An adult and a small child walk on a sidewalk next to a parking lot

Walkability

MVRPC provides assistance to local communities to audit their built environment. A technical review, with criteria established by Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the audit can assist a community in deciding where to change or improve their streets, intersections, and sidewalks to be more walk-friendly, safer, and accessible. The walking audit is also a great educational tool for school groups, planning commission members, and community advocates to better understand multi-modal transportation issues.
A group of cyclists and pedestrians wearing high-visibility safety vests and helmets gathered on a paved sidewalk next to a roadway.

Everyone is a pedestrian at some point of their commute. This is why all sidewalks and multi-use trails need to be safe modes of transportation. MVRPC conducts qualitative walk audits. These are separate from Roadway Safety Audits. This allows MVRPC to gather qualitative data from pedestrians to better understand the user experience. MVRPC offers assistance for qualitative walk audits to ensure sidewalks are safe and accessible. This includes:

  • Helping facilitate qualitative walk audits
  • Qualitative data collection and analyses
  • Development of GIS tools (MVRPC uses ARCGIS Story Map to display data collected during walk audits)
three people sit around a table in an office with planning documents laid out in front of them

The process of facilitation of a qualitative walk audit would include:

  1. Setting of audit goals
  2. Planning the audit event(s)
  3. Determining the audit participants
  4. Conduct the audit(s)
  5. Compile audit findings/reports

Contact Matt Lindsay for information on conducting walk audits and additional resources.