Halifax Regional Trails Association, March 2013 Walking for Transport in the Halifax Region: Destinations, Distances, and Policy Implications   Hugh Millward Department of Geography, Saint Mary’s University

Purpose & Approach Walking is an important component of healthy exercise Active-transport (AT) walking is an important component of walking AT walking should also be encouraged for environmental & urban-design reasons This research: investigates AT walking behaviour emphasizes trip (not participant) characteristics identifies the major types of attractors (destinations) gauges their attractive power (percent of trips) assesses the extent of their walking catchment areas H. Millward HRTA March 2013

The Halifax STAR project STAR (Space-Time Activity Research) Combined time use & travel survey, 2007-8 Funded by ACOA PI Andrew Harvey, Co-PI Hugh Millward Respondents sampled randomly throughout HRM Time diary & GPS tracking for ~2,000 primary respondents (age 15+), for 48 hours H. Millward HRTA March 2013

Walking for Transport vs. Recreation (all trips, incl. round-trip) Statistic Walking for Transport Walking for Recreation Participation Rate (% respondents/day) 31.7 21.8 Average Time Walking (mins/day/participant) 23.3 50.6 Average Walks per Participant 3.1 1.4 Average Walk Duration (mins) 7.7 39.1 H. Millward HRTA March 2013

AT Walking Trips versus Trips by Other Travel Modes (single-episode trips only) Trip Type Statistic Count Duration (mins) Distance (km) Speed (km/h) AT walks Mean 1,790 9.0 0.67 4.8 Median 6.0 0.48 4.5 25th percentile 3.0 0.23 3.4 75th percentile 12.0 0.86 5.9 H. Millward HRTA March 2013

AT Walking Trips versus Trips by Other Travel Modes (single-episode trips only) Trip Type Statistic Count Duration (mins) Distance (km) Speed (km/h) AT walks Mean 1,790 9.0 0.67 4.8 Median 6.0 0.48 4.5 25th percentile 3.0 0.23 3.4 75th percentile 12.0 0.86 5.9 Bicycle 147 18.3 3.47 11.2 10.0 2.04 11.1 Car 20,680 13.7 7.97 33.3 3.86 25.3 Bus 158 26.9 6.26 16.2 20.0 4.96 15.0 H. Millward HRTA March 2013

Origin and Destination Categories Percentage of 1,790 AT Walking Trips Origins Destinations Home Work place Other's Home School Outdoors Other Place Total 0.0 3.5 4.2 0.1 6.1 10.9 25.0 Workplace 2.8 0.4 2.7 13.3 19.3 4.1 0.2 0.3 0.9 6.0 0.6 1.3 2.1 1.5 1.6 5.6 11.1 11.5 0.8 0.7 2.5 16.3 42.8 20.5 17.0 5.7 1.2 12.0 43.6 100.0 H. Millward HRTA March 2013

Mean AT Walking-trip Durations (Minutes) by Origin and Destination Categories Origins Destinations Home Work place Other's Home School Outdoors Other Place Total -- 14.6 7.4 15.0 13.5 11.1 Workplace 14.8 8.5 6.6 7.8 8.7 6.3 27.3 8.4 18.0 5.8 9.7 7.6 19.8 21.0 3.8 10.3 7.3 6.9 5.5 5.0 3.3 6.7 12.9 6.4 8.3 11.2 7.7 7.0 8.9 9.0 H. Millward HRTA March 2013

Mean AT Walking-trip Distances (km) by Origin and Destination Categories Origins Destinations Home Work place Other's Home School Outdoors Other Place Total -- 1.19 0.59 1.15 0.54 0.95 0.82 Workplace 0.61 0.48 0.66 0.47 2.61 0.79 1.26 0.65 0.58 1.65 1.27 0.42 0.51 0.64 0.78 0.44 0.36 0.39 0.28 0.50 0.96 0.63 0.49 0.62 0.85 0.60 0.67 H. Millward HRTA March 2013

