Assessing the Statewide Environment for Pedestrians and Cyclists

Active transportation is an important but underutilized mode of transport in the US. Road design is related to the amount of walking and cycling that takes places in certain street segments. Currently, numerous policy initiatives including Safe Routes to School and Complete Streets are attempting to improve pedestrian and cycling infrastructure and “friendliness”. However, no state has a surveillance system to directly measure the walkability and bikeability of its streets. In this study, we used Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to randomly select a representative sample of street segments across the state of Hawaii and then completed direct objective assessment of these segments using the Pedestrian Environmental Data Scan (PEDS). A total of 321 segments were audited and inter-rater reliability was adequate across all measures. Streets segments were coded as high (42.4%) or low volume (57.6%) depending on the intended amount of traffic. Most high volume street segments had sidewalks (66%). These sidewalks were usually in good condition, contiguous, had traffic control devices and pedestrian signals. Most low volume street segments did not have sidewalks (63.4%). Those that did were in poorer condition, were less likely to have curb cuts and were more likely to be obstructed. Cycling facilities were limited (> 10%) across all segments. Rural neighbor islands were less likely to have pedestrian amenities than Honolulu County. This study provides a baseline surveillance survey for assessing the walkability and bikeability of roads in Hawai‘i. Future studies can assess changes in these facets related to policies, spending and other initiatives.