A pedestrian is a person traveling on
foot
The foot ( : feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made ...
, whether
walking
Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults o ...
or
running
Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...
. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a
road
A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation.
There are many types of ...
or
pavement, but this was not the case historically.
The meaning of pedestrian is displayed with the
morpheme
A morpheme is the smallest meaningful Constituent (linguistics), constituent of a linguistic expression. The field of linguistics, linguistic study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology (linguistics), morphology.
In English, morphemes are ...
s ''ped-'' ('foot') and ''-ian'' ('characteristic of').
This word is derived from the Latin term ''pedester'' ('going on foot') and was first used (in English language) during the 18th century. It was originally used, and can still be used today, as an adjective meaning plain or dull. However, in this article it takes on its noun form and refers to someone who walks.
The word pedestrian may have been used in middle French in the
Recueil des Croniques et Anchiennes Istories de la Grant Bretaigne, à présent nommé Engleterre.
In California the definition of a pedestrian has been broadened to include anyone on any human powered vehicle that is not a bicycle, as well as people operating self-propelled wheelchairs by reason of physical disability. In some communities, those traveling using tiny wheels such as
roller skates
Roller skates, are shoes or bindings that fit onto shoes that are worn to enable the wearer to roll along on wheels. The first roller skate was an inline skate design, effectively an ice skate with wheels replacing the blade. Later the "quad ska ...
,
skateboards
A skateboard is a type of sports equipment used for skateboarding. They are usually made of a specially designed 7-8 ply maple plywood deck and polyurethane wheels attached to the underside by a pair of skateboarding trucks.
The skateboarder ...
, and
scooters, as well as
wheelchair
A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...
users are also included as pedestrians.
History
Walking has always been the primary means of human locomotion. The first humans to migrate from Africa, about 60,000 years ago, walked. They walked along the coast of India to reach Australia. They walked across Asia to reach the Americas, and from Central Asia into Europe.
With the advent of the cars in the beginning of the 20th century, the main story is the cars took over, and 'people chose the car', but there were many groups and movements that both held on to walking as their preferred means of daily transport and some who organised and sought to bring forth their conviction, and to counterbalance the onesided media coverage that often favoured cars, e.g as related by
Peter Norton
Peter Norton (born November 14, 1943) is an American programmer, software publisher, author, and philanthropist. He is best known for the computer programs and books that bear his name and portrait. Norton sold his software business to Symantec ...
.
During the 18th and 19th centuries,
pedestrianism
Pedestrianism was a 19th-century form of competitive walking, often professional and funded by wagering, from which the modern sport of racewalking developed.
18th- and early 19th-century Britain
During the late eighteenth and nineteenth cen ...
(walking) was a popular spectator sport just as
equestrianism
Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, Driving (horse), driving, and Equestrian vaulting, vaulting ...
still is in places such as the United Kingdom and the United States. One of the most famous pedestrians of that period was Captain
Robert Barclay Allardice
Robert Barclay Allardice of Ury (25 August 1779, Stonehaven, Kincardineshire – 8 May 1854), generally known as Captain Barclay, was a notable Scottish walker of the early 19th century, known as the celebrated pedestrian. His most famous feat w ...
, known as "The Celebrated Pedestrian", of
Stonehaven
Stonehaven ( , ) is a town in Scotland. It lies on Scotland's northeast coast and had a population of 11,602 at the 2011 Census.
After the demise of the town of Kincardine, which was gradually abandoned after the destruction of its royal cast ...
in Scotland. His most impressive feat was to walk every hour for 1000 hours, which he achieved between 1 June and 12 July 1809. This feat captured many people's imagination, and around 10,000 people came to watch over the course of the event. During the rest of the 19th century, many people tried to repeat this feat, including
Ada Anderson
Ada Anderson, née Nymand (10 February 1843 – ?) was a British athlete famous for her feats of pedestrianism in the latter half of the 19th century. She set various records for distance covered in a given time period, becoming known as ‘Cham ...
who developed it further and walked a half-mile (800 m) each quarter-hour over the 1,000 hours.
Since the 20th century, interest in walking as a sport has dropped.
