PO Box 25 424, Wellington 6146, Aotearoa/New Zealand
liz.thomas at livingstreets.org.nz
Abstract
Walking Map
development - successes and lessons learnt in Newtown
Will people walk more if they have good walking maps? What constitutes a good
walking map? How do you measure the effectiveness of walking maps?
Living Streets Aotearoa’s original idea for the Walking Maps project was to develop a range of walking maps and compare their effectiveness. However, due to the funding coming through another agency, who led the project, the focus changed. Three pilot maps were developed, two around schools, and one covering a whole suburb. In addition, two Walking Map Toolboxes were produced to assist communities develop their own walking maps.
The Newtown community walking map was centred around Wellington Hospital, an important hub in the suburb. The Capital and Coast District Health Board were
keen to encourage staff, outpatients and visitors to walk more.
Local stakeholders and community groups were involved in deciding on the scope, scale, and style of the map, through interviews, meetings and a questionnaire. Partnerships were forged with the City Council, and the university geography department. Local businesses, schools and community facilities distributed the map. The map has been evaluated, lessons learned and successes and future challenges noted.
The Walking Maps Toolbox is now available for communities to use to produce their own maps, and people have been trained to facilitate the process.
Will the success of the Newtown waking map lead
to the City Council supporting a project to assist communities to produce
walking maps in seven suburbs a year for three years? How does the map compare
in usefulness to other options such as Wises, zoom-in, metlink, Google earth
etc?
Liz Thomas
Liz was born in Glasgow, Scotland, but spent most of her early years in Nigeria and Sarawak, where her parents worked as doctors.
She graduated from Glasgow University with Bachelor of Science, and worked for a few years as a computer programmer in the days of mainframe computers and machine language programming.
Liz has traveled extensively, including two overland trips between Europe and India, in the days before wars and closed borders made such journeys impossible. She has walked and tramped in many places, including from Kathmandu to Everest base camp.
In 1973 Liz landed up in New Zealand, and settled down to raise a family in Golden Bay, surrounded by the Kahaurangi National Park with its many tramping trails. Since then she has trained as a teacher, worked as a trainer in several government departments, been a Councillor on the Golden Bay County Council, and then the Wellington City Council, stood for parliament as a green candidate (unsuccessfully!) and lived and worked in Zimbabwe as a volunteer with Volunteer Service Abroad.
Liz is currently the Director of Living Streets Aotearoa, a national organization which advocates for walkable communities and promotes walking as a healthy, enjoyable, sociable and environmentally sustainable means of transport and leisure activity.
Finding your way around
Maps have been around for a very long time, and if we are familiar with maps and know how to use them, we tend to assume that other people use and read maps the same way that we do.
When I worked as a volunteer in Zimbabwe for two and a half years, I had cause to question my assumptions about what directions and maps mean to people from different cultures.
On my second day in Harare I was given a vehicle and told to drive to the airport to try to extract my baggage from customs – no mean feat, I can assure you, but that’s another story. One of the local staff was given the task of directing me to the airport. After a couple of times when I asked which way I should turn, and she replied “Left” while pointing to the right, and we ended up on the wrong road, or careering across lanes in order to turn the correct way, I came to the conclusion that her hand signals were a more accurate indicator of her message about direction than her words.
One of the first things I did when I had to drive around the countryside outside Harare visiting villages and farms was to buy a map. However, most of the roads were completely unmarked, so it was of limited use. My colleagues looked on in bewilderment as I puzzled over the map. When I asked one of them to draw me a map of how to get to a school or clinic, or farm, she simply drew a line, and every time she mentioned a landmark her pencil simply branched off to the right, regardless of whether the instruction was to turn right or to turn left, or indeed to go straight ahead. The majority of people in rural Zimbabwe get around by walking cross country, and knowing how to get from one place to another along marked roads or even tracks is a somewhat alien concept.
My experiences in Zimbabwe reminded me how different things are important to different people as they find their way around their environment. For myself, I find a sense of security in having a map to follow.
Maps
Maps are useful for people in many circumstances. They are useful for tourists, and for visitors finding their way around new countries and cities, visiting places of interest and exploring what there is to see.
Maps are useful for new residents in an area, getting a feel for their locality and finding how to get to the shops, the library, swimming pool, sports grounds, bus stops and train stations, schools, universities and workplaces.
