Pedestrian audit of public transport nodes - a practical approach

The Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) wants to increase the numbers of people walking in the Wellington region, especially for short trips. To assist with this aim, GWRC have detailed key regional intentions in their May 2004 Regional Pedestrian Strategy, and have adopted a vision of "more pedestrians in a convenient, safe and pleasant environment".. One of the specific actions identified in the strategy was to carry out a comprehensive review of access to all 55 public transport nodes in the region, to identify deficiencies, and to develop a programme to implement any necessary improvements. The review was to include an audit that covered the following pedestrian-related issues at each public transport node: - route directness - surface quality, obstructions and maintenance - lighting and personal security - shelter - road crossings - signage - space allocation and traffic impacts - aesthetics - mobility impaired/disability needs In October 2004, GWRC commissioned Duffill Watts & Tse Ltd (DWT) to carry out the audit over a 3 year staged programme. The final inspections are currently underway and the overall audit is expected to be complete within the next month or two. This presentation will describe the methodology that was adopted for the pedestrian audit, the results of the audit and what lessons were learnt during the audit process.