 | This article needs to be updated.(February 2021) |
The International charter for walking is an initiative undertaken by 'Walk21' [1] to encourage walking in urban areas for benefits to health, the environment and the economy. [2]
| This article needs to be updated.(February 2021) |
The International charter for walking is an initiative undertaken by 'Walk21' [1] to encourage walking in urban areas for benefits to health, the environment and the economy. [2]
"Walking is convenient, it needs no special equipment, is self-regulating and inherently safe. Walking is as natural as breathing."
John Butcher, Founder of 'Walk21', 1999
"Few arguments can be put forward against inviting people to walk as much as possible in their cities. It's good for the cities, the air, the resources and the people."
Jan Gehl, participant at the London Conference, 2000
"Cities cannot give in to the endless demands of vehicles. We must recover the environment, adopt initiatives to discourage and reduce the abusive use of the car and promote walking, cycling and public transport."
Odón Elorza, Mayor of Donostia-San Sebastián 2001
A sidewalk, pavement, footpath in Australia, India, New Zealand and Ireland, or footway, is a path along the side of a road. Usually constructed of concrete, pavers, brick, stone, or asphalt, it is designed for pedestrians. A sidewalk is normally higher than the roadway, and separated from it by a kerb. There may also be a planted strip between the sidewalk and the roadway and between the roadway and the adjacent land.
Bicycle-friendly policies and practices help some people feel more comfortable about traveling by bicycle with other traffic. The level of bicycle-friendliness of an environment can be influenced by many factors including town planning and cycling infrastructure decisions. A stigma towards people who ride bicycles and fear of cycling is a social construct that needs to be fully understood when promoting a bicycle friendly culture.
Utility cycling encompasses any cycling done simply as a means of transport rather than as a sport or leisure activity. It is the original and most common type of cycling in the world. Cycling mobility is one of the various types of private transport and a major part of individual mobility.
On car-free days, people are encouraged to travel by means other than cars. Some cities, like Jakarta and Tehran, have weekly car-free days. Other such days are annual. World Car Free Day is celebrated on September 22. Organized events are held in some cities and countries.
The car-free movement is a broad, informal, emergent network of individuals and organizations, including social activists, urban planners, transportation engineers, environmentalists and others, brought together by a shared belief that large and/or high-speed motorized vehicles are too dominant in most modern cities. The goal of the movement is to create places where motorized vehicle use is greatly reduced or eliminated, by converting road and parking space to other public uses and rebuilding compact urban environments where most destinations are within easy reach by other means, including walking, cycling, public transport, personal transporters, and mobility as a service.
Safety in numbers is the hypothesis that, by being part of a large physical group or mass, an individual is less likely to be the victim of a mishap, accident, attack, or other bad event. Some related theories also argue that mass behaviour can reduce accident risks, such as in traffic safety – in this case, the safety effect creates an actual reduction of danger, rather than just a redistribution over a larger group.
Sustainable transport refers to ways of transportation that are sustainable in terms of their social and environmental impacts. Components for evaluating sustainability include the particular vehicles used for road, water or air transport; the source of energy; and the infrastructure used to accommodate the transport. Transport operations and logistics as well as transit-oriented development are also involved in evaluation. Transportation sustainability is largely being measured by transportation system effectiveness and efficiency as well as the environmental and climate impacts of the system. Transport systems have significant impacts on the environment, accounting for between 20% and 25% of world energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. The majority of the emissions, almost 97%, came from direct burning of fossil fuels. In 2019, about 95% of the fuel came from fossil sources. The main source of greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union is transportation. In 2019 it contributes to about 31% of global emissions and 24% of emissions in the EU. In addition, up to the COVID-19 pandemic, emissions have only increased in this one sector. Greenhouse gas emissions from transport are increasing at a faster rate than any other energy using sector. Road transport is also a major contributor to local air pollution and smog.
Cycling advocacy consists of activities that call for, promote or enable increased adoption and support for cycling and improved safety and convenience for cyclists, usually within urbanized areas or semi-urban regions. Issues of concern typically include policy, administrative and legal changes ; advocating and establishing better cycling infrastructure ; public education regarding the health, transportational and environmental benefits of cycling for both individuals and communities, cycling and motoring skills; and increasing public and political support for bicycling.
