Report: Walkability App registers women’s perception of city environments in Dublin

A Report, commissioned by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, found that the way public space and public transport was being designed and provided for in Dublin did not sufficiently meet the needs of women and that this is influencing their decision to drive more and walk and use public transport less.

In response, Walk21 developed the ‘Every Step of The Way’ project in partnership with Irish Pedestrians Network, TU Dublin and CEDEUS, aiming to make Dublin a safer, more inclusive and welcoming place for women to walk and to access public transport. The Final Report of the project is published and provides an insight into how participative mapping can be used to assess walkability.

A grant from the Alstom Foundation allowed the team to create a new tool to enable women to map their perception of the cities ‘Walkability’ providing engineers with new insights to help them respond with targeted infrastructure improvements. The Walkability.app tool is free to use and in the Apple and Google stores.

The project recorded 487 walking experiences, linked to 858 observations of the public space in Dublin’s LUAS line catchment area. Walkability maps were created, for the first time in Dublin, and data shared with the city authorities that gave a new level of insight into the reality of women’s experiences when walking in the city.

The project has proven that there is an affordable and practical way that empowers women to share the reality of the experiences, so that the managing authority has a clearer opportunity to target responsive investment positively, support more sustainable transport behaviour, and ensure a fairer society.

Although it is logical that any investment made, in response to the concerns raised by those using the app, will positively influence their transport choices and satisfaction with those choices overall, further studies, in multiple settings, are likely to be required over several years to prove this assumption.

Looking forwards, Walk21 is keen for the tool to be used in other communities to benefit people walking. The Walkability.app could potentially enable citizens of any age, gender or ability, to share their experiences. The geo-located data provides an opportunity for city planners and engineers to invest in a programme of works that could benefit users of schools, hospitals, retail areas or residential neighbourhoods as well as public transport lines.

Please get in touch to learn more about the Walkability.app tool

Downloads

The report Women’s perceived walkability at the Luas Tram catchment area in Dublin – A data evaluation report using the Walkability.App is available now

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