Walk and bike audits are great tools to gather information about street conditions, engage community members, and inform planning and traffic safety projects.
A walk audit is an assessment of the pedestrian safety, accessibility, and comfort of a particular area. A bike audit is a similar assessment, focused on bicyclist safety and facilities. Walk and bike audits can be done as part of a planning process or to inform a specific project. Walk and bike audits can also be used as a community engagement tool where community members with little to no technical knowledge learn about street design and infrastructure while providing their on-the-ground perspectives.
Resources
Created by AARP Livable Communities with the League of American Bicyclists, the AARP Bike Audit Tool Kit is a free, 32-page, information- and image-filled guide that can be used by cycling advocates and local leaders to assess and improve the safety and accessibility of a community’s streets and paths for all users, including cyclists. The tool kit provides a step-by-step approach to observing and documenting the safe or unsafe bikeability of a location. The results of a community bike audit can educate local decision-makers and provide them with the needed data, solutions and strategies for achieving change.
The AARP Walk Audit Tool Kit outlines a step-by-step process to assess and report on the safety and walkability of a street, intersection or neighborhood — and inspire needed change. The toolkit is available in English and Spanish and includes worksheets and instructions for conducting a walk audit on your own or with a group.
The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center has compiled a range of tool kits and checklists to support the facilitation of pedestrian and bicycle road audits. They have also included additional resources from Active Living Research relating to walking audits.
This America Walks resource offers a video guide, a list of tips, and a full resource packet that explains and offers tools to support conducting community walk audits.
This Safe Routes toolkit is for planning and conducting a walk audit. Walk audits can be informal and casual or can include city council members, traffic engineers, and detailed forms. This toolkit offers tools to help you hold a walk audit so you can achieve the goals of your community.
The Pedestrian Environmental Quality Index (PEQI) questionnaire was developed by the San Francisco Department of Public Health Program on Health, Equity and Sustainability (SFPDH) to assess the quality and safety of the physical pedestrian environment and inform pedestrian planning needs. It evaluates the pedestrian environment in five categories (intersection safety, traffic, street design, land use, and perceptions of safety and walkability).
This Safe Routes toolkit can help communities and residents participate to make their vision of healthy, safe, walkable streets to parks real.
This toolkit from WALKSacramento is meant to guide participants through an assessment of walking and biking conditions in a community. Guiding questions prompt users to consider how street design and infrastructure conditions affect safety, comfort, and convenience for pedestrians and bicyclists. The toolkit focuses on five key elements of the built environment: pedestrian facilities, bicycle facilities, transit facilities, vehicle facilities, and land use. Space is provided at the end of the toolkit to include a map of the route for users to make additional notes as needed.
