Creating Neighborhood Walkability Metrics that Represent the Needs of Older People: Developing Appropriate Infrastructure and Policy Interventions

The proposed research has three overarching goals; to: 1) synthesize the most useful and powerful metrics in multiple walkability indices that directly address the needs and perceptions of older people; 2) develop a typology of shortened but more focused and powerful walkability metrics that allow planners and communities to effectively identify the barriers that actual impede walkability in a significant ways, and, 3) link the metrics to specific infrastructure and policy alternatives known to directly address or target the barriers identified. The major focus of the work is on distilling the significant and meaningful walkability metrics and indices of direct relevance to older people from a large and unwieldy body of scholarly and professional literature AND to assess what is actually known about infrastructure and policy improvements that target the problems or gaps or barriers that the metrics identify. A key piece of the research involves conducting multiple focus groups with diverse older people in the greater Austin – San Antonio region to understand to which elements they give priority. The research will then link the most crucial metrics of the physical and social environment to specific policy and infrastructure improvements; where there is not enough knowledge to suggest intervention, the research will identify potential options and explain what is known about the situations where they might be effective and how they work to increase both actual and perceived walkability among older residents.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $ 38101
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3551747135

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Department of Transportation

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  Department of Transportation
  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  University Transportation Centers Program

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Department of Transportation

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  Department of Transportation
  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  University Transportation Centers Program

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  Stearns, Amy

• Performing Organizations:

  Cooperative Mobility for Competitive Megaregions (CM2)

  University of Texas at Austin
  Austin, TX  United States  78712
• Principal Investigators:

  Rosenbloom, Sandra

• Start Date: 20180601
• Expected Completion Date: 20190531
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aged; Focus groups; Infrastructure; Metrics (Quantitative assessment); Neighborhoods; Policy; Walkability
• Geographic Terms: Austin (Texas); San Antonio (Texas)
• Subject Areas: Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; Policy;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01651014
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Cooperative Mobility for Competitive Megaregions (CM2)
• Contract Numbers: 69A3551747135
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Nov 17 2017 4:44PM