Designing for the pedestrian's inner-economist: optimising efficiency and experience in the suburbs and the CBD

Walking’s attractiveness is dependent on the physical environment of the area in question, and, as this paper argues, the potential efficiency and experiential quality of a pedestrian trip. Pedestrian efficiency and experience can be explored through the presence (or lack) of several elements, all of which impact on a person’s decision to make the trip by foot. This paper will examine the impact of the following: density of formal pedestrian crossings; potential for informal crossings (e.g. jaywalking) via signal progression, phasing, and physical infrastructure; traffic signal cycles and phasing; route network density (i.e. number of route options between point A and B); and the pedestrian’s perception of trip time, as affected by urban design and quality of pedestrian environment. This paper draws upon project experience, research, and data collection from across New Zealand to illustrate how pedestrian-efficient (or inefficient) design can impact actual mode selection choice. The paper articulates many obvious-yet-overlooked urban design and transport infrastructure tools for optimising pedestrian efficiency and experience in the suburbs and the central business district, with the hopes of winning over the prospective pedestrian’s inner economist to choose walking as a viable, and optimal, transport option. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E215407.