Identifying and prioritising walking investment through the PERS audit tool

Abstract

Walking audit tools allow for evaluation and prioritisation of walking improvements through justifiable methodology. One such example, the Pedestrian Environment Review System (PERS) is maturing and changing in response to demand and now offers additional functionality and usefulness that supports the case for continued walking investment in London. A new version of PERS (v3) was developed by Transport for London (TfL) and TRL to provide more usable and defined outputs that better support prioritisation and decision making in walking investment. The improvements consist of quick-win work-lists and GIS data that can be imported and opened within other GIS systems. Quick-win improvements revolve around easily implemented infrastructure or repair and maintenance of existing walking facilities. Such improvements can be implemented in short time-frames at low cost to enhance the walking experience of pedestrians. Complementary to this is the new ability to compare, analyse and view audited areas. PERS v3 audit data is now outputted in GIS format that can be imported and opened within any industry standard compatible GIS system to quickly visualise areas audited, findings and walking environment performance. The GIS functionality allows TfL to monitor and prioritise walking London's audited walking environments and share this data with other teams and organisations. A case study of how TfL have used PERS v3 in prioritising a walking route for the 2012 London Olympics is outlined to show how PERS can be used to assess, prioritise and invest in improving walking provision in London.

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