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New data shows walking down 36% in USA since 2019
- lgleason 3y ago....so after all of that effort to create walkable cities, remove car lanes for bike lanes etc. this is where we end up? Not sure if trying to create more walkways, removing traffic lanes for bike etc. are the answer if this is the net result.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- chemeng 3y agoIt seems that many of the cities that invested in those ideas had improvements. However, compared to 2021, 18 metros observed an increase in walking activity in 2022, with California metros dominating nine out of the top ten spots. New York City ranked 10th
- vcxy 3y agoI'm not sure why this article would prompt you to call out bike lanes. > there’s a noticeable rise in biking trips while pedestrian activity is dwindling as a portion of overall trips. Beyond that, this seems highly relevant: > Alarmingly, pedestrian fatalities rose during this period Maybe we haven't actually made any walkable cities
- JeffSnazzy 3y agoPedestrian fatalities are up in pretty much every metro, so this isn't a meaningful signal. It's still worth pursuing banning high-fatality vehicles from urban areas.
- vcxy 3y agoYou don't think increasing pedestrian fatalities could be linked to people choosing to walk less? I've certainly noticed in my area that drivers have been much more aggressive since the pandemic started and I walk less because of it.
- sh-run 3y agoThe article is one sided, but still mentions that biking is up: > Despite this, there’s a noticeable rise in biking trips while pedestrian activity is dwindling as a portion of overall trips. They cite StreetLight Data as their source. Per GCN (which cites the same source) > bicycle trips in the US have increased by 37% from 2019 to 2022 GCN is obviously also going to have some kind of bias, but the TTI article clearly does as well. https://www.globalcyclingnetwork.com/general/news/in-the-us-bike-trips-increase-37percent-from-2019-to-2022 https://www.globalcyclingnetwork.com/general/news/in-the-us-...
- TulliusCicero 3y agoWhat effort? Most US cities are complete garbage for walkability. When I lived in Germany, I'd see little towns of a few hundred people that were more dense and walkable than US cities 100x their size. And bikability is even worse, sub-garbage level. People don't do it because it appears to be insanely dangerous because our infrastructure is generally shit tier, like painted bike lanes (though off street trails are often okay, where they exist). People are mostly rational when choosing day to day transportation options. If biking was supported well they'd do it. But it's not, so they don't. All the "Vision Zero" announcements were mostly politicians doing politician things with no real oomph behind them. There are things that can be done quickly and effectively, but the political will usually isn't there due to our horrible cultural momentum.
- lgleason 3y agoThe problem with mass transit in the US is that the US has a lot of wide open spaces and most places do not have the population density to make it economically feasable. In Atlanta, for example, many parts have been removing car lanes for bike lanes and parking has become a real problem in some neighborhoods. Places that used to be free to park in charge a small fortune at times and there are not as many options to park your car in these areas. Instead of doing development with adequate parking, they don't provide enough and charge a fortune for what we have. Between the climate and the poor mass transit it is the worst of both worlds but hey. When I was visiting downtown Austin recently it seemed like a similar story from what I observed.
- onetoo 3y agoI'm not from the US, but I do follow the issue due to the US-centric nature of internet culture. From what I understand, it is a bit of a catch-22: - You cannot make public transport a feasible option because - Most places do not have the population density required because - Places are designed in a car-centric manner, with strict zoning laws that enforce low-density suburbia because - Everyone has a car because - Public transport sucks because - You cannot make public transport a feasible option because To me, the solution to the problem you state is not more parking, but less cars. Break the cycle.
- goodmunky 3y agoI’m sure it’s totally unrelated to the increase of street junkies and urban crime resulting from the post 2020 “reimagined” policing in many major cities.
- kadoban 3y agoWhat major cities have "reimagined" policing exactly, and in what way? Why would that be related to walking, especially as the first thing that comes to mind for you?
- poopoopeepee56 3y ago[flagged]
- wilg 3y agoThis is a rhetorical tactic to make the person say what they were implying directly.
- poopoopeepee56 3y agoYou mean "pilpul"?
- wilg 3y agoI do not.
