The development of a comprehensive nationwide walking network: A case study analysis of the ‘slow ways approach'

Abstract

In almost every country in the world there are transport policy and planning initiatives which aim to encourage walking. The nature of these initiatives varies widely, but in recent years a commonly used approach has been to improve data and information provision regarding walking networks. It is though less clear whether such interventions are likely in themselves to be sufficient to encourage more people to walk, or whether such information provision can make a significant difference to active travel participation levels. This paper examines these issues in the context of ‘Slow Ways’, a new information-based walking network initiative in Great Britain.

Two contradictions exist with regard to walking in Britain. It is not always easy, as poor weather, damaged stiles, muddy fields, conflicts with livestock, and busy road crossings all challenge even the most experienced of walkers, yet walking has occupied a prestigious position in the national psyche for generations. Relatedly, while travel on foot is popular (increasingly so in the wake of coronavirus-induced national lockdowns), the UK populations has not been immune to the costly “global pandemic” of physical inactivity (Sallis et al., 2016).

Because of its broad accessibility (it is simple and safe, and it generally does not require additional equipment or training) and extensive physical and mental health benefits, walking has been described as the “nearest activity to perfect exercise” (Morris and Hardman, 1997, p.328). It is also physically and temporally space efficient and, as an essentially emissions-free form of travel, sustainable. Because of these characteristics, researchers, policymakers, and public and private bodies across Great Britain have devoted significant attention to the encouragement of walking in recent decades.

A recent high profile initiative has been contributed by Slow Ways, an organisation that has defined a comprehensive network of walking routes connecting approximately 2,500 settlements across the country. The network is unique in that it is point-to-point, motivated by the principle that everyone ought to be able to walk reasonably directly, safely, accessibly, and off-road between any two neighbouring towns, villages and cities. Several hundred volunteers plotted the network by hand, virtually, according to the organisation’s standard methodology. As of April 2022, the network comprised approximately 8,100 routes, together almost 120,000 kilometres in length.

Because the network was plotted virtually, users are currently being encouraged to try out, survey, review, and positively verify the quality of individual routes. Over time, the organisation envisions that a network of verified routes, accompanied by descriptive reviews and surveys, will inspire trust and confidence among prospective walkers, thus encouraging “more people to walk, more often, for more reasons and purposes” (Slow Ways, 2022). The provision of a crowd sourced, comprehensive and nationwide network of virtually plotted, information-only and linear walking routes between neighbouring settlements is certainly a novel means of addressing this objective. However, it is unclear whether such an approach is likely to be effective in encouraging more walking. The research described here was therefore undertaken to critically evaluate the utility of the ‘Slow Ways approach’ as a nationwide policy tool for promoting active travel.

While existing literature on the provision of information-only walking networks as a strategy for encouraging walking is scant, several threads of scholarly research informed this work. Studies of behavioural change, for example, suggest that successful interventions tend to be those that are appropriately targeted, and not one-size-fits-all approaches. Studies of the empirical determinants of walking behaviour suggest the decision to walk is a complex one, and that walking is broadly influenced by physical, individual, and social factors, both real and perceived, across spatial and temporal scales. Making places “walkable” is therefore not sufficient, however the term is defined. Finally, studies of the role of information in consumption and spatial cognition suggest that knowledge gaps among potential route users regarding path existence and quality may be mitigated through robust information communication.

It follows therefore that if Slow Ways is to encourage appreciable numbers of people to walk, its routes must be good. The first objective of this study, then, was to evaluate the quality of the walking network according to its own measurable criteria because, if these criteria were established appropriately, the extent to which they are met can be a useful benchmark for tracking and gradually improving the quality of the network.

First, a GIS methodology for evaluating a walking network and identifying the worst performing routes according to quantitively measurable criteria was developed and applied to Slow Ways. Specifically, the routes that were the least direct, most reliant on road walking, and which traversed the most deprived areas were identified as priorities for improvement. While this analysis was originally undertaken to identify highly indirect or highly on-road routes as priorities for potential new footpath connections, the results indicated that in fact, many Slow Ways routes have considerable latent potential for improvements in these regards using existing footpaths.

Inevitably continued improvements to the network will be required, and the next objective of this study was to consider what standards ought to be used to guide such improvements. Because interventions must be appropriately targeted in order to succeed, a multi-step qualitative and quantitative analysis was performed to identify, first, a priority population on whom efforts to encourage more walking should focus and, second, what matters to these particular individuals when they consider travelling on foot.

