Transportation and Health Part III

One way to reduce the health consequences of traffic is to walk or cycle. Walking and cycling is a form of exercise and studies have shown that there are tremendous health benefits from participating in these activities. Health benefits include—

• a 50% reduction in the risk of developing coronary heart disease
  
• a 50% reduction in the risk of developing adult diabetes
  
• a 50% reduction in the risk of becoming obese
  
• a 30% reduction in the risk of developing hypertension
  
• reduced osteoporosis
  
• decline in blood pressure in people with hypertension
  
• relief of symptoms of depression and anxiety
  
• prevention of falls in the elderly

However, walking may not be something that is convenient or enjoyable. It depends greatly on location. Community planners use the term “walkability” to measure walking conditions in an area. There are a variety of factors that affect the walkability of a specific area. Perception of safety, population density, street connectivity, amount of retail, size of sidewalks, aesthetics of the route are just some of the factors. People want to feel that walking is worth it, so they seek safe and enjoyable routes. The most walkable routes focus on pedestrian traffic rather than vehicle traffic. For instance, larger sidewalks will make people feel safe from vehicle traffic and also increase the flow of pedestrian traffic.

Just like the traffic engineers who use Level-of-Service (LOS) measurements to assess the quality of roadways, community planners use Level-of-Service measurements to assess the quality of pedestrian routes. These measurements are often based on whether routes are convenient by looking at how routes connect with each other. Planners look at how easy it is for people to get from one destination to another. Planners also look at how dense pedestrian traffic is and whether sidewalks are providing ample amount of space for a good flow of traffic.

One popular walkability measurement looks at how far someone would have to walk to retail areas, schools, parks, libraries, and other sites. The website, walkscore.com, uses this measurement to assess how walkable an area is on a scale of 1-100. Downtown Sarasota is considered a “Walker’s Paradise,” with a score of 95 (depending on which area of downtown). However, the score drops significantly in the neighborhoods surrounding downtown. On Fruitville and Tuttle, the walkability score drops to “Somewhat Walkable” with a score of 52. This is a neighborhood that is just 1 mile away from downtown. Most dense suburban neighborhoods have a walkability score in the 40s and 50s, especially if retail plazas are nearby. Some areas of the county have a "Car Dependent" rating in the low 30s. Desoto Road and 301 received a 31. So, while many areas of downtown are highly walkable, the vast majority of residents are not in a highly walkable location.


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Walking and cycling make you active and provide numerous health benefits. However, for walking and cycling to be a major form of transportation, people need to have an environment that is walkable. This includes higher quality sidewalks, more convenient bike and walking trails, and community planning that focuses on the pedestrian.

More information:
Pedestrian LOS