Using Walkability and Bikeability Checklists

The checklists, available for download to the right, provide a way to easily record problems and see both immediate and long-term solutions. They can also be used to share information with school and community leaders and media. Consider the following advice from other users:

View and download

Give out lots of checklists

Duplicate checklists and distribute them to adults and children participating in a Walk to School event or other activity related to safe walking and biking. Even if a program does nothing else, this will build awareness of where there are problems or what the community may need to do to become more walkable.

Give them to everybody

Make certain that school administrators, public officials, and the media get checklists, too. Suggest that the local newspaper print a version before the International Walk to School event.

Recruit, don't alienate, public officials

Ask the police, traffic engineers, and department of public works to take part, and get their opinions. They can be the greatest allies in creating solutions.

Note problem areas

Urge children and adults to fill in checklists, especially noting the locations of things that would discourage walking or biking. Take disposable cameras on the route and document possible pedestrian or bicyclist hazards.

Collect checklists and collate results

Especially try to find specific locations or issues that were noted by substantial numbers of participants and list these. Involve students in reading checklists and tabulating and summarizing results.

Prioritize problems

Not everything can be fixed at once. But a prioritized list is a great place to begin. A first step might be to list the problems that have come up most in the walkability checklists, and discuss which seem to be the most important. Rank the problems first according to which would positively affect the most kids if they could be fixed. Then rank them according to which seem easiest to fix. Initially target the low cost, high impact solutions for the community to take action right away.

For more information visit www.saferoutesinfo.org/guide.