Participatory walking audit of active transportation infrastructure
Using the audit sheet in the Resources section and a printed base map, facilitate a walking audit of the neighbourhood. Instruct participants to mark down any issues or gaps in infrastructure or amenities, such as cracked sidewalks, missing curb cuts, poor lighting, lack of seating, etc. Optionally, you can hold a debriefing afterwards to ask residents if any key areas of concern that emerged from the audit.
Sidewalk and street audits are a simple way to identify deficiencies in the built environment for cycling and walking safety. This is a more structured walk-about activity, and it results in site-specific data on active transportation infrastructure from a lived-experience perspective.
- Keep the size of the focus area manageable, so that participants aren’t rushed in their observations.
- Divide into smaller groups to focus on different streets/key neighbourhood nodes.