July 18, 2003, #10

Let's Walk & Roll

Walking is for Everyone

Walking is an ageless mode of transportation. It is the most important aspect of our transportation system; even when we drive, we become pedestrians as soon as we step out of our car. As a person gets older, walking becomes more important to keeping connections alive in the community, in addition to promoting good health.

As we age – which we all must – our reflexes and responses change. For city planners, who design our streets and streetscapes, and as motorists, who present the greatest danger to pedestrians, it is important to be attentive to senior walking issues. We must be alert in order to ensure that our community is safe for our parents and grandparents to walk.

Older people, and those with physical limitations, may hesitate slightly longer when starting to cross a street, and often require more time to cross due to their slower pace. Depending on how long the walk signal is green or flashing, there may not be adequate time to comfortably cross a busy street.

Increasing the duration of “walk” signals, setting walk signals for an “early release,” which gives pedestrians a brief “walk” signal before the traffic light changes to green, and installing island refuges at the mid-point of wider streets are a few methods that can enhance the walking experience. And these cause minimal deterioration to the driving environment!

Alameda senior Bettye Stratton offered an important perspective that reminds us to be more attentive and mindful of the challenges that seniors experience.

“I am frequently looking down watching for broken sidewalks or rough spots to avoid stumbling. This slows us down and limits our range to see what’s going on around us,” she said.

The Federal Highway Administration in its “Older Driver Highway Design Handbook” recommends that “pedestrian control signal timing be based on an assumed walking speed of 2.8 feet per second to accommodate the shorter stride and slower gait of older pedestrians, and their exaggerated start-up time before leaving the curb.”

Now compare that with the recommended “reasonable walking speed of 4 feet per second” in the “Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways” (the bible of traffic planning). That’s 42% faster than most seniors travel! [The city has already installed 2 pedestrian signals with longer walk times, Otis/Park and Atlantic/Webster].

Stratton also mentioned that she always carries a folding cane in her tote bag and uses it when crossing any street as “drivers treat you differently when you are using a cane. It frightens me to cross a street without it, even at a lighted intersection as you don’t know what the cars are going to do.”

“As we get older, our hearing isn’t as good, and when bicyclists and skaters don’t call out, and just go whizzing by we get startled and thrown off balance,” said Stratton. The comment highlights the need for all road users to act respectfully and responsibly.

No matter how one gets around, it’s important to remember that we are all interacting within a large system that has many different users. We rely on each other to follow the accepted “rules of the road” even when it may cause a short delay of a few seconds. In the end, it works better for everyone.

Whether you are 8 or 80, being outside and breathing in the fresh air on a walk around the block, a stroll to the neighborhood shopping area, or a sprightly jaunt is invigorating and a wonderful connection with the community around you. With increased thoughtfulness, each of us can make walking more pleasant for our senior residents (as well as everyone else).

Jeff Swatman is the Alameda Police Department Traffic Sergeant. If you have questions regarding pedestrian/bicycle safety, please call him at 748-4508 extension 3342. John Knox White and Audrey Lord-Hausman work with Pedestrian Friendly Alameda (www.pedfriendly.org) and BikeAlameda (www.bikealameda.org).

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