What is an acceptable walking distance?

Distances ranging from 1/8 mile to a mile or more are found in planning studies, with ¼ mile being the most commonly used standard for determining walkable access.

dcla.net - Walkability Standards: Test of Common Assumptions

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Limitations

This study was conducted as an exercise using volunteers. The sample size is small, and the participants were not randomly selected. They are not intended to represent the set of all pedestrians who may want to walk to a park, school, or other destination. The results described here should not be considered statistically valid nor generalizable to other places and situations. The intent was simply to test generally-held assumptions about walking patterns against empirically measured results in a specific case. It is hoped that additional studies will be conducted by others to build the base of knowledge and allow more informed decisions to be made by planners. The location used for this case study consisted in large part of a developed park and the grounds of a public school campus and local government center. Thus, the results may apply best to situations such as university grounds; government or corporate campuses; regional shopping centers; downtowns with high proportions of public plazas and open parking lots; and large parks and open space areas. They may not apply as effectively to residential areas with gridded streets and/or cul-de-sacs.

Recommendations

The results suggest some general guidelines that may be useful to planners, keeping in mind the limitations discussed earlier. These guidelines are only suggestions, and are not intended to be final or definitive.

For Radial Distances from a Destination (such as a Park or School)

1/8 mile is the radius of a circle centered on the destination within which typical pedestrians should be able to arrive at the destination within 10 minutes. Any walk originating inside this circle and proceeding towards the destination by the most expedient route should arrive within 10 minutes in most circumstances. 1/3 mile is the average radial distance from the destination from which a walker will arrive at the destination in 10 minutes. Stated differently, the average of all possible 10 minute walks to the destination would originate this far away in a straight line. ½ mile is the farthest radial distance from the destination that can be covered in 10 minutes by a typical pedestrian. This distance will capture essentially all possible walkers traveling at a normal pace within 10 minutes of the destination. I.e., all possible walks of 10 minute duration at normal walking speed and ending at the destination are captured within this distance.

For Network Distances

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½ mile should be considered the maximum distance along a network from which a destination can be reached in ten minutes. The average ten minute walk would be slightly shorter. 1/8 mile should be considered the distance along a network from which most everyone should be able to arrive at the destination within ten minutes, except in unusual situations.

Summary

The results of this study suggest that the standards in common use, including 1/8 mile, ¼ mile, and ½ mile, are all useful, but should be applied with a clear understanding of how they differ and what they actually represent. It is recommended that 1/3 mile be used as a standard for radial buffers that represent the average origin of a ten minute walk to a selected destination. A distance of ½ mile should be used as the typical distance along a network from which a 10 minute walk to a selected destination would originate. Walks originating closer to the destination along the network would be likely to take less than 10 minutes. When GIS base data is known to be complete and accurate, or if non-network shortcuts are not common within the proximate area of a destination, network buffers are recommended. However, if base data is incomplete or if there are numerous possible shortcuts, radial buffers are recommended. It is important to note that this study does not address the validity of ten minutes as a planning standard for the duration of walks. Further tests are recommended to determine the true relationship between walk duration and people’s motivation to walk. While research on walking behaviors, particularly those associated with walking to parks, seems to be lacking in the literature, there is growing interest and discussion in the subject of walking. The following examples might be useful to those interested in this topic: Kuzmyak, Richard, & Dill, Jennifer (2012). Walking and Bicycling in the United States: The Who, What, Where, and Why. TR News, 280, 4-15. PDF. Walker, Jarrett (2011). Basics: walking distance to transit. Human Transit: the professional blog of public transit planning consultant Jarrett Walker. 24 July 2011. Web. 25 July 2014.

dcla.net - Walkability Standards: Test of Common Assumptions

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