Maps are also useful for finding the way to a specific place and for working out the quickest, or safest, or most pleasant way of getting there.
And maps are useful for planners, trying to work out the best locations for new developments and facilities.
Most people, in Western countries at any rate, are familiar with road maps. Many people think that maps that show the roads and streets are fine for pedestrians also. But road maps are primarily for showing which way you can move around in a vehicle. Mostly they don’t show the ways that people on foot can get around – the little shortcuts, walkways, alleyways and footpaths which can make a journey shorter, more interesting, safer and pleasanter – the places where cars can’t go.
Getting more people walking
The New Zealand Transport Strategy released in 2002 called for the development of a sustainable transport system with an integrated mix of transport modes. The subsequent 2005 strategy to advance walking and cycling, “Getting There – on foot, by cycle”, looked at ways of increasing the modal share of walking and cycling, and gave organisations like Living Streets the opportunity to be involved in some exciting walking initiatives.
Living Streets Aotearoa is the national pedestrian organization in New Zealand which advocates for walking-friendly communities, and promotes walking and the interests of pedestrians. The organisation’s vision is “More people choosing to walk more often and enjoying public places - young and old, fast and slow, walking, sitting and standing, commuting, shopping, between appointments, for exercise, for leisure and for pleasure.”
Living Streets was established in 1998, when the Wellington City Council’s Road Safety Reference Group invited stakeholders concerned with road safety to attend meetings. Stakeholders included the newly formed Cycling Advocates Network, the police, the AA and representatives from the disability sector, amongst others.
City councilor Celia Wade-Brown realized that there was no group representing the needs of pedestrians, and so formed what was then called Walk Wellington. Subsequently she realized there was a need for a national body representing pedestrians, and after a visit to Britain where she visited Living Streets UK, called the new organization Living Streets Aotearoa, Aotearoa being the Maori name for New Zealand.
The walking maps project
One of the projects contracted to Living Streets was the Walking Maps project. The original proposal was to develop several different kinds of walking maps in different situations, and to compare the effectiveness of the maps. However, the project changed, as projects do, and in the end it was decided to develop three walking maps, two of these around schools, and the third in a selected community.
In addition, it was decided to develop Walking Maps Toolboxes which would assist people to develop their own maps. Living Streets was contracted to develop the community walking map.
The purpose of walking maps.
One of the important things to establish at the beginning of a project to develop a walking map is what the purpose of the map is – what it will be used for.
Walking maps can be used for finding walking routes to and from particular destinations or facilities – the school walking map is an example of this kind of map.
Walking maps can also be used to show all the places you can walk in an area, so that people can find their way around and work out the best way to get to their destination within the area covered by the map. These maps can also show linkages to areas adjacent to, though not covered by, the map. These maps are of most use to people living, working or studying in the area – the community walking map is an example of this kind of map.
Other walking maps might show historic places of interest in a location, or art galleries or restaurants, for example. Or they might show walking routes of different lengths and times and degrees of difficulty in a particular locality, to enable people to choose the walk most suited to their requirements.
The school walking maps project
With the school walking maps project there was a single destination, the school, with the map showing ways to get to and from this central point. The school project also had another purpose which was to involve the children in the production of the map as part of the school curriculum.
The project was very successful, and the children from the two schools that participated benefited from taking part. In addition, excellent resources were developed as part of the project.
The project involved a huge amount of work and time on the part of not only the children and teachers, but also the parents involved. Feedback has shown that the amount of school time involved in developing the map as part of the curriculum is a disincentive, given the number of demands on teacher’s time, and it is likely that future school maps will be developed by parents and communities with less input from teachers and children as part of their curricular activities during school hours. They would still be encouraged to be involved, but to a lesser degree.
Choosing a location for the community walking map
Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, but not the largest city, is a hilly city with many steep and narrow streets, and many houses built like eagle’s nests in extraordinary spots. The centre of the city is compact and easy to walk around. Many of the inner city suburbs are within half an hour’s walk from the Central
Business District.
Because of the hilly nature, and long streets meandering back and forth across hillsides in some suburbs, and because older suburbs were built before the car gained its position of supremacy in the transport hierarchy, there are many public walkways which are shortcuts between streets. Some of these are paths, and some flights of steps linking roads and areas.
