Walking toward Metro Stations: the Contribution of Distance, Attitudes, and Perceived Built Environment

Mohammad Paydar,Mohammad Mehdi Khaghani,Asal Kamani Fard

doi:10.3390/su122410291

Mohammad Paydar, Mohammad Mehdi Khaghani + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su122410291

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Abstract

Walking as an active means of travel is important as a sustainable mode of transport. Moreover, the level of walking in the surrounding areas of metro stations would contribute to maintaining the minimum rate of physical activity and, therefore, inhabitants’ general health. This study examined the impacts of walking attitude, walking distance, and perceived built environment on walking behavior for reaching the metro stations in Shiraz, Iran. Three metro stations were selected and a quantitative approach was used to examine the objectives. It was found that the average walking distance is less than the average in developed countries, such as the United States. People walked more when there was a shorter distance between their starting points and the metro stations. The contribution of walking attitudes and several built environment attributes to walking behavior was demonstrated. Finding the contribution of aesthetic attributes, such as accessibility to parks and housing types of the starting points of the walking trips, to walking for transport are taken into account as the novelties of this study. Policy makers of this city may apply the findings of this study—especially around the metro stations—to improve the average walking distance as well as walking behavior.

Highlights

Private cars are the dominant travel mode in the cities of Iran and these cities suffer from high vehicle traffic congestion and lack of route infrastructure to support daily growing numbers of vehicles
This shows that transport trips to/from educational land uses are the main type for pedestrians who walk to/from the metro stations in this city
People with lower monthly income walk more to the metro stations. This finding is consistent with the previous studies mentioning that lower household income was associated with more walking for transport and vice versa [54,55]

Summary

Introduction

Private cars are the dominant travel mode in the cities of Iran and these cities suffer from high vehicle traffic congestion and lack of route infrastructure to support daily growing numbers of vehicles. The contribution of attitudes toward walking as associated with walking for transport was indicated by previous studies [12,19] Most of these studies—which are involved with the impacts of design and aesthetic related factors on walking behavior—have used perceptual assessment of environmental attributes. This study examines the impact of sociodemographic factors, perceived built environment, walking attitudes, and walking with others on walking for transport to reach the metro stations in Shiraz, Iran. Safety, including both traffic safety and personal security was broadly stated as relating to walking for transport [13,15,31,37,38,43,44] This is while the aesthetic attributes of the walking environment are a factor that is rarely stated as relating to utilitarian walking in previous studies [13,15]. Ianlkcsasthesatwtheyretoitowk atos dreiffiacchultthteo mtraectreothsetaitnifoonrsm. aIntiocnasoensawmhaepre, thitewreasseadrcifhfitceualmt thoetlpraecdetothcearirnyfoitrmouattiwonithotnheaamssaispt,anthce orefstehaerrcehspteoanmdehnetlsp. eTdheton,ctahrerywiat lokuintgwriothuttehseoafstshiestraenscpeonofdtehnetsrweseproentdraennstfse.rTrehdento, tGhIeSwanaldkitnhge mroeuttreics doifsttahnecereosfpeoancdhewntaslkwinegretritprawnsafsemrredasutoredG.IS and the metric distance of each walking trip was measured

Number of pedestrians

Results

Discussion and Conclusions