Transportation Research Part A Policy and Practice

Understanding the contextual factors associated with why adults walk is important for those interested in increasing walking as a mode of transportation and leisure. This paper investigates the relationships between neighborhood-level sociodemographic context, individual level sociodemographic characteristics and walking for leisure and transport. Data from two community-based studies of adults (n=550) were used to determine the association between the area-sociodemographic environment (ASDE), calculated from U.S. Census variables, and individual-level SES as potential correlates of walking behavior. Descriptive statistics, mean comparisons and Pearson's correlations coefficients were used to assess bivariate relationships. Generalized estimating equations were used to model the relationship between ASDE, as quartiles, and walking behavior. Adjusted models suggest adults engage in more minutes of walking for transportation and less walking for leisure in the most disadvantaged compared to the least disadvantaged neighborhoods but adding individual level demographics and SES eliminated the significant results. However, when models were stratified for free or reduced cost lunch, of those with children who qualified for free or reduced lunch, those who lived in the wealthiest neighborhoods engaged in 10.7 minutes less of total walking per day compared to those living in the most challenged neighborhoods (p<0.001). Strategies to increase walking for transportation or leisure need to take account of individual level socioeconomic factors in addition to area-level measures.

The world of highway building has seen a revolution in the last two decades, as the regulatory environment has experienced a major metamorphosis. The Glenn M. Anderson Freeway- Transitway (1-105), a so-called "sensitive" freeway, escaped being a casualty of the freeway revolt. Novel features of the I-105 are a result of a consent decree that established special institutions and procedures that govern virtually all aspects of the freeway's design and construction. Using an augmented case study approach, we assess how the freeway differs from the project that might have evolved had parties to litigation not been able to resolve their differences. We assess how agencies, groups and individuals view the costs and benefits of the consent decree. We find consistent differences in impact perceptions between transportation agency and local city affiliates. The results shed light on the motivations of local citizens who oppose what outside observers might regard as regionally attractive transportation facilities. Rather than a rigid not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) response, opposition reflects a qualitatively different calculus for weighing environmental and social impact data.