As part of the annual University of California Transportation Center Conference (UCTC), I will present my poster Challenging the Quarter Mile Rule for Pedestrians: A Meta Analysis of American Cities. Based on median distances traveled in the 1990 Nation-wide Personal Travel Survey data, the quarter mile threshold for pedestrians trips is often employed by transit oriented development, green building standards such as the United States Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development (LEED ND) and metrics like Walk Score (Ewing, 1999). However, after examining descriptive statistics from the 2009 National Household Travel Survey, I determine that pedestrians are walking much farther distances averaging over one half mile. The one half mile distance is seen for various metropolitan areas in the United States and for different trip types (social and recreational, family, work, home, grocery, etc.). Aside from geographic factors, quality of pedestrian environment and attitudes toward travel, it appears that Americans have a certain predetermined threshold for any pedestrian trip, a distance hovering around one half mile.This analysis explores the findings, suggesting reasons for the increase in pedestrian distances and proposing implications for future planning and policy for pedestrian environment.
The UCTC Conference is held on April 20th, 2012 at the University of California, Davis Conference Center - 550 Alumni Lane, Davis, California. Events are held throughout the day with the poster sessions occurring from 12:00-1:30.
Florian Rivière, a Strasbourg based urban hacktivist artist, unveiled his guerrilla crosswalk this week - made of old carpet “so you can cross wherever pleases you”. Rivière believes the “pop-up crosswalk system could be pretty useful in temporary situations, such as big events and festivals.”
Some may be wondering why I have not been tending to my blog. I am wrapping up my last class for my doctoral degree at the University of California, Davis and am currently preparing for the qualification exam scheduled mid-March. At the moment, I am organizing another trip to Washington, D.C. to present at the Transportation Research Board’s 91st annual meeting next week (information about my session is included below). I am looking forward to returning to Washington this summer to continue researching and writing my dissertation on pedestrian behavior in the District. In the mean time, I am still training and racing with the collegiate cycling team, our season starts in a few weeks and I am very excited. Thank you for the continued support and look forward to posting more in the future.
91st Annual Transportation Research Board Conference
Examining Trip Generation and Pedestrian Behavior in Washington, D.C.
Session: 653 - Planning for Pedestrians
Session Location: Marriott, Salon 2
Session Time: Tuesday, January 24, 2012, 7:30pm- 9:30pm
Jacquelyn Renée Schneider is a student at the University of California, Davis, in pursuit of a Ph.D. in Transportation Technology and Policy. Her current research involves the study and application of human scale design for alternative transportation modes – aiming to make places safer and more attractive for pedestrians and bicyclists. Her time is spent challenging realities. She looks forward to teaching at the collegiate level (hoping to help students see the world differently) and/or working on transportation policy reform for alternative travel modes in Washington, D.C.
