The mobilities concept and its implications for understanding walking behavior

¶ … Travel Behaviour

"The concept of 'mobilities' encompasses both the large-scale movements of people, objects, capital, and information across the world, as well as the more local processes of daily transportation, movement through public space, and the travel of material things within everyday life"

Howard Rheingold (2004, ¶ 5).

Mobilities

For a person to work; to socialize; to live, he must continually move; engage in mobility. Even though mobilities may not be entirely new, nevertheless they now reportedly depict a new code word for one to grasp the global, as well as the new, extensive ways one lives. In the book, Mobility, Peter Adey (2010), lecturer in cultural geography at Keele University, contends that mobilities occur from the time one awakens and arises out of bed, a physical displacement; as he moves various limbs. To get to work, the process requires numerous kinds of mobility. With a vertical mobility form, an individual may walk out of his building and utilize the stairs or elevator on the way down. Other forms of mobility include, but are not limited to transportation by automobile; bus; train; airplane; ship: walking.

During this two-part paper, the researcher provides a description of what the concept of "mobilities" means. During the first part of the paper, the researcher discusses the characteristics, significance, strengths and weaknesses of the concept of mobility. For the second section of this paper, the researcher discusses how mobilities may enhance one's understanding of why people might walk. The researcher also explores implications for providing transport to encourage walking.

In the article, "Walking the talk: As someone who enjoys being out and about, it's been interesting to reflect on how my own mobility and use of public spaces has changed in the last 10 years," Deborah Fox (2008), Director of the Public Sector Programme, Forum for the Future, the sustainable development charity explains that as mobility depicts the capability to move, many individuals desire to their cars at times. Attitudes regarding cars, however, are reportedly somewhat shifting. During 1963, Buchanan predicted that by 2010, those in Britain would be driving 40 million vehicles. In 2005 however, only 15 million individuals in the UK actually had access to a car. In addition to the World Wide Web, reasons contributing to the decreased number of individuals driving cars in Britain include car clubs and car sharing steadily growing. Car Plus, for example, reports that more than 36,000 members use its 1300 cars. Over 200,000 members subscribe to Liftshare.com, a car-sharing system (Fox 2008).

In the article, "Measuring Transportation Traffic, Mobility and Accessibility," Todd Litman (2008), Victoria Transport Policy Institute, offers another consideration of mobility:

Mobility refers to the movement of people or goods. It assumes that "travel" means person- or ton-miles, "trip" means person- or freight-vehicle trip. It assumes that any increase in travel mileage or speed benefits society. & #8230;From this perspective, transport users are mainly motorists, since most person- and ton miles are by motor vehicle, but recognizes that some people rely on non-automobile modes, and some areas have large numbers of transit, rideshare and cycling trips. (Litman 2008, p. 4 )

Litman (2008) explains that approximately 5% of trips are made entirely by non -- a lot is a heightened motorized modes. Four to six times as many trips, however, typically consist of the individual atsome time walking or cycling on public right-of-way. In a similar sense, even though, individuals make merely only 2% of to total trips by public transit in the United States (U.S.), approximately 5% of U.S., adults report they mostly rely on public transit for transport, with 12% reporting that they utilized public transit at least once during the two months prior to one study Litman analyzed. According to a U.K .survey, "walking represents 2.8% of total mileage, 17.7% of travel time, and 24.7% of trips. & #8230; If measured simply in terms of distance, walking seems insignificant, but not if evaluated in terms of trips, travel time, or exposure to street environments" (Litman 2008, p. 8). Consequently, as one experiences activities not just only by the distance traveled, but also by the amount of time they require, walking conditions may significantly impact the way an individual perceives the transportation system and/or the local environment. Table 1 depicts the Average annual travel by a number of modes in the UK.

Table 1: Average Annual Travel by Mode, UK (Litman 2008, p. 8).

Travel

Travel Times

Trips

Miles

Percent

Hours

Percent

Trips

Percent

Walk

2.8%

64

18%

25%

Bicycle

34

0.5%

5

1.3%

14

1.5%

Motorcycle/Moped

36

0.5%

1

0.4%

3

0.3%

Car or Truck Driver

3,466

51%

39%

41%

Car or Truck Passenger

2,047

30%

82

23%

23%

Other Private Vehicles

2.4%

7

1.9%

8

0.8%

Public Transit

13%

62

17%

92

9.3%

Totals

6,833

Walking, according to Litman (2008), reflects only 2.8% of personal mileage, yet denotes a bigger segment of trips and travel time.

