Encouragement Tools

Pedestrian Master Plan > Toolbox > Encouragement

Introduction

Walking is one of the easiest, safest, and most cost-effective forms of transportation and exercise. You can walk anytime and anywhere—during the lunch hour, on a wooded trail, indoors or outside, on vacation, or in your neighborhood. A range of useful strategies can be employed to encourage walking for both transportation and health.

By promoting walking, individuals and organizations plant the seeds for initiating change, creating awareness about pedestrian issues and alerting others to the benefits of walking and the ways that walkable places foster healthier, more livable communities. This toolbox examines concepts for changing values, perceptions, and behaviors related to walking and provides ideas and strategies for promoting walking in your community.

The encouragement toolbox is comprised of seven sections:

1. Media Campaigns & Strategies—Tools include media and communication strategies.
2. Pedestrian Advocacy—Tools include information about existing organizations and potential partnerships to promote walking.
3. Walking Incentives—Tools include promotions, support programs, and awards.
4. Wayfinding—Tools include maps, kiosks, and signs for getting people to destinations.
5. Walking Programs—Tools include examples of walking programs sponsored by various groups and organizations.
6. Events—Tools include one-time or recurring events, good motivational tools for walking.
7. Built Environment & Infrastructure—Tools include environmental supports for walking that will encourage more people to be active.