Increasing physical activity and active transportation in an arid city: Slow Streets and the COVID-19 pandemic
Monica Landgrave-Serrano, Philip Stoker
Abstract
Slow Streets promote walkability and provide safe spaces for active travel and recreation by minimizing vehicle traffic on roads. Their effectiveness was tested when the City of Tucson implemented Slow Streets by temporarily closing certain neighbourhood streets to all but local traffic, giving people more space to safely walk, run, and bicycle. Using a quasi-experimental research design, it was possible to measure differences in walking and bicycling between Slow Streets and control streets. Results show Slow Streets are effective in increasing the number of people walking and bicycling on neighbourhood streets, especially while the temporary traffic barriers were in place.
Topics & Concepts
Neighbourhood (mathematics)RecreationWalkabilityPedestrianTransport engineeringCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)Geography2019-20 coronavirus outbreakEngineeringBuilt environmentCivil engineeringPolitical scienceInfectious disease (medical specialty)MathematicsVirologyMedicineOutbreakPathologyBiologyDiseaseMathematical analysisLawUrban Green Space and HealthUrban Transport and AccessibilityRecreation, Leisure, Wilderness Management