Many of these public walkways are not marked on traditional road maps, and on the ground many are not sign posted. You might spot a flight of steps leading up the hill, which you hope is a public walkway providing a shortcut to the next street, only to find after puffing up a hundred steps that it’s a private pathway leading only to a house.
Relying on road signs to find your way around is deceptive also. Many roads have a sign at the beginning saying “No Exit” when in fact the truth of the matter is that there is no exit for motor vehicles, but a perfectly good walking path at the end for people to use.
For the community walking map project, Living Streets decided to concentrate on one suburb of the city. Newtown was chosen for several reasons. It is a suburb close to the city centre, so encouraging more people to walk within Newtown, and showing them the linkages to other areas, might also encourage more people to walk into the city. Newtown has many pedestrian walkways and is bounded to the east and west by the green town belt, which provides natural boundaries for the map. The adjacent suburb of Berhampore was also included as it lies to the south of Newtown, within the same natural boundaries.
Another compelling reason for choosing Newtown was the presence of Wellington Hospital, with its large workforce. The hospital is undergoing a massive renewal project, and the Capital and Coast District Health Board had appointed a Travel Planner to look at travel routes to and from the hospital, and ways of reducing car use. She was very keen to support the project.
There are also other high use facilities, such as the regional swimming centre, and Massey University campus, within walking distance of Newtown and Berhampore, so showing links to these from the edges of the map could encourage people to walk to them.
Newtown also has a high population of Maori and Pacific Islanders, as well as other migrants groups.
Working with the community
The first steps in the process were to design a questionnaire to find out people’s walking habits and barriers to walking, and to meet with groups in the area to find out their views and to enlist their support for the project.
In addition to the District Health Board, the groups approached were the residents' association, the Primary Health Organisation, Maori and Pacific health providers, the local school, church groups as well as other organisations involved with active living such as the cancer society.
Initial meetings with representatives from these groups were held, then presentations were made at the groups’ own meetings to explain the purpose of the project and to distribute questionnaires. It was decided that this was a better approach than holding public meetings as these are often poorly attended. In addition, representatives from the community were interviewed individually, and the questionnaire was also distributed to people in the street.
Results from the meetings and from the questionnaires indicated that the barriers to walking matched those outlined in previous surveys including the survey done in 2003 by SPARC “Obstacles to Action: A study of New Zealanders' Activity and Nutrition.” In addition to time and safety concerns, not knowing where to walk and how to get to places, and a lack of clear signage were cited as reasons for not walking.
Producing the map
Partnerships were forged with the City and Regional Councils and information was obtained from them including GIS cartographic information, information on bus-stops, and existing printed maps showing footpaths and walkways.
All the information received from the Councils was checked on the ground to ensure accuracy, and to add other relevant items, such as lighting, pedestrian crossings, steps, and specific landmarks.
A cartographer in the geography department at the University of Auckland, who had expressed interest in being involved with developing the map, was involved with the project at an early stage, and gave advice on different possible styles for the map.
As the map was to cover a relatively large area, a fairly straightforward style for the map was chosen, based directly on the Council’s GIS information. The actual houses and buildings are shown faintly in the background which enables the precise location of public walkways and steps to be shown relative to buildings, making it much easier to distinguish public access ways from private access ways.
As well as having a scale showing distance, the map also has a scale showing time, which helps people plan how long their journey will take. There is also a smaller map on the back showing street lighting which gives an idea of how brightly lit streets are at night.
Distributing the map
It was decided to produce the map in pad format, so it could be held at public places such as the library for distributing to people. The map can also be folded into a compact form to slip into a bag or pocket.
The map pads were delivered to the hospital, school, library, supermarket, petrol stations, community centres, churches, selected local businesses, and local groups.
It was decided not to distribute the map to every household because of the high cost of printing enough maps and distributing them.
Evaluating the map
The map was evaluated by going back to the people and groups who were consulted and were involved with production of the map, and also by doing a small public survey.
Of the groups who were involved with the map production, the hospital has been very active in distributing the map and promoting its use. The Travel Planner Jan Simmons reported that ways of distributing the map at the hospital include:
· Copies are placed in bus timetable stands in hospital foyers, so they are available to staff, patients and visitors
· For staff who request personal journey plans, a map is enclosed if the person lives within walking distance (5km) of the hospital.
