sustainability Article Walking toward Metro Stations: the Contribution of Distance, Attitudes, and Perceived Built Environment Mohammad Paydar 1,* , Asal Kamani Fard 2 and Mohammad Mehdi Khaghani 3 1 Escuela de Arquitectura Temuco, Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad Mayor, Av. Alemania 281, Temuco 4780000, Chile 2 Academic Researcher, Universidad Católica del Maule, San Miguel 3605, Talca, Chile;
[email protected] 3 Department of Urban Studies, Apadana Institute of Higher Education, Shiraz 7187985443, Iran;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected] Received: 17 September 2020; Accepted: 16 November 2020; Published: 9 December 2020 Abstract: Walking as an active means of travel is important as a sustainable mode of transport. Moreover, the level of walking in the surrounding areas of metro stations would contribute to maintaining the minimum rate of physical activity and, therefore, inhabitants’ general health. This study examined the impacts of walking attitude, walking distance, and perceived built environment on walking behavior for reaching the metro stations in Shiraz, Iran. Three metro stations were selected and a quantitative approach was used to examine the objectives. It was found that the average walking distance is less than the average in developed countries, such as the United States. People walked more when there was a shorter distance between their starting points and the metro stations. The contribution of walking attitudes and several built environment attributes to walking behavior was demonstrated. Finding the contribution of aesthetic attributes, such as accessibility to parks and housing types of the starting points of the walking trips, to walking for transport are taken into account as the novelties of this study.