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How many people walk? Why do people walk? How many pedestrians are killed and injured each year? Who is involved in pedestrian crashes? What is the economic cost of crashes involving pedestrians? What is the potential to increase walking? How safe do people feel walking? FHWA Obligations for Bicycle and Pedestrian projects Random Numbers How many people walk? In the 1990 United States Census, the percentage of journeys to work by foot was reported at 3.9 percent, or 4,488,886 people walking to work. More than one in ten of those pedestrian commuters was in the New York City metro area. http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/journey/usmode90.txt Areas with more than 10 percent of journeys to work by foot in 1990 The 1995 Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey, which covers trips of all kinds, 5.4 percent of trips were by walking. This represents 56 million daily walk trips covering 20 billion miles for the year. http://www-cta.ornl.gov/npts/1995/Doc/trends_report.pdf top of page Why do people walk? The Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey in 1995 reports the following trip purposes:
A research study commissioned by Rodale Press, also in 1995, asked adults why they walked. top of page How many pedestrians are killed and injured each year? In 1999, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/ncsa/pdf/PedCycle99.pdf reports that 4906 pedestrians were killed in crashes with motor vehicles and 85,000 were injured. These numbers represent almost 12 percent of the total number of people killed and injured in traffic crashes. The number of fatalities and injuries in recent years has been:
Note - a significant number of pedestrian crashes requiring emergency room treatment are not included in these reported fatalities and injuries. top of page Who is involved in pedestrian crashes? In 1999, more than two-thirds (70 percent) of pedestrians killed in crashes with motor vehicles were male. Most fatalities occur in urban areas (69%) at nonintersection locations (79%), in normal weather conditions (90%), and at night (65%). Almost one quarter of all traffic fatalities for the 5-9 age group (24%) and the 0-4 age group (22%) were pedestrians. http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/ncsa/pdf/Ped99.pdf top of page What is the economic cost of crashes involving pedestrians? The Federal Highway Administration estimates that the economic cost of each person killed in a traffic crash to be $3,368,615 (1999 dollars). Multiplying this number by the 4906 pedestrians killed in 1999 totals a staggering $16.5 billion. (Source: The Costs of Highway Crashes, 1991.) http://www.fhwa.dot.gov//////legsregs/directives/techadvs/t75702.htm The study also calculates the costs per crash for selected crash types. In 1999 dollars, the cost per crash involving a pedestrian was $399,000. Multiplying this number by the 85,000 reported injury crashes in 1999 totals $34 billion. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has a similar report documenting the costs of crashes, but does not include the cost of “pain, suffering and lost quality of life” in their calculation. NHTSA estimates the cost of a fatality to be $933,000 and a serious injury to be $790,000. http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/economic/ecosummary.html top of page What is the potential to increase walking? In 1995, Parkwood Research Associates conducted a survey for Rodale Press in which respondents were asked what their current primary means of travel was, and “all things being equal, and if good facilities for each existed, which of these means would you prefer the most”? The percentage of people bicycling and walking rose from 5 percent to 13 percent while the percentage of people driving alone fell from 76 percent to 56 percent. (Source: Pathways for People, Rodale Press) top of page How safe do people feel walking? The Omnibus Survey completed for the Bureau of Transportation Statistics in August 2000 asked all respondents how safe they felt using different modes of transport. When asked how safe they felt "As a pedestrian in or near traffic”, the answers were:
“Driving
or riding on the nation's highways”, the answers were: How much has been spent by the Federal Government on improving conditions for walking? In the years before passage of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, Federal spending on bicycling and walking facilities was approximately $4-6 million per annum. Since then, spending of Federal funds by States has grown to more $296 million in FY 2000. FHWA
Obligations for Bicycle and Pedestrian projects, millions of dollars
top of page Nationwide Personal Transportation SurveyThe average commute trip (for all modes) has increased from 8.5 miles in 1983 to 11.6 miles in 1995; but 44 percent of commute trips are still five miles or lessMore than 82 percent of trips five miles or less are made by car, passenger van, SUV, pick-up truck or other truck/RV. 8.5 percent of trips five miles or less are made by foot (and 99.81 percent of walking trips are five miles or less). Approximately 75 percent of trips one mile or less are made by motor vehicle. 8 million households have no access to a car. 19 million households have three or more vehicles. Support for bicycling and walkingA 1997 survey of US voters found strong support for Federal funding for bicycling. The survey, by Lake, Sosin, Snell and Associates for the Bikes Belong! campaign found that:64 percent of voters support using money from Federal gasoline taxes for things like bike trails, bike lanes and sidewalks; 25 percent strongly support this. Even a majority of those who do not ride bikes support this statement. 79 percent of voters described as convincing the message that bike trails and lanes are important to creating safe communities for our children, including 46 percent who found this very convincing. 37 percent of voters volunteered that safety concerns were the most important reason for funding bike trails and lanes. A 1994 survey of house-buying preferences, by American Lives, Inc., found that 74 percent of home buyers said the presence of walking and biking trails is very or extremely important in their choice of location. This answer was fourth, behind Quiet, low traffic area at 93 percent, designed with cul-de-sac streets, circles and courts at 77 percent, and lots of natural, open space at 77 percent. A national survey on growth and land development, commissioned by the Surface Transportation Policy Project in September 2000, found that 77 percent of the population either strongly or somewhat favors using part of State transportation budgets to create more sidewalks and stop signs in communities, to make it safer and easier for children to walk to school even if this means less money to build new highways. top of page © Copyright 2001 Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center search | map | contact | links | about the center |