Walking and driving

As I've said before and as recent entries have indicated, creating viable transportation networks is absolutely critical towards continued urban revitalization efforts. Interestingly, the most common and oldest method of transportation is often the most overlooked: walking.

Here's an interesting statistic: 40% of all driving destinations are within two miles. 18% of all destinations are within just one mile. Of course, these statistics will increase when someone actually lives within a city as opposed to a suburb. Why don't more people walk then?

Well, pedestrian safety is one factor. According to statistics from the Federal Highway Administration, 4,749 pedestrians were killed in traffic crashes during 2003, while another 70,000 were injured. 622 cyclists were killed and 43,000 were injured during the same period.

Interestingly enough, however, is that the amount of fatalities from car accidents FAR exceeds those killed or injured in pedestrian related accidents. In 2002, there were 42,815 people killed in car accidents and 2.9 million injuries.

Clearly, pedestrians are important part of any transportation network. For more information, visit http://www.walkinginfo.org.