Walking trips fall sharply in Portland post-pandemic
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The number of daily walking trips taken by Americans — including here in the City of Roses — has plummeted since the pandemic.
Why it matters: Walking is not only good for our health, but also benefits the environment since it's the original form of zero-emissions travel.
By the numbers: The number of annual average daily walking trips in the Portland metro area fell by 36% between 2019 and 2022, per a new StreetLight Data report.
- That slightly outpaces the national decline of 36%.
- Of the top 100 metropolitan areas, Portland ranked 46th for walking rates.
How it works: StreetLight measures travel behavior based on anonymized data from mobile devices, vehicle GPS systems and more.
- For this analysis, one "walking trip" is any trip taken by foot that is more than 250 meters — about 820 feet — from start to finish.
What they found: It's clear that the pandemic had an "obvious impact," StreetLight says. But beyond that, the group isn't sure what's keeping Americans off their feet.
- Some of this could be the prevalence of remote work, which can make it all too easy to become overly sedentary.
- And some of it could be part of the downtown recovery story — if a city has fewer restaurants and shops open, there's less reason for locals and visitors to have a walkabout.
Both of those trends have had major influences in Portland, as the city has one of the highest rates for remote work in the country, according to census data.
- In 2022, 23% of people in the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro metro area worked from home.
The big picture: "Active transportation" — that is, walking and biking — accounted for just 10% of overall trips nationwide in 2022, down from 14% in 2019.
- Driving, however, is only 4% below 2019 levels — yet another sign that America is a country of car lovers.
Zoom in: Despite being renowned for its bicycle culture, walkability and sprawling public transportation system, it's not always safe for pedestrians to get around here due to reckless driving and speeding.
- Portland could surpass its previous record of 68 traffic-related deaths in 2022 and 63 in 2021. So far, 55 people have died in crashes this year, including 18 pedestrians.