The Federal Transportation Administration is reconsidering the distance from public transportation that one can be considered to be likely to walk "safely and conveniently". To quote the FTA, "Relying on this guidance, in most circumstances FTA has considered pedestrian improvements within about 1,500 feet of a public transportation stop or station to be functionally related. Improvements beyond a 1,500 foot radius were considered functionally related to public transportation only if they satisfied a test of activity and use.



But the FTA is now leaning on a study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine that showed Americans who use public transportation spend a median length of time of 19 minutes daily walking to and from public transit. In more dense areas the amount of time is 30 minutes. This has led the FTA to state that 1/2 mile is a "conservative estimate" to consider a "safe and convenient" distance to walk to public transit. And the distance considered for bicycles is proposed to extend to 3 miles.



What would the increase from 1,500 to 2,600 feet mean to a system like MetroLink in St. Louis? The map I put together very quickly below shows the impact on just a few stops near Forest Park. If I had continued west you would see that nearly every stop on the Blue Line is within 1 mile of another stop, making the entire distance between a "safe and convenient" walk per the new definition.