Racewalking
Racewalking, or race walking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Referee, Race judges careful ...
is still an
Olympic
Olympic or Olympics may refer to
Sports
Competitions
* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
* Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
sport, but fails to catch public attention as it did. However major walking feats are still performed, such as the
Land's End to John o' Groats
Land's End to John o' Groats is the traversal of the whole length of the island of Great Britain between two extremities, in the southwest and northeast. The traditional distance by road is and takes most cyclists 10 to 14 days; the record ...
walk in the United Kingdom, and the traversal of North America from coast to coast. The first person to walk around the world was
Dave Kunst
Dave Kunst (born July 16, 1939) is the first person independently verified to have walked around the Earth. The walk was intended to be achieved along with his brother John, but during the event John was shot and killed by bandits, and Dave wounded ...
who started his walk traveling east from
Waseca, Minnesota
Waseca () is a city in Waseca County, Minnesota, Waseca County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 9,410 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is the county seat.
Transportation
U.S. Route 14 in Minnesota, U.S. Highway 14 a ...
on 20 June 1970 and completed his journey on 5 October 1974, when he re-entered the town from the west. These feats are often tied to
charitable
The practice of charity is the voluntary giving of help to those in need, as a humanitarian act, unmotivated by self-interest. There are a number of philosophies about charity, often associated with religion.
Etymology
The word ''charity'' ori ...
fundraising
Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...
and are undertaken by celebrities such as Sir
Jimmy Savile
Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile (; 31 October 1926 – 29 October 2011) was an English DJ, television and radio personality who hosted BBC shows including ''Top of the Pops'' and ''Jim'll Fix It''. During his lifetime, he was well known ...
and
Ian Botham
Ian Terence Botham, Baron Botham, (born 24 November 1955) is an English cricket commentator, member of the House of Lords, a former cricketer who has been chairman of Durham County Cricket Club since 2017 and charity fundraiser.
Hailed as one ...
as well as by others.
Footpaths and roads
Outdoor pedestrian networks
![LightTunnelDetroit](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/LightTunnelDetroit.jpg)
Roads often have a designated footpath for pedestrian
traffic
Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation.
Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...
, called the ''
sidewalk
A sidewalk (North American English), pavement (British English), footpath in Australia, India, New Zealand and Ireland, or footway, is a path along the side of a street, street, highway, terminals. Usually constructed of concrete, pavers, brick ...
'' in
North American English
North American English (NAmE, NAE) is the most generalized variety of the English language as spoken in the United States and Canada. Because of their related histories and cultures, plus the similarities between the pronunciations (accents), v ...
, the ''pavement'' in
British English
British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...
, and the ''footpath'' in
Australian
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal Au ...
and
New Zealand English
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
. There are also footpaths not associated with a road; these include urban short cuts and also rural paths used mainly by ramblers, hikers, or hill-walkers. Footpaths in mountainous or forested areas may also be called ''
trail
A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. Th ...
s''. Pedestrians share some footpaths with horses and bicycles: these paths may be known as bridleways. Other byways used by walkers are also accessible to
vehicle
A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), wa ...
s. There are also many roads with no footpath. Some modern towns (such as the new suburbs of
Peterborough
Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...
in England) are designed with the network of footpaths and cycle paths almost entirely separate from the road network.
The term ''trail'' is also used by the authorities in some countries to mean any footpath that is not attached to a road or street. If such footpaths are in urban environments and are meant for both pedestrians and pedal cyclists, they can be called ''
shared use path
A shared-use path, mixed-use path or multi-use pathway is a path which is 'designed to accommodate the movement of pedestrians and cyclists'. Examples of shared-use paths include sidewalks designated as shared-use, bridleways and rail trails. A ...
s'' or ''multi-use paths'' in general and official usage.
Some
shopping
Shopping is an activity in which a customer browses the available goods or services presented by one or more retailers with the potential intent to purchase a suitable selection of them. A Retail#Shopper profiles, typology of shopper types ha ...
streets are for pedestrians only. Some roads have special
pedestrian crossing
A pedestrian crossing (or crosswalk in American English) is a place designated for pedestrians to cross a road, street or avenue. The term "pedestrian crossing" is also used in the Vienna and Geneva Conventions, both of which pertain to road sig ...
s. A bridge solely for pedestrians is a
footbridge
A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...
