[sustran] Stand up for pedestrians – the forgotten travellers

[Vinay Baindur]

http://theconversation.com/stand-up-for-pedestrians-the-forgotten-travellers-37766




Stand up for pedestrians – the forgotten travellers

AUTHOR

   1. Colin Pooley <http://theconversation.com/profiles/colin-pooley-160827>

   Emeritus Professor of Social and Historical Geography at Lancaster
   University

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

Colin Pooley has received funding from UK research councils (EPSRC, ESRC).
He is a member of Greenpeace

[image: Lancaster University]
<http://theconversation.com/institutions/lancaster-university>Provides
funding as a Founding Partner
<http://theconversation.com/uk/partners/lancaster-university> of
The Conversation UK.
lancaster.ac.uk <http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/>
These streets were made for driving. Matt Cornock
<https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattcornock/13487346075>, CC BY
<http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/>

Almost all of us walk somewhere every day of our lives. According to the
UK’s most recent National Travel Survey
<https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/342160/nts2013-01.pdf>
22%
of all trips are undertaken on foot – and walking continues to be the
second-most important form of transport for all journeys after travel by
car or van.

For short trips of less than a mile, walking is totally dominant accounting
for over 78% of all such travel. One third of all trips less than five
miles in length are also on foot.

By contrast, cycling accounts for just 1.5% of all journeys. Even if we
only look at all trips under five miles, cycling still makes up less than
2% of journeys.

But you wouldn’t get this impression from listening to politicians, reading
policy documents, or observing investment in infrastructure. While both
cycling and walking improve personal health and the environment, one gets
far more attention than the other. The government has just released its
response
<https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/417706/consultation-response.pdf>
to
a major consultation on its “vision for cycling and walking”, for instance.
The document’s name? Cycling Delivery Plan
<https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/364791/141015_Cycling_Delivery_Plan.pdf>
.

Although walking is given some consideration in the detail of the document,
the priority is clear. While cycling is being actively promoted as a
healthy and sustainable form of urban transport, walking remains largely
neglected in terms of active policy and investment.

Look at London’s “cycle superhighways
<http://www.tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/improvements-and-projects/cycle-superhighways>”,
for instance, announced earlier this year to much fanfare. These highways
follow significant increases in trips by bike in central London following
investment in new infrastructure promoted by the London mayor
<http://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/Cycling%20Vision%20GLA%20template%20FINAL.pdf>
.

Such investment is of course welcome and long overdue, and much remains to
be done as cycle infrastructure remains poor in most other parts of the
country. But the fact cycling is beginning to be considered an important
form of urban transport that needs to be planned for highlights the fact
that travel on foot is not given such recognition.
Walking wounded

It can, of course, be argued that pedestrians do already have their own
dedicated infrastructure – in urban areas at least – in the form of
pavements, pedestrian zones, and crossings. For the most part we accept
these conditions as adequate and do not question how they might be better,
however a closer look suggests that this is rarely the case.

Do as you’re told. Elliott Brown
<https://www.flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/7873447184>, CC BY
<http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/>

In most locations, road space continues to be dominated by, and planned
for, motor vehicles and people on foot are crammed on to pavements that are
often too narrow. Pedestrians are made to wait for long periods to cross
busy roads, exposed to traffic noise and emissions, and then given
insufficient time to cross before the lights change to keep the traffic
moving.

Poorly placed (and often unnecessary) street furniture, together with
inconsiderately (and potentially illegally) parked cars often obstruct the
pavement, while pedestrian surfaces are often poorly maintained and rarely
cleared of leaves or snow and ice. Try to negotiate the average urban
pavement with a child’s buggy or in a wheelchair and the difficulties
become all too obvious. Poor pedestrian infrastructure disadvantages all
those who do not have access to, or choose not to use, a motor vehicle.
Sleepwalking into car cities

We’ve got into this situation because walking is taken for granted. Such a
simple activity has been largely ignored in the planning process; it is
seen as making few demands on the environment and thus needs only a minimum
of facilities. In contrast, because motor vehicles make much greater
demands on the environment their needs have been prioritised.

Pedestrians also suffer from being classed as “walkers” – those who walk
for pleasure rather than as a means of transport. The cultural dominance
and convenience of the motor vehicle has meant that urban space has been
disproportionately allocated towards cars and away from pedestrians. When
walking for anything other than recreation is increasingly seen as
abnormal, cars will always win.

I recently headed some research
<http://www.policypress.co.uk/PDFs/General/Pooley_Policy_briefing.pdf> in
four English cities which clearly demonstrated this. As one respondent in
Leeds said “you feel unusual walking”. Most respondents enjoyed walking,
and did walk sometimes, but they frequently encountered unnecessary
difficulties and inconveniences. The problem was summarised neatly by a
Lancaster respondent: “That road is awful, the pavement is very narrow, and
in autumn it’s covered in leaves so you slip over half the time, it’s
terrifying. But by car the road is fine”.

Walking is a cheap, simple, healthy and environmentally friendly way of
travelling short distances. It is something most people enjoy doing, but
our cities are built in ways that often make life difficult and unpleasant
for pedestrians.

Walking needs to be taken more seriously as a means of transport (and not
only as a form of exercise or leisure) – and should be actively planned for
and given priority, as is beginning to happen with cycling. If more people
walked and fewer people drove, it would not only benefit personal health
but also cities would be more pleasant for all.