Gulf Coast Research Center for Evacuation and Transportation Resiliency Walking in the City Final Report Sponsoring Agency GULF COAST RESEARCH CENTER FOR EVACUATION AND TRANSPORTATION RESILIENCY The Gulf Coast Research Center for Evacuation and Transporta

and Urban Studies. The theme of the LSU-UNO Center is focused on Evacuation and Transportation Resiliency in an effort to address the multitude of issues that impact transportation processes under emergency conditions such as evacuation and other types of major events. This area of research also addresses the need to develop and maintain the ability of transportation systems to economically, efficiently, and safely respond to the changing demands that may be placed upon them. Research The Center focuses on addressing the multitude of issues that impact transportation processes under emergency conditions such as evacuation and other types of major events as well as the need to develop and maintain the ability of transportation systems to economically, efficiently, and safely respond to the changing conditions and demands that may be placed upon them. Work in this area include the development of modeling and analysis techniques; innovative design and control strategies; and travel demand estimation and planning methods that can be used to predict and improve travel under periods of immediate and overwhelming demand. In addition to detailed analysis of emergency transportation processes, The Center provides support for the broader study of transportation resiliency. This includes work on the key components of redundant transportation systems, analysis of congestion in relation to resiliency, impact of climate change and peak oil, provision of transportation options, and transportation finance. The scope of the work stretches over several different modes including auto, transit, maritime, and non-motorized. Education The educational goal of the Institute is to provide undergraduate-level education to students seeking careers in areas of transportation that are critical to Louisiana and to the field of transportation in general with local, national and international applications. Courses in Transportation Planning, Policy, and Land use are offered at UNO, under the Department of Planning and Urban Studies. In addition to the program offerings at UNO, LSU offers transportation engineering courses through its Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The Center also provides on-going research opportunities for graduate students as well as annual scholarships. Technology Transfer The LSU/UNO UTC conducts technology transfer activities in the following modes: 1) focused professional, specialized courses, workshops and seminars for private sector entities (business and nonprofits) and government interests, and the public on transport issues (based on the LSU-UNO activities); 2) Research symposia; transport issues (based on the LSU-UNO activities); 3) Presentations at professional organizations; 4) Publications. The Center sponsors the National Carless Evacuation Conference and has cosponsored other national conferences on active transportation. Disclaimer The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors, who are solely responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the material and information presented herein. This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation University Transportation Centers Program in the interest of information exchange. The U.S. Government assumes no liability for the contents or use thereof. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official views of the U.S. Government. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation i Motivated by traffic congestion, excessive energy use and poor health outcomes, planning and public health researchers have developed an extensive body of research that examines walking and other active transport as well as walking for recreation. In different discussions, walking has become a newly interesting subject and method to understand urban (and non urban) life, and a growing number of researchers have sought to understand mobility, the social experience and functions of walking and its cultural meanings. These areas of research rarely overlap. The latter has the potential for enriching the research about active travel and physical activity and, through doing so, suggest more effective pathways to healthier and less energy intensive life patterns. This project first examines these divergent literatures. It then uses New Orleans to discuss both the pedestrian improvements and the vibrant public life that New Orleans sustained without the new pedestrian infrastructure. It concludes with a discussion about pedestrian oriented research agenda. Executive Summary In the last decades, policy makers and planners have increasingly promoted active transportation. This has been stimulated by divergent concerns. The three main drivers have been traffic congestion, energy consumption and accompanying environmental degradation, and declining health attributed in part to sedentary life patterns. Planning advocates have focused on active transportation as solutions to all three challenges. Walking for shorter trips is a particularly useful intervention because almost anyone can do it and, in the United States, 50% of all auto trips are shorter than three miles. The research on the determinants of walking for transport and recreation has found that different factors influence walking for travel and walking for recreation. Relative walk rates are associated with sociodemographic differences, motivations to walk and habit. The built environment has some effect on walk decisions but it differs for travel versus recreational trips. As importantly, however, walking has a richer tradition in urban life and has impacts and cultural meanings that extend beyond travel, exercise and energy use. The literature on walking in the city portrays complex relationships among walking, community cultural practices, and societal change, meanings and outcomes. The latter research can enrich the walking for travel and physical activity research. New Orleans is an example of a city that has been reconfiguring its travel infrastructure to better support active transportation. However, the city also has a rich tradition of street use and informal ways of walking, but the infrastructure provision reflects the same division as the research. As with the research, the street improvements focus on a narrow view of better walking conditions such as crosswalk striping, signalization and some sidewalk repairs, bump outs and seating. The improvements will be beneficial, but it places too much emphasis on pedestrian infrastructure and too little on the potential to use the streets for urban greening and too little focus on social and cultural practices. The report concludes with three areas for a pedestrian oriented research agenda: the experience of walking and the role of walking in people's lives; the experience of the streets as public green spaces and benefits, costs and responses associated with greening initiatives; and the shifting preferences for multimodal lives which, in conjunction with the research on travel mode choice, can give a more complete understanding in what circumstances people walk. 2 Abstract Motivated by traffic congestion, excessive energy use and poor health outcomes, planning and public health researchers have developed an extensive body of research that examines walking and other active transport as well as walking for recreation. In different discussions, walking has become a newly interesting subject and method to understand urban (and non urban) life, and a growing number of researchers have sought to understand mobility, the social experience and functions of walking and its cultural meanings. These areas of research rarely overlap. The latter has the potential for enriching the research about active travel and physical activity and, through doing so, suggest more effective pathways to healthier and less energy intensive life patterns. This project first examines these divergent literatures. It then uses New Orleans to discuss both the pedestrian improvements and the vibrant public life that New Orleans sustained without the new pedestrian infrastructure. It concludes with a discussion about pedestrian oriented research agenda. 3 Introduction and objectives Rapid global mobility and the transport of both goods and people contributed to the economic prosperity experienced in the twentieth century. This prosperity depended on inexpensive and reliable energy. By the late twentieth century, declining oil and uncertain energy supplies in a time when demand continues to grow rapidly shifted attention to energy consumption. In conjunction with global climate change and environmental degradation, these challenges have resulted in an acute need to reduce per capita energy use Nevertheless, walking impacts a wide range of urban experiences from neighborhood safety to entertainment choices, and has a rich history in urban thought. Street infrastructure can also impact neighborhood relationships and energy consumption. Proponents for informal and temporary uses, public spaces and public life, and greener regions envision the city streets as a city's most extensive public space and sites to install green infrastructure. Integrating these divergent approaches will create more effective pedestrian planning and sustainable transportation practices. This report lays out the state of research and puts forth a research agenda for examining pedestrianism that better frames pedestrian oriented issues. This report has three main objectives: 1) to integrate the interdisciplinary literatures that address or could influence planning for pedestrianism; 2) show what we can learn from studying New Orleans and identify case studies to illustrate pedestrian focused solutions; and 3) outline a pedestrian-oriented research agenda. Interdisciplinary literature on pedestrianism The follow subsections outline the debates in relevant but highly divergent literatures that focus on the pedestrian. What factors influence pedestrianism? What does walking do and how does walking do it? What impacts do pedestrian environments have on urban residents? How significant is the trend towards non motorized travel, and what has influenced this trend?