.
Under British law, regardless of whether there is a footpath, pedestrians have the right to use most public roads, excluding motorways and some toll tunnels and bridges such as the
Blackwall Tunnel
The Blackwall Tunnel is a pair of road tunnels underneath the River Thames in east London, England, linking the London Borough of Tower Hamlets with the Royal Borough of Greenwich, and part of the A102 road. The northern portal lies just south ...
and the
Dartford Crossing
The Dartford-Thurrock River Crossing, commonly known as the Dartford Crossing and until 1991 the Dartford Tunnel, is a major road crossing of the River Thames in England, carrying the A282 road between Dartford in Kent in the south and Thurr ...
.
The UK Highway Code advises that pedestrians should walk in the opposite direction to oncoming traffic on a road with no footpath.
Indoor pedestrian networks
Indoor pedestrian networks connect the different rooms or spaces of a building. Airports, museums, campuses, hospitals and shopping centres might have tools allowing for the computation of the shortest paths between two destinations. Their increasing availability is due to the complexity of path finding in these facilities. Different mapping tools, such as
OpenStreetMap
OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a free, open geographic database updated and maintained by a community of volunteers via open collaboration. Contributors collect data from surveys, trace from aerial imagery and also import from other freely licensed g ...
, are extending to indoor spaces.
Pedestrianisation
Pedestrianisation might be considered as process of removing vehicular traffic from city streets or restricting vehicular access to streets for use by pedestrians, in order to improve the environment and the safety.
Efforts are under way by pedestrian
advocacy
Advocacy is an Action (philosophy), activity by an individual or advocacy group, group that aims to influence decision making, decisions within political, economic, and social institutions. Advocacy includes activities and publications to infl ...
groups to restore pedestrian access to new developments, especially to counteract newer developments, 20% to 30% of which in the United States do not include footpaths. Some activists advocate large
pedestrian zones
Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian-only use and in whi ...
where pedestrians only or pedestrians and some non-motorised vehicles are allowed. Many
urbanist
Urbanism is the study of how inhabitants of urban areas, such as towns and cities, interact with the built environment. It is a direct component of disciplines such as urban planning, which is the profession focusing on the physical design and m ...
s have extolled the virtues of pedestrian streets in urban areas. In the US the proportion of households without a car is 8%, but a notable exception is
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, the only locality in the United States where more than half of all households do not own a car (the figure is even higher in Manhattan, over 75%).
The use of cars for short journeys is officially discouraged in many parts of the world, and construction or separation of dedicated walking routes in city centres receives a high priority in many large cities in Western Europe, often in conjunction with
public transport
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
enhancements. In
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
, the world's longest pedestrian shopping area,
Strøget
Strøget () is a pedestrian, car free shopping area in Copenhagen, Denmark. This popular tourist attraction in the centre of town is one of the longest pedestrian shopping streets in Europe at 1.1 km. Located at the centre of the old city o ...
, has been developed over the last 40 years principally due to the work of Danish architect
Jan Gehl
Jan Gehl Hon. FAIA (born 17 September 1936, Copenhagen) is a Danish architect and urban design consultant based in Copenhagen whose career has focused on improving the quality of urban life by re-orienting city design towards the pedestrian and ...
, a principle of urban design known as ''
copenhagenisation''.
Safety issues
Safety is an important issue where cars can cross the pedestrian way. Drivers and pedestrians share some responsibility for improving safety of road users. Road traffic crashes are not inevitable; they are both predictable and preventable.
Key risks for pedestrians are well known. Among the well documented factors are: driver behaviour, (including speeding, drinking and driving); infrastructure missing facilities (including pavements, crossings and
islands
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
); and vehicle design which are not forgiving to pedestrians crashed by a vehicle.
Because pedestrians are not protected by their vehicle while car occupants are, pedestrians are usually classified in the ''vulnerable road user'' category, even in Canada. Most pedestrian injuries occur while they are crossing a street/road.
Most crashes involving a pedestrian occur at night.
Most pedestrian fatalities are killed by a frontal impact. In such a situation, an adult pedestrian is struck by a car front (for instance, the bumper touches either the leg or knee-joint area), accelerating the lower part of the body forward while "the upper body is rotated and accelerated relative to the car," at which point the pelvis and thorax are hit.
