¹³
• As a mode of transportation, walking is second only to the automobile, but last in funding. ³
• In San Diego, walking trips are second in number only to the automobile, but last in funding. ¹⁴

Design

• People are more active in neighborhoods that are perceived as safe. Of those who report living in unsafe neighborhoods, about half of women and the elderly are inactive. ⁴
• In neighborhoods with square city blocks, people walk up to three times more than in neighborhoods with cul-de-sac streets or other features that keep streets from connecting. ⁵
• Up to twice as many people may walk or bicycle in neighborhoods that are transit-oriented than in neighborhoods that are auto-oriented. ^{5, 6}

Health

• Physical inactivity and unhealthy eating are risk behaviors that contribute to at least 300,000 preventable deaths each year. ⁷
• Almost a third (29%) of adults get little or no exercise, and 73% are not active enough. ⁴
• More than 3 in 10 adults are overweight. ⁴
• More than 36% of young people in grades 9-12 do not participate in vigorous activities 3 or more days a week. ⁸
• 25% of youth ages 6-17 are overweight. ⁹
• Engaging in 30 minutes of physical activity at least 5 days per week is recommended. ¹⁰
• Regular physical activity (which includes walking) is recommended to reduce future risk for obesity, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, hypertension, and possibly cancers. ¹¹
• Walking is the most popular form of exercise in the US.

Risk Factors for Premature Death-California (Prevalence)

Injuries

• Each year 6,000 pedestrians are killed and 90,000 are injured.
  • One in five is a child. ³
• You are 36 times more likely to be killed walking than driving a car.
  • You are 300 times more likely to be killed walking than flying. ³
• Less than 6% of Americans' trips are on foot, yet 13% of all traffic deaths involve pedestrians. ³
• For every pedestrian killed by a car, at least 14 more are injured. ³
• Almost 60% of pedestrian deaths occur in places where no crosswalk is available. ³
• Being hit and killed by a car is now the second leading cause of fatal injury and the fourth leading cause of hospitalized injury for California children aged 5-12. ¹²
• From 1994 to 2003, pedestrian injuries and fatalities in the San Diego region have increased 9.2% relative to the number of walkers. ¹⁷
• As of 2003, the San Diego region spent just 33 cents per capita per year on pedestrian and bicycle safety, less than half the national average of 82 cents. ¹⁷

Local Action

• Approximately half of San Diego County's 19 jurisdictions are considering "traffic calming" measures to reduce speeding and encourage walking. ¹⁵
• The neighborhoods many San Diegans find most charming are older, dense, highly walkable - and would be illegal to replicate in most suburban areas. ¹⁶

NOTES

1. Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey. US Dept. of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Research and Technical Support Center. Lanham, MD: Federal Highway Administration, 1997.

2. Calculations from the 1995 Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey - 5. Ham, unpublished data, 2000.

3. Mean Streets 2000: Pedestrian Safety, Health and Federal Transportation Spending. Surface Transportation Policy Project. www.transact.org/Reports/ms2000/default.htm.

4. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System - United States, 1996, 1997, 1998. Atlanta, US Dept. of Health & Human Services and Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. 1996 - 1998.

5. Rutherford GS, McCormack E, Wikinson M. Travel impacts of urban form: Implications from an analysis of two Seattle area travel diaries. Presented at the TMIP Conference on Urban Design, Telecommunications & Travel Forecasting.

6. Cervero R and Gorham R. Commuting in transit versus automobile neighborhoods. Journal of the American Planning Association 61: 210-225. 1995.

7. McGinnis JM, Foege WH. Actual causes of death in the United States. Journal of the American Medical Association. 270: 2207-12. 1993.

8. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. CDC Surveillance Summaries. August 14, 1998. MMWR 1998; 47 (No. SS-3).

9. Troiano RP, Flegal KM. Overweight children and adolescents: description, epidemiology, and demographics. Pediatrics 1998, 101 (3): 497-504.

10. Physical Activity and Health: A Report of the Surgeon General. US Dept. of Health & Human Services, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention & Health Promotion. 1996. www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/sgr/sgr/htm.

11. US Public Health Service, American College of Sports Medicine, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Heart Association, and American Medical Association.

12. Dangerous by Design: Pedestrian Safety in California. Surface Transportation Policy Project. 2000. www.transact.org.

13. National Study on Walking and Bicycling. Federal Highway Administration. 1992.

14. Regional Transportation Plan. San Diego Association of Governments. 2000.

15. Personal comment by Andrew Hamilton. WalkSanDiego Vice Chair. 2000.

16. Tools for Reducing Vehicle Trips Through Land Use Design. San Diego County Air Pollution Control District. 1998.

17. Mean Streets 2004, Surface Transportation Policy Project.