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Most walking travel behavior research thus far has tested area-based neighborhood walkability, which is measured with meso-level urban form attributes. In need of micro-level walkability analyses that focus on individual travelers and their routes, we propose a route-oriented linear walkability concept named “path walkability.” It is defined and measured by 42 path walkability indicators that can collectively represent an individual traveler's micro-level walkability. A graphic measurement instrument for an objective and efficient on-field walkability measurement is developed. This study also sets the protocol for quantitatively integrating the walkability data measured at the segment level into path walkability indicators that are comparable at the route level. To test the applicability of the proposed path walkability, a pilot case study is conducted within a station area. A user survey is administered to collect transit users' access mode choices and walking routes to the station. The survey results help identify two groups of street segments: one used by regular walkers and the other selected by habitual auto users/occasional walkers. The routes chosen by the two groups are quantitatively and graphically compared for walkability. The analyses show a physically measurable and quantitatively comparable difference between the routes' walkability and suggest criteria for walking-conducive transit walkability for station users. Specific design recommendations for improving street-level micro-walkability for future transit-oriented developments (TODs) are added along with a future research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on micro-level walkability, which is measured at the route level and thus named “path walkability,” and tests whether path walkability influences transit users' mode choices to the station. To test its impact on access mode choices, a case study is conducted in downtown Mountain View, California. A station user survey is administered to collect access mode choice, socioeconomic status, and trip origins and walking routes of 249 transit users with previous experience of walking to the station. Using a path walkability measurement instrument developed for this research, 38 path walkability indicators are extracted from each of the 249 walking routes. The 38 walkability indicators are grouped by using factor analysis yielding four path walkability factors: “sidewalk amenities,” “traffic impacts,” “street scale and enclosure,” and “landscaping elements.” The four factors are utilized as new walkability variables for modeling access mode choices. With 150 walkers and 99 habitual auto users/occasional walkers, two access mode choice models are estimated. The basic model is first estimated without walkability variables and then the four path walkability variables are introduced for the expanded model. All four path walkability variables enter the expanded model and significantly improve the predictability of the mode choice model. The model result suggests that micro-level walkability influences access mode choices in a statistically significant way and having more walking-conducive walkability available for access trips increases the chance of choosing walking over driving. This research shows that improving micro-level walkability could be a cost-beneficial incentive for more walking to the station. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Minority status and low-income are two important criteria on which environmental-justice areas are being identified. These unique areal characteristics have been of particular interest to traffic safety analysts in investigating pedestrian safety planning factors in deprived areas. In this study, a pedestrian crash model was developed for these areas explicitly accounting for the spatial autocorrelations of different zonal factors commonly used in the traditional transportation planning models. It was found that the Bayesian Poisson-lognormal model with a spatial effect term performed the best compared to the models without accounting for spatial autocorrelations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]