Then the head hits the windscreen at the velocity of the striking car. Finally, the victim falls to the ground.
Furthermore, research has shown that urban crimes, or the mere perception of crimes, severely affects the mental and physical health of pedestrians. Inter-pedestrian behaviour, without the involvement of vehicles, is also a key factor to pedestrian safety.
Some special interest groups consider pedestrian fatalities on American roads a carnage.
Five states — Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia and Texas — produce 46% of all pedestrians deaths in the country.
The advent of
SUV
A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive.
There is no commonly agreed-upon definitio ...
s is considered a leading cause;
speculation of other factors includes population growth, driver distraction with mobile phones, poor street lighting, alcohol and drugs and speeding.
Cities have had mixed result in addressing pedestrian safety with Vizion zero plan: Los Angeles has failes while NYC has had success. Nonetheless in the US, some pedestrians have just 40 seconds to cross a 10 lanes street.
Pedestrian fatalities are much more common in accident situations in the European Union than in the United States. In the European Union countries, more than 200,000 pedestrians and cyclists are injured annually.
Also, each year, more than 270 000 pedestrians lose their lives on the world's roads.
At a global level pedestrians constitute 22% of all road deaths,
but might be two thirds in some countries.
Pedestrian fatalities, in 2016, are 2.6 per million population in the Netherlands, 4.3 in Sweden, 4.5 per million population in Wales, 5.3 in New Zealand, 6.0 in Germany; 7.1 in United Kingdom, 7.5 in Australia, 8.4 in France, 8.4 in Spain, 9.4 in Italy, 11.1 in Israel, 13 in Japan, 13.8 in Greece, 18.5 in the United States of America, 22.9 in Poland, and 36.3 in Romania
Safety trends
Road design impact on safety
![Forumhelsinkikauppakeskuskadunylitys](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Forumhelsinkikauppakeskuskadunylitys.JPG)
It is well documented that a minor increase in speed might greatly increase the likelihood of a crash, and exacerbate resulting casualties. For this reason, the recommended maximum speed is or in residential and high pedestrian traffic areas, with enforced traffic rules on speed limits
and traffic-calming measures.
![Euro-pedestrian traffic light](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Euro-pedestrian_traffic_light.gif)
The design of road and streets plays a key role in pedestrian safety. Roads are too often designed for motorized vehicles, without taking into account pedestrian and bicycle needs. The non-existence of sidewalk and signals increases risk for pedestrians. This defect might more easily be observed on arterial roadways, intersections and fast-speed lanes without adequate attention to pedestrian facilities.
For instance, an assessment of roads in countries from many continents shows that 84% of roads are without pedestrian footpaths, while maximum limited speed is greater than 40 km/h.
Among the factors which reduce road safety for pedestrians are wider lanes, roadway widening, and roadways designed for higher speeds and with increased numbers of traffic lanes.
For this reason, some European cities such as
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...
(Germany) have lowered the speed limit to 30 km/h on 90% of its streets, to reduce risk for its 15 000 people. With such policy, 24% of daily trips are performed by foot, against 28% by bicycles, 20% by public transport and 28% ( See
Zone 30
30 km/h zones (30 kilometres per hour zones) and the similar 20 mph zones (20 miles per hour zones) are forms of speed management used across areas of urban roads in some jurisdictions. The nominal maximum speed limits in these zones ...
)
A similar set of policies to discourage the use of cars and increase safety for pedestrians has been implemented by the Northern European capitals of Oslo and Helsinki. In 2019, this resulted in both cities counting zero pedestrian deaths for the first time.
Seasonality
In Europe, pedestrian fatalities have a seasonal factor, with 6% of annual fatalities occurring in April for 13% (twice more) occurring in December. The rationale for such a change might be complex.
Pedestrian safety in the United States
Pedestrian crashes in the United States
In the US, the number of pedestrians killed increased 27 percent between 2007 and 2016.
[Spotlight on Highway Safety, Governors Highway Safety Association, www.ghsa.org, @GHSAHQ,
Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State, 2017 PRELIMINARY DATA,
Prepared for Governors Highway Safety Association by Richard Retting & Sam Schwartz Consulting] and 46% from 2010 to 2020.