Rough sets and cluster analyses were applied to a survey dataset on walking behaviours and perceptions, to characterise a population likely to be susceptible to efforts encouraging them to walk more. This group comprised individuals who report being willing to and planning to walk an appreciable amount in the future but who may not have walked an appreciable distance recently, characterised as “casual walkers”. A shortcoming of this clustering, however, is that individuals were classified based on their intentions to walk rather than their revealed behaviour, and such stated intention data can be subject to response bias. In response, and in order to identify any particularly under-represented groups based on the gap between intended and revealed walking behaviour, National Travel Survey data on actual travel behaviour were analysed. This showed that women, young people, and people with children were particularly likely to report planning to walk more than they actually did. Combining the two analyses indicated that casual walkers in these categories are likely to be particularly susceptible to appropriately targeted interventions that encourage walking.

Qualitative text-based analysis of the themes of particular interest to these individuals with respect to their walking habits and perceptions was then performed. This analysis was based on responses to an open-ended survey question asking individuals to describe where and why they might walk if they had unlimited time. This analysis suggested priority individuals are particularly interested in local walk surroundings (e.g. scenery, quietude, or attractions) and route features (e.g. safety, path quality, gradient, ease of navigation, and the availability of ‘pit stops’). Much of these findings aligned well with a comparative case study analysis of the best practice Swiss Hiking Network.

The analysis demonstrated both that the Slow Ways network has considerable latent potential for continued improvements, and that the criteria for guiding route development may not align with what potential users most susceptible to encouragement may be looking for out of a potential walking network. The research therefore considered the extent to which Slow Ways could establish and apply routing criteria according to users’ needs, despite limited data availability on existing footpaths. To test this, the researchers performed a desk-based analysis of on-the-ground conditions of existing Slow Ways routes and compared expected route characteristics with actual route characteristics observed during site visits. This demonstrated that available data sources on route and path qualities are insufficient, and therefore that centring user needs through route design (a key component of effective walking network design) may not be feasible at present.

These findings indicate that the collection, application, and communication of sufficient and appropriate information on route quality, defined based on the needs of potential users, must be priorities for Slow Ways and similar organisations elsewhere. This is incorporated in a proposed four-pronged approach for effective network development of an information-only walking network for the purpose of encouraging more travel on foot.

First, the needs of users should be the core on which all network design decisions are based, suggesting a critical starting point for system development efforts must be the definition of a target audience and then, according to their needs and desires, what high-quality network components are and ought to be. In this way, user needs can be applied to establish measurable route design standards that can guide continued enhancements by decentralised volunteers and central system developers alike. Further, the identification of target users and their needs serves a critical purpose in guiding the three remaining prongs: the appropriate collection, application, and communication of sufficient route quality data for continued network development.

These three prongs are also individually critical. Developing a virtually plotted network of walking routes naturally requires data on existing walking infrastructure. Existing mapping of public rights of way, for example, enabled the initial definition of the Slow Ways network. Routes plotted to follow existing mapped footpaths, however, may not necessarily be knowable as attractive or based on a definition of route quality that reflects the desires of potential users. So that routes can be improved according to users’ needs and so that users can be communicated sufficient information on suitable walking connections, another key prong in network development efforts is the appropriate collection of data on route and path segment quality. In the case of Slow Ways this is particularly important, as one finding of this study is that existing data sources in the UK are insufficient at present for accurately characterising route quality. In this context, ‘appropriate’ information collection means the content should align with the needs of potential users, its format should enable its straightforward application for the purposes of route improvement and user communication, and its scale should be sufficiently broad to cover the entire network.

Appropriate and sufficient information about route quality ought to be applied to at least two aims. Firstly, this data can be applied to improve the quality of the network overall. This could take many forms. Information can be used, for example, to appraise and track network-wide route quality over time, to flag non-traversable, dangerous, or unpleasant segments or entire routes for removal, or to prioritise poorly performing routes for quality improvements. Secondly, as appropriate and sufficient route quality information is applied to system development efforts, the network as a whole will become increasingly designed according to users’ needs, both in theory and in reality, and thus more likely to encourage walking among potential users.

Finally, however, it is not enough simply that routes have been designed according to user needs: for a person who cares deeply about currently unknowable aspects of route quality, it may be interesting to know that a route exists to connect any two settlements nationwide, but unless the quality of this route can be confirmed, this knowledge is probably insufficient for effectively encouraging travel on foot. Routes must therefore be designed based on the application of sufficient data, and this data must also inform the communication of accurate route characterisations for potential users.

Overall, this study concludes that while the ‘Slow Ways approach’ is promising, virtually plotted walking routes are unlikely to be effective for promoting widespread behavioural change if provided in isolation. Indeed, while such networks may help mitigate some information uncertainties among users, knowledge of the existence of routes for travel on foot is unlikely all that a priority population needs in order to be convinced to walk. Rather, the appropriate collection, application, and communication of sufficient data on route quality, defined based on the needs of walkers, must be a priority for Slow Ways, and similar approaches that follow in its footsteps elsewhere, if the provision of a comprehensive network for travel on foot is to play a significant role in helping to achieve the broad individual and social benefits associated with higher levels of walking activity.

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ORCID for Simon Blainey: orcid.org/0000-0003-4249-8110

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