Strengths of the Mobilities Concept

Often, due to an abundance of other basic activities of daily living (BADLs) deficits, in the realm of occupational therapy intervention, community mobility, an instrumental activity of daily living (IADL), may be overlooked. Community mobility, defined by the American Occupational Therapy Association, consists of "moving around in the community and using public or private transportation, such as driving, walking, bicycling, or accessing and riding in buses, taxi cabs, or other transportation systems" (Zahoransky 2009, What Is Community Mobility? Section, ¶ 2). Typically, community mobility encompasses driving, mass transportation, and pedestrian travel, which includes walking and biking. Weaknesses of the Mobilities Concept

In regard to a long-term direction to mobilities, there appears to be a dearth in considerations. The need exists to build up plausible and attractive visions of what a sustainable world might involve (Fox 2008) in regard to mobilities. The understanding of the relationship of the environment with mobility also needs to be strengthened (Zahoransky 2009).

Todd Litman (2008), Victoria Transport Policy Institute proposes another potential mobility weakness in the article, "Measuring Transportation Traffic, Mobility and Accessibility." Litman explains that various measurement methods may not yield identical impressions regarding an activity, group or person. "Different measurement units represent different perspectives and assumptions" (Litman, Introduction section, p. 2). As no one method or unit reflects all the information one needs for evaluation, this particular issue may or may not constitute a valid concern.

PART II

Understanding Mobilities

Mobilities consist of more than merely moving things around. Philip E. Steinberg and Rob Shields (2008) explain in the article, "What is a city?: Rethinking the urban after Hurricane Katrina," that access to mobility "is uneven across locations and unequal cross social class and status, gender, race and ethnicity." Understanding mobilities, the researcher asserts, may enhance one's understanding of why people might walk.

As noted earlier in this paper mobility is not a new thing, but rather the state of things (Adey, 2010; Steinberg & Shields 2008). In the book, Tracing mobilities: Towards a cosmopolitan perspective, Weert Canzler, Vincent Kaufmann, and Sven Kesselring (2008) report that mobility portrays a basic contemporary principle like others including" individuality, rationality, equality, and globality" (Book overview). In the book, Mobilities, networks, geographies, Jonas Larsen, John Urry, and K.W. Axhausen (2006) report that five interdependent mobilities exist that form geographies of contemporary world networks and mobilities. These include:

1. Physical travel of people for work, leisure, family live, pleasure, migration, and escape;

2. Physical movement of objects delivered to producers, consumers and retailers;

3. Imaginative travel elsewhere through images and memories seen on texts, TV, computer screens and film;

4. Virtual travel on the Internet;

5. Communicative travel through person-to-person messages via letters, postcards, birthday and Christmas cards, telegrams, telephones, faxes, emails, instant messages, video conferences and "skyping." (Larsen, Urry, & Axhausen 2006, p. 4)

For those living in poverty, Larsen, Urry, and Axhausen (2006) explain, stranded mobility may occur. This may relate to numerous low-income housing areas experiencing cutbacks in community transport services. Simultaneously, bus fares may also increase significantly; making travel by bus more expensive than travel by car. As the majority of individuals who live in poverty do not own a car, these factors may contribute to the reasons some individuals may walk. According to the mobilities' approach, even though people may know each other in a short chain of acquaintanceship, the number of links that individuals possess, an abstract concern, does not constitute the most vital issue. Instead, meetingness, which includes emailing, talking, traveling, visiting, and writing matters and proves critical to the nature of networks

Providing Transport to Encourage Walking.

In another article, "Creating safe and healthy communities," Litman (2008) relates a number of implications for providing transport to encourage walking. Among the numerous ways for an individual to be physically active, the majority of these means, which include "team sports and gym exercise, require special time, skill and expense, which discourages consistent, lifetime participation. Many experts believe that more Active Transportation (AT) is the most practical and effective way to improve public fitness" (Litman 2008, [Creating…] Physical Activity and Fitness Section ¶ 2). AT, which includes walking and cycling, as well as a number of variants such as running and skating may also be referred to as Human Powered Transportation or non -- a lot is a heightened motorized Modes. Other consideration Litman notes, include: was there was one

Empirical evidence indicates that shifts from driving to non -- a lot is a heightened motorized modes tend to reduce crash rates…. Urban regions with high rates of walking and cycling tend to have lower per capita traffic fatalities than more automobile-dependent communities. For example, walking and cycling travel rates are high in the Netherlands, yet the per capita traffic death rate is much lower than in automobile dependent countries…. Shifts from automobile to walking and cycling can provide proportionately large air pollution emission reductions because they usually replace short, cold start trips for which internal combustion engines have high emission rates. As a result, each 1% of automobile travel shifted to non -- a lot is a heightened motorized modes decreases motor vehicle air pollution emissions by 2-4% (Litman 2008, [Creating…] Non-Motorized Transportation Section, ¶ 4).

