Measuring the Walkability of a Transit System
The Central Maryland Transportation Alliance recently launched the HowsTheRide.org campaign calling for rider-focused metrics for the Five Basics of great public transportation. The Five Basics are the five qualities that rise to the top when riders are surveyed or when analysts determine what will influence ridership: speed, frequency, reliability, access to destinations, and walkability. Improve them and ridership and customer satisfaction will grow.
On HowsTheRide.org, the Transportation Alliance reviews what MTA is currently doing to measure each of the Five Basics, if anything. We also explore what else could be done with currently available data, that isn’t being done. For most of the Five Basics, that means pulling data from the MTA and other public-sector sources together in one place, and looking at it from a different angle. Walkability, however, posed a special challenge; it’s not clear what currently-available data set approximates the concept of walkability for the first and last mile of a trip otherwise made using public transportation.
We collaborated with Dr. Celeste Chavis to analyze the walkability of the areas around bus and train stops in greater Baltimore. We realized that what we were really trying to do was to measure something like a Walk Score, not of a neighborhood or City, but of a transit system. Walk Score is a popular tool that has been used for years, first in the real estate industry, and now in a wide variety of applications, to provide a measure of the walkability of a place. To our knowledge, it’s the only such measure that’s widely used, and has been subjected to and survived academic peer review. Despite the widespread use of Walk Score, we could not find an analysis of the walkability specifically around the stops in a mass transit network.
After contacting Walk Score, we determined that walkability for the transit system could be measured if we compiled the longitude and latitude for each bus stop and train station in the MTA system. After sending that information to Walk Score, we were able to purchase the Walk Score, Bike Score and Transit Score data for each location, and then analyze those data sets.
Walk Score measures walkability by measuring walk distances from specific locations (points on the map) to destinations in categories like restaurants, stores, libraries, etc. and by factoring in population density, block length, and intersection density.
There are 4,622 mass transit stops (bus stops and train stations) in the MTA system. That includes MTA local bus, Central Light Rail, Metro Subway (in Baltimore), Commuter Bus, and MARC commuter rail. Over 90 percent of the stops are in the MTA core service area (Baltimore City and parts of Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties), 3 percent are in Washington, D.C. (all MTA Commuter Bus stops), the rest are in 10 additional Maryland counties from Washington to Queen Anne’s, Cecil to St. Mary’s.
We found that people can walk to and from public transportation stops quite comfortably in Baltimore City, but less so in Anne Arundel and Baltimore Counties. We used a trip-weighted average so stops where buses or trains stop frequently count more than stops with infrequent service. In Baltimore City 67 percent of stops are rated either Very Walkable or Walker’s Paradise by Walk Score. By contrast only 27 percent of stops in Baltimore County and 18 percent of stops in Anne Arundel County meet that standard.
We think this analysis points to missed opportunities, policies that if pursued would help local jurisdictions get more benefit from the public transportation services they already have.
One missed opportunity is a greater focus on Complete Streets. Complete streets is a design philosophy that calls for streets, sidewalks, intersections, and other public rights-of-way to be safe and inviting for all people and all road users. This philosophy drives the shift from the single-occupant vehicle to other modes, like buses, bikes, and trains. More funding and more forward-thinking Complete Streets policies improve the walkability of existing streets.
Another missed opportunity is transit-oriented development (TOD). TOD is a planning approach that calls for high-density, mixed-use business and/or neighborhood centers to be located near mass transit stations or stops. TOD projects subsidize other residential development in that they generate more in revenues for their jurisdictions than they cost in public services provided to their residents and employees. The best opportunities for TOD tend to be properties around rail stations due to the perceived permanence of the mass transit infrastructure, and around stations where high frequency, round-the-clock transit service operates. However, Complete Streets policies, especially transit design guidelines like those suggested by NACTO, should be used to establish a TOD-mindset system-wide.
The low walk scores around light rail and Metro subway stations in Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties indicate that neither jurisdiction has used planning, zoning, and capital programming to encourage TOD around its transit assets. The notable exception is Owings Mills in Baltimore County where recent conversion of the parking lot around the Metro Subway station to a TOD including apartments, retail, a public library and a unit of the Community College of Baltimore County. According to Walk Score most errands for a person located at the Owings Mills metro station would still require a car. Further build out of the TOD should increase the score.
Another potential missed opportunity is providing safe, comfortable walking options where bus stops and train stations are located near employment centers. We know from previous interviews with employers and surveys of employees, that workers can get close to employment centers outside of Baltimore City by bus or train, but have difficulty walking from the transit vehicle to the place of work.
In doing this analysis we wanted to evaluate the areas around public transportation stops because walkability is important to riders and influences decisions about whether to use public transportation or another mode. Most people begin and/or end a mass transit trip by walking.
Local jurisdictions can make the MTA system more useful for their residents by programming capital improvements and designating zoning to make the areas around bus stops and train stations more walkable. That could include building sidewalks, adding crosswalks, and reconfiguring intersections. It could also include using zoning overlays or a transit-oriented development designation to allow for and encourage employers, stores and services to locate within a comfortable walk from a mass transit stop. And it could include adopting and implementing a complete streets program.
