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Pedestrian Infrastructure and Youth
The lack of decent pedestrian infrastructure affects youth in many
ways. They can't play in the street the way their parents or
grandparents
did. They can't get many places without a ride from
someone else. And they don't get as much exercise as they should
because they spend so much time in a car or inside their homes. In
fact, Californian youth make almost 75 % of their trips in cars.[1]
While some of this is due to spread-out destinations, it is also
related to the lack of safe and convenient walking routes.
The lack of good pedestrian infrastructure also affects parents, who
worry about their children getting hit while walking or playing on the
street. These fears are well founded--youth under 18 are more likely
to be injured as pedestrians than other age groups, and children 5-9
years old are at the highest risk of injury of all age groups.[2]
These fears also affect safety around schools. In the 1970s,
two-thirds of US children walked to school. Currently, less than 10 %
walk to school. More parents driving their kids to school makes the
streets around schools congested and dangerous. In fact, 20 to 25 % of
morning traffic is due to parents driving their children to school,
and 50 % of kids hit by cars near schools are hit by parents of other
students.[3] See our Safe Routes
to School tool for more information on how to address safety
issues around schools.
Walkable streets enable youth to be more independent and get places
without needing a ride, to play on sidewalks and local streets, to
learn how to negotiate situations and be responsible and safe, and to
be physically active and healthy.
1 Caltrans, 2000-2001 California Statewide Household Travel Survey, cited in "Can't Get There from
Here," STPP, TALC and LIF, p.2
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