Transport Walkability Index

The Transport Walkability Index is a relative indicator of how well the built environment in
different areas supports walking for transport. The index is frequently used in physical
activity research and has been validated against walking behaviours.

The Transport Walkability Index can be calculated for geographical areas of interest (e.g.
census areas, neighbourhoods) and has three components: dwelling density, street
connectivity, and land use mix. Dwelling density is the density of residential dwellings in a
given area. Higher dwelling densities are more walkable because a denser population means
there are likely more destinations to walk to in the area. Street connectivity assesses how
easy it is to walk from place to place and is measured by the density of intersections in a
given area. Areas with higher street connectivity are more walkable for two reasons.
Distances between destinations along the road network are typically shorter, and there is
more route choice within a journey. The Transport Walkability Index land use mix measure
is the balance of diverse types of land use in an area (e.g., retail, residential, commercial,
community, recreation). A greater mix of land use is seen as being supporting walking
behaviours because it indicates a greater variety of destinations available to walk to.

How was the Transport Walkability Index calculated?

The Transport Walkability Index was calculated for SA1s (areas of approximately 400
residents) in Metropolitan Melbourne using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The
three components were equally weighted in the index. A detailed description of the
methods can be found in the short report: How Walkable is Melbourne? The Development of
a Transport Walkability Index For Metropolitan Melbourne (Giles-Corti et al., 2014).

Frequently asked questions about how the Transport Walkability Index was calculated are
answered below.

How was land use mix calculated in multistorey developments, and why are some land types
considered more important that others?

The GIS analyses require a single land use for each parcel. Where there are multiple land
uses in a single parcel (e.g., a building with a shop on the bottom storey, and apartments
above) a single land use was selected based on the following priority: retail, commercial,
community, recreation (excluding public open space), residential, and other. The priority
was determined by a panel of experts who considered the likelihood of the land use being
treated as a destination to walk to.

Are footpaths (especially good quality and well maintained footpaths) included in the Index?
(and if not, why not?)

While the presence, quality and maintenance of footpaths are important aspects of
walkability they are not included in the Transport Walkability Index due to footpath data
being unavailable across Metropolitan Melbourne Additionally many residential areas in
Metropolitan Melbourne are reasonably well-serviced by footpaths.

Is traffic volume or speed included in the Index calculations?

Are public transport stops included in the calculations?
Are pedestrian traffic signals and controlled crossings included in the calculations?
Are pedestrian amenities (e.g., seats, toilets) included in the calculations?
Is safety or street lighting included in the Index?
Is slope included in the Index?
Are the aesthetics or the visual appeal of an area included in the Index calculations?

The Transport Walkability Index incorporates fundamentals of the built environment that
need to be in place to support walking: having something to walk to (land use mix, density),
and a street network that supports walking (connectivity). Traffic (speed and volume), public
transport, pedestrian traffic signals, safety, street lighting, slope and aesthetics, while
important for walking, are not likely to matter if there is nowhere to walk to and nothing to
walk on.

However, we acknowledge that the built environment characteristics listed above can also
contribute to the walkability of an area. They were not included in the index for a number of
reasons: 1) lack of data, 2) lack of a methodology to calculate /include these measures, 3)
lack of validation against walking behaviour, and 4) lack of resources to collect data and
develop measures.

Increased availability of consistent data on the above aspects of the built environment could
help researchers create improved walkability indices that better account for all aspects of
the environment that influence walking.

What is the difference between walkability and accessibility?

Walkability relates to how different characteristics of a place support walking. Whereas

spatial accessibility refers to how easy it is to get to one place from another place via
different modes of travel (including walking). If people are trying to get to a destination
that is, walking for transport - increased spatial accessibility to certain types of destinations
can make places more walkable and increased walkability can make places more accessible.
However, when people are walking for recreation, access to destinations may be less
important.

Two f the three components of the walkability index - street connectivity and land use mix -
are directly related to accessibility. Increased street connectivity often results in shorter
distances between destinations and therefore is associated with increased spatial
accessibility. Land use mix is a measure of different destinations and a higher land use mix
score means that different types of destinations are closer to each other and therefore
more accessible to each other.
What is the difference between the Transport Walkability Index and Walk Score?