Active living is a lifestyle that integrates physical activity into everyday routines, such as walking to the store or biking to work. Active living is not a formalized exercise program or routine, but instead means to incorporate physical activity, which is defined as any form of movement, into everyday life. Active living brings together urban planners, architects, transportation engineers, public health professionals, activists and other professionals to build places that encourage active living and physical activity. One example includes efforts to build sidewalks, crosswalks, pedestrian crossing signals, and other ways for children to walk safely to and from school, as seen in the Safe Routes to School program. Recreational opportunities close to the home or workplace, walking trails, and bike lanes for transportation also contribute to a more active lifestyle. Active living includes any physical activity or recreation activity and contributes to a healthier lifestyle. Furthermore, active living addresses health concerns, such as obesity and chronic disease, by helping people have a physically active lifestyle. Communities that support active living gain health benefits, economic advantages, and improved quality of life.
A greenway is usually a shared-use path along a strip of undeveloped land, in an urban or rural area, set aside for recreational use or environmental protection. Greenways are frequently created out of disused railways, canal towpaths, utility or similar rights of way, or derelict industrial land. Greenways also can also be linear parks, and can serve as wildlife corridors. The path's surface may be paved and often serves multiple users: walkers, runners, bicyclists, skaters and hikers. A characteristic of greenways, as defined by the European Greenways Association, is "ease of passage": that is that they have "either low or zero gradient", so that they can be used by all "types of users, including mobility impaired people".
A bicycle boulevard, sometimes referred to as a neighborhood greenway, neighborway, neighborhood bikeway or neighborhood byway is a type of bikeway composed of a low-speed street which has been "optimized" for bicycle traffic. Bicycle boulevards discourage cut-through motor-vehicle traffic but allow local motor-vehicle traffic. They are designed to give priority to bicyclists as through-going traffic. They are intended as a low-cost, politically popular way to create a connected network of streets with good bicyclist comfort and/or safety.
Velo-city is a series of cycle planning conferences that started in 1980 in Bremen. The name Velo-city is a small play on word using the French for bicycle – vélo, and Velo-city can also be read as velocity or speed. European Cyclists’ Federation owns the series name, and the ECF Board is the decision-making body for Velo-city.
Walkability is a term for planning concepts best understood by the mixed-use of amenities in high-density neighborhoods where people can access said amenities by foot. It is based on the idea that urban spaces should be more than just transport corridors designed for maximum vehicle throughput. Instead, it should be relatively complete livable spaces that serve a variety of uses, users, and transportation modes and reduce the need for cars for travel.
Permeability or connectivity describes the extent to which urban forms permit movement of people or vehicles in different directions. The terms are often used interchangeably, although differentiated definitions also exist. Permeability is generally considered a positive attribute of an urban design, as it permits ease of movement and avoids severing neighbourhoods. Urban forms which lack permeability, e.g. those severed by arterial roads, or with many long culs-de-sac, are considered to discourage movement on foot and encourage longer journeys by car. There is some empirical research evidence to support this view.
Cycling in New Zealand, while relatively popular as a sport, is a very marginal commuting mode, with the share hovering around 1–3% in most major cities. This is due to a number of factors, principally safety fears.
Montreal is a city located in Quebec, Canada and is one of the transportation hubs for eastern Canada and most of Quebec, with well-developed air, road, rail, and maritime links to the rest of Canada, as well as the United States and the rest of the world.
Active mobility, soft mobility, active travel, active transport or active transportation is the transport of people or goods, through non-motorized means, based around human physical activity. The best-known forms of active mobility are walking and cycling, though other modes include running, rowing, skateboarding, kick scooters and roller skates. Due to its prevalence, cycling is sometimes considered separately from the other forms of active mobility.
The NZ Cycling Conference is a series of cycle planning conferences started in 1997 in Hamilton. Since 2001, the conference series has a biennial schedule. The conferences are one of the key ways of exchanging expertise about planning and design for cycling in New Zealand. Starting in 2012, the scope of the conference includes both walking and cycling, by combining the previous Living Streets Aotearoa biennial NZ Walking Conference series, and was rebranded "2WALKandCYCLE". The most recent conference was held in Palmerston North in July–August 2018.
Green urbanism has been defined as the practice of creating communities beneficial to humans and the environment. According to Timothy Beatley, it is an attempt to shape more sustainable places, communities and lifestyles, and consume less of the world's resources. Urban areas are able to lay the groundwork of how environmentally integrated and sustainable city planning can both provide and improve environmental benefits on the local, national, and international levels. Green urbanism is interdisciplinary, combining the collaboration of landscape architects, engineers, urban planners, ecologists, transport planners, physicists, psychologists, sociologists, economists and other specialists in addition to architects and urban designers.
Cycling in the United States is a minor sport in the country. It is also a mode of transport, particularly in urban areas.