Does a Pedestrian Environment Promote Walkability? Auditing a Pedestrian Environment Using the Pedestrian Environmental Data Scan Instrument

This study was aimed at evaluating the pedestrian environment walkability from a residential area to a commercial area in Amherst, New York. An audit tool to record data of physical built environment elements was developed and tested. Data collection is integrated taking advantage of geo-spatial technology, so that pedestrian environment characteristics can be presented spatially. In this study, the Pedestrian Environmental Data Scan (PEDS) instrument was adopted to evaluate walkability in pedestrian environments. Thirteen variables were adopted to be used in this study: (1) segment type; (2) land use in the given segment; (3) slope; (4) segment intersection; (5) types of pedestrian facilities; (6) path condition; (7) number of trees shading walking areas; (8) crosswalks; (9) roadway/path lighting; (10) segment attractiveness for walking; (11) segment attractiveness for cycling; (12) segment safety for walking; and (13) segment safety for cycling. To collect and examine the data, the study integrated the audit tool with ArcGIS Online developed by ESRI. Overall, the selected road segments have the characteristics of a walkable environment between a residential area and a commercial area. The most convenient pedestrian environment was identified within the residential area because the sidewalks are attractive, are built on flat slopes, planted with dense shade trees, and have low-volume traffic. In the commercial area, the pedestrian environment is less attractive due to a lack of trees and less safety due to the mixed use of pedestrian pathways for store entrance. The results reflect the need for improvement of the audit tool in future studies.