Walk Score (www.walkscore.com) is a popular measure of walkability that provides a

number between 0 and 100 for any address. Walk Score is based on distances to
amenities, population density and road metrics, however the methods for calculating the
score are not available for public scrutiny. Both Walk Score and the Transport Walkability
Index are useful measures of walkability and both assess three important components of
walkability by having: 1) destinations to walk to, 2) a dense enough population to support
the viability of the destinations, 3) and a connected road network that minimises the
distance to destinations. However, each approach has different strengths and weaknesses
and differences between the measures are summarised in the table below.

Walk Score Transport Walkability Index

Destinations Distance to destinations Land use mix
Density Population density Dwelling density
Road metrics Block length, intersection Intersection density
density (for example)
Relative or Absolute Absolute (value from 0 Relative (deciles)
measure? 100)
Clearly defined area No Yes
Transparent methodology No Yes

To illustrate the difference between WalkScore and the Transport Walkability index, imagine
we are interested in the walkability of Carlton, Melbourne. The first thing to note is that
WalkScore calculates walkability for an address entered and the address can be at a range of
scales. Entering Melbourne in the WalkScore website produces a score of 57, while
Carlton results in a score of 98 and 8 Little Elgin St, Carlton produces a score of 99.
However, we do not know the extent of the spatial areas measured with WalkScore. We
know that WalkScore calculates distance to destinations, but unless we enter the exact
address we do not know where the distance is calculated from. In comparison, the
Transport Walkability Index is calculated for a clearly defined area, e.g. an SA1.

What can I use the Transport Walkability Index for?

Comparing relative walkability across areas.

An evidence source that can test proposed developments prior to development in an
area
An advocacy tool
A research tool

What should I be aware of when using the Transport Walkability Index?

The results are relative. The Transport Walkability Index only indicates which areas are more
or less walkable when compared with other areas. There is no optimal score. Results can
vary when the Transport Walkability Index is calculated in slightly different ways. The index
is only as good as the data used to calculate it. Decisions made when calculating the
Transport Walkability Index can change the results, however, in general it is generated using
three stable inputs (ie street connectivity, dwelling, land use mix) which do not change
rapidly across time, as such, this definition of the Transport Walkability Index can be relied
upon as a general measure of Transport Walkability for the short run in the absence of
major infrastructure changes.

What geographic scale is the Transport Walkability Index available at?

The Transport Walkability Index is available for SA1s.

Are results available for country Victoria?

The Transport Walkability Index is currently only available for Metropolitan Melbourne and
the North West Metropolitan region. Transport Walkability Indices for Regional Centres are
under development. The index will not be calculated for other areas as it is an urban tool
and does not make sense when calculated for regional and rural areas.

What are the strengths and limitations of the Transport Walkability Index?

Strengths:

Validated against walking behaviours in many studies worldwide.

Able to be calculated using routine and readily available data.
Transparent methodology
Ability to interrogate the components of the index
Can be updated easily when additional spatial data become available
There are opportunities for making the index more sophisticated when better data
become available
Provides an easy to interpret, relative measure that is useful for comparing across
regions.

Limitations:

A relative measure of walkability. Therefore there is no single value that means an

area is walkable or not walkable. This also means that the index only makes sense
when it is calculated for a number of areas. (also a strength)
Does not include some aspects of the built environment that are likely to be
important for walking.
Not available beyond Metropolitan Melbourne at this stage.
While street connectivity is relatively stable, dwelling density and land use mix can
change over time, therefore the index represents a single point in time. (Also a
strength)
 The data for the three components of the index are as closely matched in time as
possible, but there are some discrepancies i.e. VGO land use (2010), dwelling density
(2011), connectivity (2012)

How do I download the Transport Walkability Index for my area?

Maps of the Transport Walkability Index by Local Government Area (LGA) are available
from: Community Indicators Victoria
http://www.communityindicators.net.au/walkability_for_transport

References

Giles-Corti, B., Mavoa, S., Eagleson, S., Davern, M., Roberts B., Badland, H.M., (2014)
Transport Walkability Index: Melbourne. McCaughey VicHealth Centre for Community
Wellbeing, Melbourne: The University of Melbourne.