Americans are taking 36 percent fewer walks than in 2019, according to a new report.
A recent report from mobility data company Streetlight Data shows that the number of walks in the US is declining, with all most populous metropolitan areas seeing at least a 20 percent decline.
Using smart ground tracking technology, the company saw declines of nearly 50 percent in some cities, including Akron, Ohio and Lousville, Kentucky.
New Jersey saw the smallest decline, with a 29 percent drop in walking trips outdoor travel on foot of a total of at least 250 meters or 820 feet.
The 15 U.S. metropolitan areas with the biggest declines in walking since 2019, according to data firm StreetLight.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, two-thirds of American adults are not meeting the exercise guidelines recommended by health officials.
Data shows that the number of pedestrians killed in traffic accidents reached a 20-year high in 2022, with more than 7,500 people killed while walking America’s streets.
Traffic experts say the rising death rate is due to several factors, including larger cars on the road, shortages of police personnel and motorists taking advantage of empty lanes and driving faster.
According to both, the nosedive among pedestrians is mainly a result of the new work-from-home culture Street light and the National Association of Urban Transportation Officials.
Researchers have also identified a similar pattern.
“Taking fewer steps started during the pandemic and continued. Even in 2021, the gap didn’t seem to be closing. It appears to be a behavioral change that has unfortunately stuck with many people,” Evan Brittain, associate professor of cardiovascular medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, told me. Everyday health.
More promising is the increase in other forms of active transport, such as bicycle and scooter sharing systems.
Despite the decline in the number of people walking in built-up cities, the number of pedestrians injured or killed on America’s roads has risen to its highest level in two decades
These types of trips increased by 1 million from 2021 to 2022 and have doubled since 2020, according to the National Association of City Transportation Officials.
Some experts have emphasized that the nationwide aversion to walking is a long-standing problem, rooted in the way American cities are designed.
“We designed our communities around the car,” said Ralph Buehler, a professor of urban affairs and planning at Virginia Tech.
“Many of our road technical guidelines are designed to facilitate vehicular traffic.
“Road designers don’t want to slow down vehicles, and, guess what, pedestrian-friendly features like crosswalks slow down cars. It is not so much that the guidelines are deliberately anti-walking, they are pro-driving, but at the same time they make walking less attractive.’