The Walking Tax

In evaluating the walkability of my town, I started thinking about impediments to walking in a new way. Any time a city makes it harder, more dangerous, or less direct to walk from point A to point B, it's raising the cost of walking, effectively imposing a tax. When that's done to make it easier for cars to get around--i.e. reducing the cost of driving--it's subsidizing driving at the same time.

As any economist will tell you, taxes and subsidies distort markets and change behavior. Some of these distortions are desirable, e.g. hefty cigarette taxes decrease smoking. In the case of walking vs. driving, these taxes/subsidies will push more people off of sidewalks and into cars. Given the health, environmental, and community benefits of walking versus driving, the taxes on walking and subsidies for driving should be reversed, or at the least returned to some semblance of equality.

The taxes on walking have two main cost effects: increased time to get from A to B, and increased danger from cars or spills. Many of the issues actually affect both, or cause constant trade-offs that must be made (e.g. a little extra risk to save time.)

Some Common Taxes on Walking:

1. "No Pedestrian Access" signs -- Time or Danger
   These signs, purportedly to ensure pedestrians' safety, are merely there to let cars go through faster without having to wait for people on foot to pass. They can detour walkers considerably, making the pedestrian cross the road 3 times, or go up and back a block to get to where he/she wants to go.
2. Crossings set in from the corner / "slip" turn lanes -- Time and Danger
   These are slight detours, but they can also push a pedestrian further out of view of turning cars. With "slip" lanes (e.g. Yield lanes for cars) they're particularly bad, as drivers are looking back over their shoulders for other cars coming, not ahead for people walking. Shorter turning radii for cars are better for pedestrians.
3. "Press button to cross" -- Time or Danger
   Aside from being an affront to pedestrians, these buttons often make you wait a whole cycle when you otherwise wouldn't have to.
4. Cars parked on sidewalks -- Time and Danger
   I like to think these people are unaware of the danger they're creating, and probably think the 18" they're leaving is enough for people to walk by. But anyone with a stroller or in a wheelchair is forced off of the sidewalk and into the street, just so this unoccupied car can avoid damage.
5. Lack of sidewalks on a side of the street -- Time or Danger
   One must choose whether to detour across the street or to another street, or to walk in the shoulder of the street.
   
6. Badly maintained sidewalks -- Time or Danger
   Depending on how bad the state is, you may decide to detour to a different side/street.
7. Unmarked crossings + crossings w/o clear line of site -- DangerMotorists are less aware of the crossings and the people in them.
8. Stores set back from the street -- Time and Danger
   In addition to trashing many a city's streetscape, these make the pedestrian walk further to get into the store. Often there's no pedestrian entrance, so one has to walk along the driveway to get in.
9. Obstructions of sidewalks -- Time or Danger
   One may need to detour if a tree, utility pole, etc doesn't leave enough space, or may choose to go out into the street.

I'm sure I'm missing some, but you get the idea.

But, the Biggest Taxes....

From the list above, I did a quick back-of-the-envelope estimate of the added time for me: around 25%. But it's closer to 50% if you factor in the biggest time tax on walking: traffic signals. High volumes of pedestrians can manage crossing paths without colliding--the signals are there for the cars not for the people. They cause an huge increase in the time it takes to walk somewhere.

The added cost in danger is hard to measure, but surely it's significantly higher with the various design flaws listed above. But, the cost is thousands or millions of percent higher if you factor in the biggest danger tax on walking: having any auto traffic at all. One's chances of dying while walking a few blocks on a non-icy day are pretty much nil... until you introduce cars.

So, despite what I see as the biggest taxes, I'm not proposing guerrilla destruction of traffic signals and an immediate end to all auto traffic in cities--though that may be a nice dream. I just want people to start seeing this perverse tax/subsidy scheme for what it is.


More reading: Federal Highway Administration on sidewalk design (also linked above). Pretty good guidelines, especially coming from a car-oriented department.