Promoting walking

 

Promoting walking and how it can contribute to mobility management

 

Walking is often the forgotten mode in mobility management. Promoting walking means developing ways to:

 

  • Help employees or visitors navigate their way around your site or area;
  • Increase feelings of safety and security;
  • Increase the attractiveness of your site or area;
  • Link with health promotion activities.

 

OPTIMUM² sites that have implemented various kinds of walking initiatives include:

 

Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital

Southwark Business Areas

Edinburgh Business Areas

 

  

When should you consider promoting walking?


All transport users walk at some point in their journey. However, promoting walking in itself can be most appropriate when:

  • There are sufficient numbers of your employees or visitors who live within 3 miles or 5 km of your site;
  • It is possible for public transport users to complete their journey on foot or walk for part of their journey;
  • Access to your site or area is considered safe and pleasant on foot;
  • There are other local facilities or attractions in your immediate local area (cafes, shops, parks etc.).

 

 What can promoting walking achieve?

  • Reducing car use and the resulting congestion;
  • Walking can provide a door to door alternative to short car trips, as well as short trips made by taxis;
  • Reducing overcrowding on peak time public transport services;
  • In urban areas where capacity on public transport may be severely reduced at peak times, walking can be an alternative commuting mode, even if only used for part of a journey;
  • Reducing CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions (so reducing your organisation’s carbon footprint). When just considering walking journeys, walking is a zero carbon activity, with no fuel or equipment requirements. It can therefore be part of an overall strategy to reduce CO2 organisation wide;
  • Providing a low cost form of physical activity. As a moderate form of exercise and if carried out at least 5 times a week for 30 minutes, walking has been proven to help prevent chronic health conditions such as coronary heart disease, strokes and type 2 diabetes triggered by obesity. It can easily be made part of the working day and not dependent on health club membership or sporting equipment. It is particularly suited for people who do not consider cycling to be a viable option.

 

 

How do I implement walking promotion?

Some of the solutions tested by OPTIMUM² include:

 

Maps
There are a variety of mapping measures that can help boost walking depending on your target audience. In Southwark, web based, interactive maps were developed for two areas. A paper folded map was also produced. In both cases attractive and thematic walking routes were included. More specific site based maps can be a useful way to help visitors navigate around your site.

 

Improving the walking environment
Changing the way in which streets are designed can be a lengthy process, but sometimes even small changes can make the walking environment better. In Southwark, two different techniques were used to help those working in an area identify changes. Street audits involve small groups looking in detail at all aspects of a street section (paving, lighting, street furniture, parking, pedestrian crossings etc.). An animated film "Design your own street" was also developed to show how different designs could make walking more attractive.

 

Linking with health promotion
Providing health checks, distributing pedometers to measure "steps" as part of a wide walking challenge, organised lunchtime walks can all be linked to the health benefits of walking. In Edinburgh Walking Challenges were set up to encourage employees to walk to work. Health checks were offered to employees in Southwark businesses as part of lunchtime events to promote cycling and walking.