01623061

Component

https://doi.org/10.3141/2661-02

The relationship between the built environment and pedestrian travel behavior has inspired many geospatial-based and audit-based indexes for assessing the extent to which an environment is walkable. However, recent research suggests that their accuracy in predicting travel behavior varies depending on the characteristics of the populations being studied—a limitation especially pertinent for those who walk because they lack viable transportation alternatives. Examining the broader scope of walking determinants and mediators from the pedestrian perspective can take into account the mismatch between travel behavior and embodied experience. Social geography provides theoretical avenues for co-analyzing environmental and personal characteristics, while methodological and technological innovations provide ways of placing these theories into practice. A walking interview procedure supported by embodied video recording technology and sedentary interviews was designed to assess the walking environment according to residents’ unique perspectives of their neighborhoods. The walking interview allows for real-time engagement with pedestrians as they experience the environment, while video recording of these engagements offers sensory data that the researcher may use to interpret pedestrian statements and to draw retrospective conclusions. Aided by preceding sedentary interviews, the walking interview also illuminates how a pedestrian’s personal characteristics influence his or her perception of the built and social environment. It was concluded that, as designed, the procedure is well suited to support conventional walkability assessment tools by revealing how pedestrians’ characteristics and recollections shape their engagement with the built environment.

01650112

17-01666

English

pp 12–18

2017

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board

9780309441940

Digital/other

Figures (4) ; Photos; References (48)

Built environment; Evaluation and assessment; Innovation; Interviewing; Social factors; Video cameras; Walkability

Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; Safety and Human Factors; Society; Vehicles and Equipment

PRP, TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Dec 8 2016 10:34AM

• Beaconing Signalization Substantially Reduces Blind Pedestrians’ Veer on Snow-Covered Pavement
• Comparison of Analytical Methods on Staged Pedestrian Crossings at Crosswalks with a Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon
• Comparison of Time-Proximity and Evasive Action Conflict Measures: Case Studies from Five Cities
• Estimating Pedestrian Exposure for Small Urban and Rural Areas
• Evaluation of North Carolina Adaptation of NHTSA’s Child Pedestrian Safety Curriculum
• Factors Affecting Driver Yielding Compliance at Uncontrolled Midblock Crosswalks on Low-Speed Roadways
• Introducing the Pedestrian Accessibility Tool: Walkability Analysis for a Geographic Information System
• Measuring Walking Accessibility in Metropolitan Areas
• Real-World Demonstrations of Novel Pedestrian Crosswalk Lighting
• Self-Reported Behaviors and Habits of Distracted College Pedestrians While Walking
• The Missing Middle: Filling the Gap Between Walkability and Observed Walking Behavior
• Validation of an Agent-Based Microscopic Pedestrian Simulation Model at a Scramble Phase Signalized Intersection
• Wayfinding Problems for Blind Pedestrians at Noncorner Crosswalks: Novel Solution