Credits to: Sustrans/ Brian Morrison
With its long clear days, May is the ideal time for National Walking Month.
Walking, or wheeling* opens up a whole new world.
It’s free, sociable and healthy.
The Belfast Walking and Cycling Index 2023 report shows that every year, walking prevents 588 serious long-term health conditions, saving the NHS £7.3 million (equivalent to 180,000 GP appointments).
Economic benefits are valued at £165.2 million and a whopping 8,800 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions are saved with up to 70,000 cars are taken off the road every day.
Streets make up 80% of the accessible open space in towns and cities and offer huge potential as a community resource.
Walking should therefore be our most obvious means of transport for short, local journeys.
So why, for many, isn’t it?
Well, there are many obstacles in the way – literal and figurative.
Over the last 50 years, traffic has dramatically increased. Street space is now typically dominated by vehicles, moving and parked.
Transport planning has primarily focused on providing for car travel resulting in car-dominated streets and neighbourhoods leading to uninviting road conditions for people walking.
Additionally, the blight of pavement parking and clutter of street furniture can often make it difficult for many people to navigate safely – with it often proving impossible to walk / wheel on the path and instead forcing the most vulnerable, such as wheelchair users, the visually impaired and those with young children, out into traffic on the road.
The key to successfully encouraging walking is to ensure that our roads, streets and public spaces are prioritised as places where people of all ages and all abilities can get around conveniently, confidently and safely without a car.
We’ve seen it in practice in the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain which have implemented School Streets – where children are prioritised through measures introduced to reduce the volume and speed of motor vehicles around schools.
When will Northern Ireland follow suit?
Will we ever see an update to our Highway Code to fall in line with England and Wales and introduce a hierarchy of road users where pedestrians, regarded the most vulnerable, are the priority?
Transport accounts for 17% of Northern Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions – the main sources are the use of petrol and diesel in road transport.
The Government has a legal obligation to tackle this pollution and to make walking and all forms of active travel a realistic option for everyone who lives here. The Climate Change Act (NI) 2022 states that the Department for Infrastructure must spend at least 10% of its annual transport budget on active travel by 2030.
The will is there among the people as borne out by the surveys carried out for our Belfast Walking and Cycling Index 2023.
When asked what changes would help them walk or wheel more, 73% of residents said wider pavements, 74% said more frequent road crossings, 75% said better pavement accessibility, like level surfaces, dropped kerbs at crossing points, 71% said fewer cars parked on the pavement and 82% said nicer places along streets to stop and rest, like more benches, trees and shelters.
Creating safe spaces for people to move about on foot is the key to unlocking the opportunities for walking and for people and communities to enjoy the benefits that brings.
We need Government to ‘talk the talk, walk the walk’ now to make active travel the easier and more appealing option over private car use.
If National Walking Month has inspired you, sign up to our Active Travel Challenge for the month of June at: atc.getmeactive.org.uk
*Defining wheeling – We recognise that some people who use wheeled mobility aids, for example a wheelchair or a mobility scooter, may not identify with the term walking and may prefer to use the term wheeling. We use the terms walking and wheeling together to ensure we are as inclusive as possible
Our position on cycling and walking networks and routes – Sustrans.org.uk
Why cycling and walking are great for your mental health – Sustrans.org.uk
