There has been an impressive decline in the number of trips Americans take on foot, according to a new report.
This is bad. Both from a personal standpoint, as walking is one of the most recommended exercises by doctors, and from a community perspective, because when we walk, we use less cars or other types of transport, and thus, we do our part to reduce climate change.
The average annual number of daily walks fell by 36% in the contiguous U.S. from 2019 to 2022, according to a new report from StreetLight Data.
The rate of decline slowed from -16% between 2019 and 2020 and -19% between 2020 and 2021 to -6% between 2021 and 2022. But it is still a significant overall drop, from about 120 million walks in 2019 to less than 80 million in 2022.
StreetLight measures walking trips based on anonymous data from mobile devices, vehicle GPS systems, among others.
For this analysis, a “walking trip” is any trip taken on foot over 250 meters – about 820 feet – from start to finish.
New York ranks first among the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. where people walk the most, ranked by the annual average of daily walking trips per capita in 2022. No surprise for anyone who has lived there and accumulated a few kilometers of walking every day in the normal course of life.
Orlando (a surprise, after all, the impression we have is that everyone drives there), Las Vegas (320) and San Diego (320) follow.
Portland, Oregon; Boise, Idaho; and Ogden, Utah, are tied for last place, with only 220 trips for every 1,000 people.
In contrast to the statistics, Los Angeles (+19%), San Diego (+14%) and Modesto, California (+13%) recorded an increase in the average annual number of daily walking trips in 2022 compared to the previous year.
On the other hand, driving is only 4% below 2019 levels – yet another sign that America is a country of car lovers.
It is clear that the pandemic had an “obvious impact,” says StreetLight. But beyond that, the group is unsure what is preventing Americans from walking.
Part of this may be remote work, which may contribute to people becoming excessively sedentary.
And part of this may be part of the post-COVID recovery story of cities – if a city has fewer restaurants, shops, and so on open, there are fewer reasons for residents and visitors to take a walk.
Source: Axios