Use of Active Transportation in Jackson 2005 Next Page Charts&Tables Fitness Council Home
In August 2005, the Fitness Council of Jackson conducted an observational survey to obtain a rough estimate of the number of people walking, running, biking, and using other forms of active transportation in Jackson on a typical good weather day. This survey is part of the Project U-Turn initiative. Project U-Turn is a five year program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and lead by Jackson’s Walkable Communities Task Force.
Multiple surveys involving vehicle traffic counts and pedestrian counts for crosswalks have been completed in Jackson, but no surveys that take a “snapshot” of active transportation use throughout the city have been conducted. This type of observational survey is important to get an estimate of active transportation that is “real time” and not based on scattered observations, participation in special events or self-report individual surveys about use of active transportation. These latter types of surveys rely on self-reported answers or isolated incidents that can’t be broadened to represent the whole city. By conducting this survey in a measurable and repeatable manner, active transportation can be tracked through years and changes in the layout of the city. The results of the survey can also serve to measure the success of the various groups in Jackson promoting active transportation, recreation, and helmet use.
A total of 1,028 people were seen using active transportation in Jackson throughout the length of the survey, which represents the approximate number of active travelers for all ten locations for one day. Across all locations and time periods 55% of active travelers used walking and 39% used biking around town. Biking was the mode of choice for those under 20 while walking was preferred by adults over 20. Volunteer data collectors were instructed to record whether bicyclists they saw were using the road, bike lane, or sidewalk for travel. Of the 397 bicyclists recorded during the survey 71% used the sidewalk for travel regardless of whether a bike lane was present. For bicyclists observed, volunteers also recorded that only 8% were wearing a helmet.
The use of active transportation is a visible part of Jackson at each of the locations surveyed and several of the findings will be helpful both in prioritizing money for future projects and design education campaigns to encourage active transportation and safety.
Walking and biking were by far the most popular forms of active transportation. Francis Street was observed during the morning and noon time periods only and although no data was obtained for the evening time period it was still the street with the most active travelers. Greenwood had the next highest number of active people observed in the survey. When prioritizing pedestrian and bicycling projects in the city, areas of high current use should take priority over projects with a low number of current pedestrians and bicyclists. This way safety is improved in areas that affect the highest number of people first.
In addition, the city should continue to invest in creating bike lanes and signing bike routes. Even based on the limited data to date there seems to be a positive impact because the bike lanes are moving people off the sidewalk and onto the street where it is safer for bicyclists to ride and more likely they will obey traffic signals. As the bicyclist population continues to grow in Jackson, these types of amenities are important to maintain the safety of bicyclists.
The study revealed the need for a couple of educational campaigns as well. The need for converting the availability of helmets to actually wearing helmets is very high, especially in children, but also in adults. In addition, more education is needed about the appropriate use of the bike lanes and biking in general. Many bicyclists were seen traveling against traffic and not obeying traffic signals, both activities that create a higher risk for automobile/bicycle accidents.
The study should be repeated at the same ten locations, at the same times, using the same methods every other year. Survey results from future years will be even more important as trends in active transportation use, bike lane usage, and helmet usage emerge.