In 2016 and 2017 near 6,000 pedestrians died in a motor vehicle crash. This did not occurred during the previous 25 years according to the GHSA.
Each US state is not equal on the topic of pedestrian fatalities:
* Number of pedestrian fatalities range from one in Hawaii and Wyoming to 352 in California, for the first half of 2017.
* Arizona has the highest rate of pedestrian deaths per resident population (1.61), while Hawaii has the lowest (0.07), during first semester 2017
* New Mexico has highest pedestrian fatality rate (3.45) while Nebraska has the lowest (0.68), in 2016.
* In Michigan, crash data suggests that pedestrian fatalities (mostly at intersections) hit a ten-year high in 2021, rising from 133 in 2012 to 183 in 2021.
Possible cause of the increase of pedestrian fatalities are the decriminalization of the recreational use of marijuana (judgment and reaction time) and increased use of smartphones, source of distraction:
* Seven states (Alaska, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Washington) which legalized marijuana have a 16.4% increase of pedestrian fatalities while other state have a decrease of 5.8%.
* Cell-phone in Emergency Department visits increase with revalence of cell phone use in the United States
State policies for pedestrians in the US
Some states developed 3E policies with enforcement, engineering improvements, and public education, based on evidence-based strategies.
Separation of Pedestrians from Motor Vehicles can be improved with
pedestrian islands,
pavements
Pavement may refer to:
* Pavement (architecture), an outdoor floor or superficial surface covering
* Road surface, the durable surfacing of roads and walkways
** Asphalt concrete, a common form of road surface
* Sidewalk or pavement, a walkway al ...
,
pedestrian overpass
A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...
es or
pedestrian underpass
A subway, also known as an underpass, is a grade-separated pedestrian crossing which crosses underneath a road or railway in order to entirely separate pedestrians and cyclists from motor traffic or trains respectively.
Terminology
In the Un ...
es,
countdown pedestrian signals,
pedestrian hybrid beacons (or
HAWK signal
A HAWK beacon (High-Intensity Activated crossWalK beacon) is a traffic control device used to stop road traffic and allow pedestrians to cross safely. It is officially known as a pedestrian hybrid beacon. The purpose of a HAWK beacon is to allow ...
s).
Pedestrians can be more visible to drivers with Improved
street lighting
A street light, light pole, lamp pole, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or path. Similar lights may be found on a railway platform. When urban electric power distribution ...
, high-visibility crossings, flashing beacons.
Engineering and enforcement measures to reduce speeds with increased space for modes other than motor vehicles,
roundabout
A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The New Shorter Oxford En ...
s,
traffic calming
Traffic calming uses physical design and other measures to improve safety for motorists, pedestrians and bicycle-friendly, cyclists. It has become a tool to combat speeding and other unsafe behaviours of drivers in the neighbourhoods. It aims ...
devices including
speed bump
Speed bumps (also called traffic thresholds, speed breakers or sleeping policemen) are the common name for a class of traffic calming devices that use vertical deflection to slow motor-vehicle traffic in order to improve safety conditions. Varia ...
s or
kerb extension
A curb extension (or also neckdown, kerb extension, bulb-out, bump-out, kerb build-out, nib, elephant ear, curb bulge, curb bulb, or blister) is a traffic calming measure which widens the sidewalk for a short distance. This reduces the crossi ...
,
automated traffic enforcement.
Montana yearly reviews fatalities on high-risk roads and constructs infrastructure improvements (midblock crossing improvements; signal coordination and timing improvements; improved lighting; and improved signing). Il also requires pedestrian issues are considered during a construction project. Montana pedestrian fatalities decrease by 37% between first semesters 2016 end 2017.
Vermont has a ''Vermont Governor’s Highway Safety Program'' since 2015. Vermont pedestrian fatalities decreased by 60% between first semesters 2016 and 2017.
Connecticut DOT is also involved in statewide policy. Connecticut pedestrian fatalities decreased by 35% between first semesters 2016 and 2017.