- goodmunky 3y agoI suppose if you’re not American you may not know there was a defund the police movement in 2020 along with decriminalization of “urban camping” around the same time. As a result there are less police on the streets, more crime, and many more mentally ill and addicted homeless. See my home town of Austin, Texas for example. Just yesterday a teenager was hacked by a machete maniac at our town lake. Sane people are now more hesitant to walk many of our popular streets. As a side note, traffic on pedestrian fatalities are up because the mentally disturbed and intoxicated junkies wander into traffic fairly often.
- rabuse 3y agoI honestly wouldn't walk around in most U.S. cities, with all the street violence and homelessness plaguing the nation. Drug needles everywhere, trash, human feces. Why take the risk?
- infotainment 3y agoIt's kind of funny how easy it is to find someone who hasn't set foot in a US city in years based on comments like these.
- wilg 3y agoHow do you know it's not dog poop?
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- cableshaft 3y agoI read the article and it didn't sound like any point they were making couldn't be explained as 'well we were in a pandemic during that time, and also people shifted to working from home more, so they weren't forced to move as much'. Even the uptick in 2022 can be explained with 'well we were coming out of a pandemic, and there was an RTO push, but still bad habits are from before are hard to break'.
- JeffSnazzy 3y agoAs with all research, the point is not so much the explanation as the collection of data.
- bartwr 3y agoWait, what? This is literally not the point of research. The point of research is to form some theory and gather data that is relevant, and then analyze statistically. Plus propose follow up theories and studies. This is how almost every research publication in every field - from medicine, through psychology, to computer science looks like.
- vcxy 3y agoThe article says that biking increased and walking decreased. I don't think I can explain those things simultaneously with just "well we were in a pandemic during that time."
- klooney 3y agoIn my suburb, everyone seems to be barrelling around on those new fangled ebike things. Probably a certain amount of substitution there.
- valeg 3y agoIt reminded me of studies on walking and cognitive function https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15383516/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15383516/
- infotainment 3y agoHow do we even fix car-dependency in the US? It's almost like a mind virus, in that people are so utterly convinced on the need for cars, they cannot even conceive of a world in which they're not necessary.
- MattGaiser 3y agoCars are just too nice, especially when there is bad weather and once you have one, you may as well use it. You would need to have people ok with being outside in the winter for example and walking on ice.
- qwerpy 3y agoYes, I'm not sure why some people have trouble understanding this. I like the quiet suburban/rural life, which necessitates cars. I happen to like cars, so this works great for me. Some people might like the city life and choose not to get a car, and that's great. They should do that. As long as neither group is forced to subsidize the other, I don't see why we can't all get what we want.
- wilg 3y agoWe provide an alternative that is better than cars
- gen220 3y agoAnecdotally among friends working in NYC, people don't walk as frequently as they used to because they're not commuting into the office 5 days per week (which generally involves 10-20m of walking). Some are working totally remote out of their apartments, others hybrid 3 days per week. But on the flip side, some are spending that saved commuting time on exercising more, and are healthier for the change.
- Javalicious 3y agoI'm curious as to _how_ the data was collected for this report. Did they use camera feed data? Walk-button push counts? HR rideshare incentive data? Sending out surveys? The article talked about trips -- but I didn't see any differentiation between commutes to work and walking in the park, for example.
- GCA10 3y agoI had the same question. The "source" of this information, StreetLight Data, does have a functioning website and an impressive customer list, though it mostly invokes "big data" to explain what it does. Poking a little further, it sounds as if they're aggregating smartphone data, though we're not told much about how they get it, or how they adjust for people walking with or without their phones on.
- nytesky 3y agoThis seems timely with trends in pedestrian deaths rising: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/04/podcasts/the-daily/pedestrian-deaths.html https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/04/podcasts/the-daily/pedest... As a driver and pedestrian, I swear I see people staring at their phones while driving. Probably need phone cupholders — phone locks up unless it’s mounted in its slot and enters CarPlay mode. Have to do it for passengers too, since can’t differentiate
- poly_morphis 3y agoA big thing that concerns me is the absurd levels of tint people are putting on their windows. I bought a used car last year that came with 20% all around, and I removed it from the front windows almost immediately. It was so insanely hard to see outside at night properly, especially in dim or unlit areas. How do people with less than that see? I guess they don’t.