AT Walking Trips, by Specific Destinations (destinations with at least 1% of trips, single-episode trips only) SIC-Based Destinations % of AT Walking Trips (n=1,790) AT Walking Trips as % of All Trips Mean Walk Duration (mins) Mean Distance (km) TOTAL 100.0 8.3 9.0 0.67 Respondent’s home 20.8 6.0 11.1 0.84 Workplace 17.0 17.2 0.66 Bus Stop or Ferry Terminal 9.1 44.3 7.0 0.51 Restaurant or Bar 7.8 10.7 7.7 0.52 Someone else’s home 5.7 4.8 0.60 Grocery store 5.2 6.7 8.4 0.63 Other Retail 3.7 7.4 8.1 0.59 Shopping Centre or Mall 3.3 12.4 10.6 0.75 Outdoors away from home 2.7 20.2 7.5 0.56 Bank 0.78 School 2.4 10.4 0.76 Other Services 2.3 6.3 8.6 College or University 1.6 19.6 7.9 Fast food 1.5 7.1 0.45 Drug Store 9.9 Government Services 1.3 9.2 10.0 Park or Beach 1.1 11.2 12.0 0.80 H. Millward HRTA March 2013

Distance-Decline Gradients 1 H. Millward HRTA March 2013

Distance-Decline Gradients 2 H. Millward HRTA March 2013

X = Time Duration (mins) Log/Linear Regressions (Negative Exponentials): Log Percent of AT Walking Trips to Destination (Y) against Distance / Duration (X) Major Destinations X = Distance (km) X = Time Duration (mins) r* a (peak) b (slope) r** a b All Destinations .99 1.456 -.643 .94 1.282 -.048 Respondent’s home .95 1.359 -.519 .91 1.193 -.037 All Workplaces .92 1.328 -.543 .88 1.111 -.039 School .85 1.248 -.401 .57 1.014 -.020 Bus Stop or Ferry Terminal 1.351 -.569 1.277 -.052 Restaurant or Bar .93 1.427 -.652 .81 1.035 -.032 Grocery store .96 1.458 -.614 .80 1.078 -.028 Bank 1.343 -.355 .39 0.987 -.010 * all significant at a = .01 **all significant at a = .01, except School at .04 and Bank at .21 H. Millward HRTA March 2013

Major Employment Nodes H. Millward HRTA March 2013

AT Walking to Destinations in Major Employment Nodes (single-episode trips only, to non-home destinations) Major Employment Node % of Non-home AT Walking Trips (n=1,423) AT Walking as % of All Non-home Trips to Node Mean Walk Duration (mins) Mean Distance (km) Downtown Halifax 41.5 38.0 8.0 0.59 Downtown Dartmouth 6.4 14.0 8.8 0.62 Halifax Isthmus Shopping Centres 2.5 8.9 10.7 0.83 Bedford Sunnyside 2.3 7.2 9.1 0.58 University Avenue (Hospitals & Dalhousie U) 2.0 26.2 7.1 Stadacona Base and Dockyard (military) 1.5 16.8 0.67 Burnside Business Park 1.4 3.4 9.4 0.87 Bayers Lake Business Park 1.3 3.2 3.1 0.31 Woodside BP and Imperial Oil Refinery 0.8 7.0 10.8 0.98 Other Employment Nodes 0.7 2.2 5.7 0.42 H. Millward HRTA March 2013

Key Findings & Policy Implications Most AT walks have origins other than home or work. Ditto for destinations Avoid excessive focus on walkways/trails in residential neighborhoods Shopping travel is the most common travel purpose More attention to walkways/trails within and to retail areas Only 3% of trips to Burnside and Bayers Lake are AT walking trips More trails within and to business parks. Locate high-density housing adjacent to these trails most walks are less than 600m and very few exceed 1200m Inside development boundary, locate transit stops & local amenities (playground, first schools) within 1000m of all homes New housing should be within 1000m of local retail/employment centres, and local centres should have high-capacity transit to district centres

Key Findings & Policy Implications Most AT walks have origins other than home or work. Ditto for destinations Avoid excessive focus on walkways/trails in residential neighborhoods Shopping travel is the most common travel purpose More attention to walkways/trails within and to retail areas Only 3% of trips to Burnside and Bayers Lake are AT walking trips More trails within and to business parks. Locate high-density housing adjacent to these trails most walks are less than 600m and very few exceed 1200m Inside development boundary, locate transit stops & local amenities (e.g. playground, first schools) within 1000m of all homes New housing should be within 1000m of local retail/employment centres, and local centres should have high-capacity transit to district centres

Questions, Comments? Contact: Hugh Millward Department of Geography Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, NS, Canada B3H 3C3 hugh.millward@smu.ca H. Millward HRTA March 2013