WIN Wyoming and WIN the Rockies

Thought Bullets
for
June 2003

Americans’ Attitudes Towards Walking - Results from National Poll

In October of 2002, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded the research firm of Belden, Russonello and Stewart to conduct a telephone survey of 800 randomly selected households in the United States. The survey asked people their attitudes about walking and their opinions about spending more national transportation dollars on creating safer walking environments. The results of the poll were released in April of 2003. It has often been said that Americans have a love affair with their vehicles, so the results from this poll may surprise you.

• The survey found the majority of Americans would like to walk more than they are currently, but they are held back by communities that are designed for vehicles traveling at a high rate of speed. Additionally, most intersections are designed for safety of vehicles, not safety of pedestrians.
• Poll results found that when given a choice between walking more and driving more, 55% of adults would prefer to walk more.
• Specific policies that people supported to create better walking communities included designing streets for slower traffic, using more federal dollars towards walking transportation systems, and creating walk-friendly routes to school for children.
• The main reason Americans reported not walking more was because "things are too far to get to" and therefore, walking is inconvenient (61%). Surprisingly, "not enough time to walk" came in second as the reason more people don’t walk (57%). Other reasons cited for not walking more included laziness (33%), difficulty of walking due to traffic and lack of walking paths (30%), lack of sidewalks and crosswalks (26%), physical limitations (20%), dislike of walking (17%), and lack of safety due to crime (13%).
• "Walking is a critical part of the transportation system, . . . but we plan, design and build transportation facilities for automobiles at the expense of other modes," says Anne Canby, President of the Surface Transportation Policy Project. "Engineers know how to make streets and traffic safe for people on foot, as well as on bicycle or in a car. They just need the support . . . to do it."
• Currently, less than one percent of federal transportation dollars go toward the safety of pedestrians. In the mountain states (WY, MT, ID, CO, UT, AZ, NV, NM), only 0.8% of federal transportation funds are spent on pedestrian or bicycle facilities.
• Mark Fenton, spokesperson for the national walking advocacy group of America Walks says, "Americans are voting with their feet. Walking is already the number one fitness activity in the nation, but we need to build a world where everyone can enjoy walking for transportation. It’s the simplest way to stay healthy for life."

Americans’ Attitudes Toward Walking and Creating Better Walking Communities, Final report for the Surface Transportation Policy Project, Belden, Russonello & Stewart, Research and Communications, Washington D.C., April 2003.

Americans’ Attitudes Toward Walking and Creating Better Walking Communities, Summary report, website for the Surface Transportation Policy Project, April 1, 2003, www.transact.org/report.asp?id=205.

New Poll Shows Americans Eager to Walk More, Support Spending on a Better Walking Environment; News release, Surface Transportation Policy Project, Linda Bailey and Andrea Broaddus, April 1, 2003.

Compiled by Betty Holmes, MS, RD, Regional Project Coordinator, WIN the Rockies;  bholmes@uwyo.edu

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