Strategic Walking Analysis
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Strategic Walking Analysis TfL City Planning Strategic Analysis Contents 1. Introduction ........................................................................................... 3 PART A - Walking Insights 2. Current walking patterns .................................................................. 4 3. Walking potential ................................................................................ 14 PART B - Strategic Data 4. Framework to identify key areas for walking ........................... 21 5. Next steps ............................................................................................. 27 Glossary .......................................................................................................... 31 Appendix : Using the framework in the City Planner Tool ......... 33 2 Action 9 of the Walking Action Plan is to publish the first 1. Introduction Strategic Walking Analysis (SWA), comprising a suite of datasets for boroughs and stakeholders, and this summary report. The SWA draws on existing data and combines analyses of levels of Walking as part of regular travel has many benefits; it helps walking, walkable trips and barriers to walking, mapping out at people to stay healthy and is a great way to explore the city. In a granular level where the walking experience could be addition switching from motorised travel to walking reduces improved and where more people could walk. This report also road danger, air pollution and noise. Walking also encourages demonstrates how this data can be combined with other interaction and helps to makes Town Centres and High Streets information, for example where people are not currently thriving places. achieving 20 minutes of daily active travel, in order to define measures to meet the objectives of the MTS. Walking is integral to the Mayor’s Transport Strategy (MTS) published in March 2018. One of the core MTS targets is for 80 The SWA will help to inform prioritisation and investment in per cent of all trips in London to be made on foot, by cycle or walking to obtain the best result for Londoners and local using public transport by 2041. The MTS also has an ‘Active communities. This will allow TfL, the London Boroughs and People Target’ for all Londoners to do at least the 20 minutes other partners to make best use of their resources to deliver of physical activity a day required to stay healthy by 2041. improvements to enable trips to be undertaken by safe, Walking as part of regular travel is the easiest way for efficient and sustainable modes including walking. This will Londoners to become, and remain, physically active, in line contribute towards the objectives in the MTS including the 80 with our Healthy Streets approach, as well as reduce reliance per cent mode share target. on the private car. This summary report is split into two sections. Part A contains Following on from the MTS, TfL published its Walking Action various insights on walking across London, whilst Part B sets Plan in July 2018, which sets out the scale of change needed to out a framework which can be used to help identify where deliver the MTS. The plan outlines two additional walking- walking improvements could be implemented. The data specific targets and a series of actions required to make underpinning this framework is based on current levels of London a more walkable city. walking and what the potential for more walking in an area might be. The report also details the additional data available Target 1: Target 2: within the City Planner Tool (CPT) which can be used to Increase the number of Increase the proportion supplement the SWA data. walking trips by more of trips to primary than one million per schools made by walking day by 2024 (from 6.4 to 57 per cent by 2024 million to 7.5 million). (from 53 per cent). 3 2. Current walking patterns 2.2. Walk Trips and Stages The walking done by Londoners can be broken down into walk trips and walk stages. 2.1. Overview To understand how and where to encourage more walking, it is Walk trips capture end to end trips which are walked all the important to understand the current situation. This chapter way. For example, a trip from home to work which is walked presents data on walk trips and stages, pedestrian density, the whole way without using another mode of transport. walking distances and socio-demographic variations. The data has come from the London Travel Demand Survey1 (LTDS). Walk stages are walks which are made as part of a longer trip, involving other modes. For example, a walk stage from home Whilst LTDS is currently our most comprehensive source of to a London Underground station, followed by another journey information on walking in London it has some methodological stage on the Underground, and then a further walk stage to the and statistical limitations that are common to traditional travel final destination. diary recall surveys. For example, it is not ideal for measuring incremental changes in the amount of walking in London. In Over the last 13 years, the number of walking trips and stages addition the data applies to London residents only and made by the average Londoner has been broadly stable. therefore omits the sometimes substantial amount of walking However there has been a small decrease in recent years. made by non-residents in central London. Data from Travel in London has shown that in recent years, For this reason, TfL has developed a new direct-count survey there is a broad trend of declining trip rates across all modes. of pedestrian activity. This initially focuses on central London The trips most affected are those made for shopping, personal but is expandable to Greater London. This data will be capable business and leisure purposes. This suggests that a decline in of giving a robust trend for all walking. Data from this survey discretionary trip purposes has been driving the overall decline 2. will be used to measure progress towards the 2024 Walking in recent years . This general trend is also reflected for walking Action Plan target. trips and stages where the data shows in recent years the amount of walking made by London residents has been declining. 1The London Travel Demand Survey is a continuous household survey of the London area and has been running since 2005/06 with an annual sample size of around 8,000 households. It captures information on households, people, trips and vehicles. 2 Travel in London 10, Chapter 4: http://content.tfl.gov.uk/travel-in-london-report-10.pdf 4 Figure 1 - Walk trip rates and walk stage rates (LTDS) Figure 2 - Change in walk trips and stages relative to 2005/06 baseline (LTDS) Walk-all-the-way trip rate and walk stage rate by year 3.0 Percentage change in walk trip rates and walk stage rates indexed to 2005/06 25% 2.5 20% 2.0 15% 10% 1.5 5% 1.0 0% -5% person per day, 7-day week) person per day, 7-day 0.5 -10% All modes trip rate (excluding walk) -15% - Walk all the way trip rate (excluding walk stages) Walk trip or walk stage rate (number of trips/stages per Percentage difference from 2005/06 baseline -20% Walk stage rate Walk all the way trip rate (exc walk stages) Walk stage rate -25% Figure 1 shows in 2017/18 Londoners made on average 0.6 walk- all-the-way trips per day and 2.1 walk stages per day. This is the Figure 2 shows how walk trip and walk stage rates have lowest it has been since the LTDS database began collecting changed since 2005/06. Walk trip rates have been mostly data in 2005/06. The SWA will help inform prioritisation and reducing since 2012/13 and walk stage rates since 2013/14. In investment in walking through providing data driven insights. It 2017/18, walk stage rates have remained stable but represent a is one of the key tools which can be used to help turn around reduction on the 2005/06 baseline data. this trend and increase the amount of walking in London. 5 2.3. Walking distances Figure 3 – Daily walk distance per person in trips and stages (LTDS) Walking is an important source of physical activity. It is possible to look at the distances Londoners walk on average to Distance walked per person per day, network distance get a sense of how much walking may be contributing to estimate (km) Londoners’ health and how this is changing over time. 1.6 In 2017/18 the average daily walk distance per person was 1.2km. 1.4 This was made up of 0.7km in walk-all-the-way trips and 0.5km in walk stages to or from other modes. 1.2 Walk all the way trips are on average longer than walk stages. 1.0 However, London residents make more walk stages than trips each day, and therefore walk stages account for a slightly 0.8 higher proportion of the total distance walked per person per day. 0.6 Walk distance (km) Walk distance Figure 3 shows that in 2017/18 the average daily distance walked 0.4 per person from both walk-all-the-way trips and walk stages is at its lowest for 10 years. 0.2 Average walk distances for both walk-all-the-way-trips and 0.0 walk stages have stayed broadly stable over the last 10 years. 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14 14/15 15/16 16/17 17/18 The decline in average daily distance walked per person is a Walk all the way km per person per day Walk stage km per person per day result of the reduction in the number of walk trips and walk stages made by the average Londoner as described in the previous section. 6 Table 1 summarises the key statistics about the number and distance of walk-all-the-way trips and walk stages for 2017/18.