Access Across America: Walk 2024

Abstract

Accessibility is the ease of reaching valued destinations. It can be measured for a wide array of transportation modes, to different types of destinations, and at different times of day. There are a variety of ways to define accessibility, but the number of destinations reachable within a given travel time is the most comprehensible and transparent as well as the most directly comparable across cities.

This study estimates the accessibility to jobs by walking or rolling for each of the United States' 8.2 million census blocks and analyzes these data in the 50 largest (by population) metropolitan areas. Travel times by walking or rolling are calculated using detailed pathway networks and low-speed streets. Rankings are determined by a weighted average of job accessibility; a higher weight is given to closer jobs, as jobs closer to origins are more easily reached, and are thus more valuable, than those further away. Jobs reachable within ten minutes are weighted most heavily, and jobs are given decreasing weights as travel time increases up to 60 minutes.

This report presents detailed accessibility values for each metropolitan area, as well as block-level maps which illustrate the spatial patterns of accessibility within each area. Additionally, access to jobs by travel time is separately analyzed according to the income grouping of resident workers who experience that access. Year-over-year changes in accessibility are likewise provided for each area. Given the typically slow change in pedestrian network infrastructure, there are not great changes in walk or roll access. In 2024 improving economic conditions led to higher accessibility, likely a reflection of the land use (job destinations) improvements in walkable areas.