Quantifying the economic impact of investing in pedestrian networks

We can quantify the economic impact of investing in roads for motor vehicle drivers, why not pedestrians?

Ultimately it would be preferable to invest in walking on the basis of strategic objectives (“it’s obviously the right thing to do”) however funding for area-wide walking improvements still requires an economic assessment. We already have a dollar value for each new pedestrian attracted to an improved environment, but how many pedestrians can we expect? Transport demand models with a pedestrian component are expensive and generally not used in our smaller cities and towns.

This presentation describes a simple model to estimate the uptake in walking based on comparing the walkability of the subject urban area and a benchmark (better) urban area. Initial findings show promise but also limitations to the approach. All of us have a role to play in the solution.