Marc Schlossberg and Vanessa Bekkouche at the University of Oregon Department of Planning, Public Policy and Management have released a study on pedestrians and public transportation (via Planetizen). How far will people actually walk to get to the train? What features are important in their decision making? The paper has been getting notice and recognition at a few academic conferences. Their findings?

• People will walk farther than previously assumed: 1/2 mile, rather than 1/4 or 1/3 mile.
• Primary concern is time and distance.
• Safety, streetscaping, quality of experience are secondary factors.
• People are not good at estimating how far they are actually walking (no surprise there).

"Perhaps the key to increasing the number of walking trips is not to design pedestrian environments full of amenities such as benches, tree cover, awnings and wide sidewalks. While there is no doubt those assets can enhance the pedestrian experience, the real key is to have somewhere to walk to and to have an environment that isn't horrible." -Prof. Schlossberg

This kind of real data is a big deal to those of us who are trying to incorporate walkability and transit connections in our development plans, and I know they will be helpful to municipalities who are making these kind of quality-of-life spending decisions. I do wish that the authors had posted their paper online...