Walking contributes to helping individuals achieve most of the minimum amount of physical activity they require to enhance their health. The Web publication, "Walkability Improvements, Strategies to Make Walking Convenient, Safe and Pleasant" (2009), notes the following benefits regarding non-motorized transportation, particularly walking:

Mobility Benefits (Evaluating Transportation Choice): When the community improves non -- a lot is a heightened motorized transport conditions, this increases the individual's travel choice and mobility; particularly benefiting non-drivers. "Walking tends to be one of the most affordable transportation modes. People who are transportation disadvantaged often rely heavily on non -- a lot is a heightened motorized transportation, for trips made entirely by walking, and to access transit" ("Walkability Improvements…" 2009). provides Basic Mobility, particularly Universal Design improvements.

TDM (Transportation Demand Monitoring) Benefits. When individuals shift from driving to walking, this may decrease traffic congestion, as well as reduced consumer costs, road and parking facility fees, and pollution emissions.

Safety and Health Benefits: The relatively high per mile casualty rate that may accompany non-motorized is generally offset by reduced risk to other road users, as cyclists and pedestrians and cyclists usually travel less overall than motorists. Shifting to non -- a lot is a heightened motorized transport, international research indicates, results in overall road safety increases.

Livability: Attractive and safe streets that prove to be suitable for walking constitute a key factor in community livability. Pedestrian-friendly streets also provide opportunities for individuals to meet and interact with each other, which in turn, helps create and nurture community networks.

Recreation Benefits: Along with being enjoyable, walking, one of the most common forms of physical recreation, also provides health exercise. Some individuals challenge transportation funding being spent on recreational walking facilities. Other, however, insist that a significant portion of motor vehicle travel is to be allocated for recreation, which suggests that transportation and recreational funding may be allocated to non-motorized improvements.

Economic Development: In numerous case studies, when a community improves walking conditions, the venture notably increased property values and retail sales ("Walkability Improvements…" 2009).

Walkability, which considers factors such as comfort for walking, community support, land use patterns, pedestrian facilities' quality, roadway conditions, and security reflects an area's general walking conditions. The following relate a number of a multitude of precise ways a community may implement to improve walkability ("Walkability Improvements…" 2009):

Improve crosswalks, paths and sidewalks.

Improve non-motorized facility management and maintenance; reduce conflicts between users; maintain cleanliness.

Provide a universal design to accommodate special needs, such as handicapped individuals who use wheelchairs or walkers; parents or other individuals with strollers and hand carts.

Install pedestrian countdown signals to indicate the number seconds remaining in the walk phase.

Create Pedways, enclosed urban walkway networks, to connect buildings and transportation terminals. Cover loading and waiting areas; walkways to provide shade from particularly hot sun rays and protect the individual from rain and inclimate weather.

Creating location-efficient clustered mixed land use patterns to improve pedestrian accessibility with good road and path.

To provide concise information for a person to access a destination, develop transportation access guides.

Concentrate more activities into walkable commercial centers.

Street furniture and pedestrian facilities (e.g., benches, pedestrian-oriented street light, public washrooms, etc.).

Design in a pedestrian scale, with shorter blocks, narrower streets, pedestrian-oriented buildings and street furniture.

Construct and maintain more little bowl communities and more pedestrian-oriented streets.

Implement street reductions, traffic calming, streetscape improvements, and vehicle boundaries.

Reallocate road space to increase the segments for public rights-of-way sidewalks.

CONCLUSION

Mobilities, the literature repeatedly asserts, constitute a vital component of life. In fact, one engages in mobilities, from the time he awakes until he enters the realm of sleep. Even in sleep, however, the researcher suggests, one may engage in mobilities during dreams. Various kinds of mobility, related in this paper, include vertical mobility forms and transportation. During the two-part paper, the researcher focused on the primary mobility of walking.

The initial part of paper recounted a number of characteristics, as well as the significance, strengths and weaknesses of the mobility concept. During the second segment of the paper, the researcher discussed a number of ways mobilities may enhance one's understanding of why people may choose to of "have to" walk. The paper also examined numerous implications for providing transport to encourage walking.

Five interdependent mobilities, noted by Larsen, Urry, and Axhausen (2006), constitute contemporary characteristics of world networks and mobilities. Figure 1 depicts a sampling of the "geographies" mobilites may embrace.

Figure 1: Geographies Noted in Mobilities (adapted from Larsen, Urry, & Axhausen 2006, p. 4).

Research invested in the paper confirmed that mobilities embrace more than just moving things around. Access to mobilities differs in various settings and across diverse components. Figure 2 reflects a number of factors that may affect access to mobility.

Figure 2: Factors Determining Access to Mobility (adapted from Steinberg & Shields 2008).

As one increases his understanding of the concept of mobilities, the researcher suggests, one will likely enhance his perceptive of why people walk. In turn, he may appreciate the complex, yet simultaneously simple modes of travel he experiences within and through everyday life.