· Regular lunchtime walks from Wellington Hospital – walkers use routes on the map, and use it to find new short-cuts and tracks to explore
· At staff orientation courses, the benefits of walking to and from work are outlined. Maps are handed out to staff who request them.
· Chaplains have been supplied with copies for handing to stressed relatives of patients, so they can take time out and go for a walk to reduce anxiety
· The manager of Riddiford Hostel, Wellington Hospital’s on-site residence for new/temporary staff has copies for residents, to help them find their way around Newtown or go for recreational walks. Nearly all residents of Riddiford Hostel are from out of town.
· All Wellington teams in the District Health Board’s annual 8-week Walking Challenge event are supplied with copies of the map to help them plan their walks, including trips to and from work.
· The walking map is promoted in the regular newsletter produced by the Travel Planner.
Feedback indicated that the scale that measures walking time as well as distance is a particularly useful feature. For recreational walking, people felt that it encouraged them to explore and gave them the confidence that they would be able to find their way.
It has proved quite difficult to evaluate whether the map has had the effect of getting more people walking. Even with a captive audience such as the hospital staff (around 2000 people) Jan reported that “it is very difficult to measure (or even estimate) the number of walking trips generated by a map. In September our organisation will carry out a repeat staff travel survey. This will measure whether a shift towards greater use of walking, cycling and public transport has resulted from the travel plan programme over the past two years. We are hoping it will show an increase in walking trips to and from work by Wellington Hospital staff. If an increase is shown, this will indicate that using the Newtown Walking Map in the ways outlined above has had a positive effect.”
When the other groups who had access to the maps were surveyed, there was a low return rate of questionnaires, and of those who did respond, the most common comment was that they were already walking, and the map did not result in them walking more, though it helped them to find other routes. This perhaps indicates that only those people who were already walkers responded to the survey.
Lessons learned
Many lessons were learned in the process of producing the Newtown and Berampore Walking Map. These included:
o The importance of involving local groups and of keeping them involved in producing the map. This can best be done by finding one “champion” in each group who is particularly interested, and using them as a communication channel and motivator for the local group.
o Allowing plenty of time for local groups to get involved. It is better to approach local groups at their own meetings and many groups only meet once a month, and some have speakers and topics for their meetings arranged well in advance.
o Allowing enough time for iterations of the draft map to be discussed by the groups. Because of time constraints, this stage of the process was limited with the Newtown Berhampore map, and consequently valuable input was not collected.
o Printing the map in different formats for different purposes, if possible. Folding the maps from the pads to hand out to people was time consuming.
o Having follow-up activities to ensure that the map is well promoted and people are encouraged to use it. After the Newtown Berhampore map was launched, the hospital distributed it widely and actively promoted its use, while the library and some other distributors handed out the map when requested. Some Newtown walks were run during the March “Stepping Out” programme, and the map was promoted there. Other activities which could have been useful would have been to work with some of the groups and encourage them to set up walking groups for their members, using the map to plan their walks. There could have been more promotion through newspaper and newsletter articles, and from organizing walking events using the map.
o Looking for as many outlets and distribution points as possible. One idea would be to approach real estate agents, work places and schools and ask them to give the map to people who buy houses in the area, start work in the area, or whose children start school in the area. People are most likely to change their mode of transport when they change house or job, and having the walking map available at that time might encourage them to consider walking.
o Ensuring that there is one group or organisation that remains responsible for the map, for collecting any feedback, and for arranging updates to the map and reprints.
Has the map made a difference
When the map has been shown to people outside Newtown, the response has been invariably positive. People have expressed interest in producing maps in their communities, and several have already been produced. Wellington City Council is considering funding the production of maps in all of their other suburbs. Massey University is considering using part of the base Newtown Berhampore map and adding to it the other areas around their campus.
Conclusion
While it is difficult to measure whether the Newtown Berhampore map has resulted in more people walking, the map and the toolbox have generated interest far wider than the area of the map, and have resulted in more walking maps being produced. Valuable lessons have been learned in the process, and there is scope to promote the map more widely when it is reprinted, and to try out some of the suggestions listed above.
Most importantly, producing the map has been an enjoyable exercise, and if nothing else, has resulted in much more walking being done by the valiant few who walked all the routes during production of the map!