A glance at transport statistics for Australia indicates that 'walking' as a transport option is a relatively insignificant form of urban travel. For medium to long, intra-urban trips, this is probably indeed the case. This will continue so long as the morphology of Australian cities is predominantly shaped by the needs of motorised transport. This paper provides an overview of the extent of walking as a transport option, at least in the journey to work. The characteristics of walking as a transport mode are discussed, which is important in setting the context of the walking permeability indices that are developed in the subsequent section. The walking permeability indices are the principal form of analysis used in assessing how well the City of Adelaide and the inner city residential development of Garden East and the new middle distant northern suburb of Mawson Lakes are in catering to walking as a local transport modal choice. The final section examines strategies to facilitate walking in Adelaide. (A)
Abstract