In California, the California Department of Transportation provides new roundabouts while the Office of Traffic Safety is funds Pedestrian Assessments in cities where many pedestrian crashes occur, based on engineering, education and enforcement strategies. California pedestrian fatalities decreased by 18% between first semesters 2016 and 2017.
In Texas, the
DOT worked on pedestrian issues on
I-35
Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican border ...
in the
Austin area and distributed reflective bags to at-risk groups (homeless population and school children).
Education is also provided for bicycle, pedestrian, children and alcohol.
Texas also relies on engineering with marked pedestrian crossings, pedestrian signals, new pavements, pedestrian islands, and kerb extensions.
Texas pedestrian fatalities decreased by 18% between first semesters 2016 and 2017.
In California, pedestrian-friendly tax rebates were proposed in 2022, which would provide benefits to each car-free individual in a household.
Health benefits and environment
![Pedestrians in Pornainen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Pedestrians_in_Pornainen.jpg)
Regular walking is important both for human health and for the
natural environment
The natural environment or natural world encompasses all life, living and non-living things occurring nature, naturally, meaning in this case not Artificiality, artificial. The term is most often applied to the Earth or some parts of Earth. Th ...
. Frequent exercise such as walking tends to reduce the chance of
obesity
Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...
and related medical problems. In contrast, using a car for short trips tends to contribute both to obesity and via vehicle emissions to climate change:
internal combustion engine
An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal combus ...
s are more inefficient and highly polluting during their first minutes of operation (engine cold start). General availability of
public transportation
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
encourages walking, as it will not, in most cases, take one directly to one's destination.
Unicode
In
Unicode
Unicode, formally The Unicode Standard,The formal version reference is is an information technology Technical standard, standard for the consistent character encoding, encoding, representation, and handling of Character (computing), text expre ...
, the
hexadecimal
In mathematics and computing, the hexadecimal (also base-16 or simply hex) numeral system is a positional numeral system that represents numbers using a radix (base) of 16. Unlike the decimal system representing numbers using 10 symbols, hexa ...
code for "pedestrian" is 1F6B6. In XML and HTML, the string
🚶
produces 🚶.
See also
*
Dérive
The ''dérive'' (, "drift") is a revolutionary strategy originally put forward in the "Theory of the Dérive" (1956) by Guy Debord, a member at the time of the Letterist International. Debord defines the ''dérive'' as "a mode of experimental ...
aimless walking usually through city streets
*
Footpath
A footpath (also pedestrian way, walking trail, nature trail) is a type of thoroughfare that is intended for use only by pedestrians and not other forms of traffic such as motorized vehicles, bicycles and horses. They can be found in a wide ...
*
Jaywalking
Jaywalking is the act of pedestrians walking in or crossing a roadway that has traffic, other than at a designated crossing point, or otherwise, in disregard of traffic rules. The term originated in the United States as a derivation of the phras ...
*
Junior safety patrol
Junior safety patrol is a voluntary group of crossing guards involving older students helping younger students cross streets in elementary and middle schools across the United States. Both the Chicago Motor Club and the St. Paul Police start ...
*
List of U.S. cities with most pedestrian commuters
The following is a list of United States incorporated places with at least 5,000 workers with the 25 highest rates of pedestrian commuting (walking to work) (pedestrian mode share), according to data from the 2019 American Community Survey, 5 year ...
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Pedestrian zone
Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian-only use and in whi ...
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Traffic calming
Traffic calming uses physical design and other measures to improve safety for motorists, pedestrians and bicycle-friendly, cyclists. It has become a tool to combat speeding and other unsafe behaviours of drivers in the neighbourhoods. It aims ...
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Trail ethics
Trail ethics define appropriate ranges of behavior for hikers on a public trail. It is similar to both environmental ethics and human rights in that it deals with the shared interaction of humans and nature. There are multiple agencies and group ...
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Walkability
Walkability is a term for planning concepts best understood by the mixed-use of amenities in high-density neighborhoods where people can access said amenities by foot. It is based on the idea that urban spaces should be more than just transport ...
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Walking audit
A walking audit is an assessment of the walkability or pedestrian access of an external environment. Walking audits are often undertaken in street environments to consider and promote the needs of pedestrians as a form of transport. They can be u ...
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Walking
Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults o ...
References
External links
{{Authority control
Walking
Transport