Please see attached the presentation for the CTAC meeting in Fall 2021. This meeting was held on December 3, 2021. Here is the link to see the recording of this meeting: https://uofi.box.com/s/ezoxpyo8xp2bysocygvj4hnh7cnm9xi3
On 16th November, 2021, all the members involved in the Walkability audit met to discuss the progress of the audit. The process of data collection is currently underway. The results collected so far using the ArcGIS 123 survey app was shown during the meeting. The analysis of the data collected will be done in Spring 2022.
A graphic sweatshirt was designed as an incentive for volunteers for contributing to the audit. The design elements of the merchandise were discussed during the meeting. Several aspects of the design are specific to the walkability audit. In order to purchase 50 sweatshirts an SSC (Student Sustainability committee) grant application is being written for a $2000 funding request. The graphic sweatshirt will have the name of the audit, logo of UIUC and a relevant graphic of walking infrastructure of the campus.
(Image of sweatshirt design is enclosed in the attached files)
From Nov 1- Nov 6, 2021, Sarthak and Sutapa have been conducting training sessions (Virtual and In-person) for the Walkability Audit project. A total of 31 volunteers have been divided into 9 teams of 3 (or 4) volunteers each and have been assigned map blocks and unique id's to perform the survey. Detailed maps of the assigned blocks showing the sidewalks, buildings, building entrances and other key areas has been sent to each team member.
The Virtual training sessions are designed get a walkthrough of the Training Manual in order to get the volunteers familiar with the questions of the survey and key concepts that they might come across while performing the audit. It also introduces how to Download, log into and use the ArcGIS survey 123 app. Any questions or queries the volunteers had regarding the surveys were solved during these virtual sessions.
The In-person data collection training sessions were designed for the volunteers to get familiar with the ArcGIS survey 123 app and to correctly input their observations for both the surveys. Volunteers were asked to move around map blocks of the Illini union or the F&S building (1501 S. Oak St., Champaign, IL) to collect test data and sample deficiencies were identified during the test walk. The deadline for the volunteers to complete the data collection is 20th Nov 2021.
Timeslot(s) for the Virtual Training Sessions:
Nov 1, Mon 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Nov 1, Mon 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM
Nov 2, Tue 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Nov 2, Tue 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Nov 3, Wed 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Nov 3, Wed 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Nov 4, Thu 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Nov 5, Fri 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Nov 5, Fri 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM
Nov 6, Sat 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Timeslot(s) for the In-Person Training Sessions:
Nov 2, Tue 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM at Illini Union
Nov 3, Wed 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM at F&S (1501 S. Oak St., Champaign, IL)
Nov 4, Thu 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM at F&S (1501 S. Oak St., Champaign, IL)
Nov 4, Thu 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM at Illini Union
Nov 5, Fri 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM at F&S (1501 S. Oak St., Champaign, IL)
Nov 5, Fri 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM at Illini Union
Nov 6, Fri 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM at Illini Union
The Transportation iCAP team met on Friday, October 29th for its monthly meeting. The team discussed the plans for the proposed Commuter Program, the Walkability Audit, and the Campus Transportation Advisory Committee. Additionally, steps will be taken to pick up the Fleet Replacement Recommendation and the EV Task Force Member Recommendation.
Please see attached the final training manual for the Walkability Audit project.
Hello all,
Thank you so much for helping out with data collection for the Walkability Audit project. As you all already know, the primary objective of this project is to conduct a thorough analysis of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) campus sidewalk network. Two surveys will be used to assess the walkway infrastructure on campus:
This project will help us identify the areas that are good for walking and areas that require attention. Data collected from this study will create a prioritization list of sidewalk preservation and improvement projects that will subsequently be used to create a Campus Walking Master Plan.
All volunteers are required to fill out this form (https://forms.illinois.edu/sec/461765201) by Monday, November 1, 2021 12:00 PM for your preferred (3 preferences for each training) date and time for the
Please see attached the Walkability Audit Volunteer Training Manual. I recommend that you all go through this document before the training sessions. We will go over the training manual during the virtual training and answer any question you many have there. During the test data collection training, we will walk around a block and test the surveys.
All volunteers will use their smart phones to collect data. So make sure that your phones are fully charged because the ArcGIS Survey123 app will use your current location and it will drain your battery. You all need to download the ArcGIS Survey123 app:
Once downloaded, you will all use the same F&S Data Collector login for this study! Once you have downloaded the app,
I have divided all the volunteers in teams of fours (our own Fantastic 4s!) and assigned map blocks that each team has to cover. I will send more details about the teams and your assignments in a separate email (to the teams) in a bit. You can begin collecting data after you have completed both of the training sessions. I want this data by before the Fall break (Saturday, November 20, 2021).
I highly appreciate your time and effort! Your help is invaluable to us and this project will have a real long-term impact on the University! Thank you,
Sarthak
Sarthak Prasad
Sustainable Transportation Assistant
Facilities & Services
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Phone: 217-300-9575
Email: sprasad9 at illinois.edu
On Tuesday October 26, 2021, all members involved in the Walkability Audit project met to discuss the Final draft of the Walkability Audit Training manual. The Training Manual covers the following sections:
1. Objective of the project, introduction and timeline
2. Map of the campus divided into larger map blocks and smaller mini blocks
3. Volunteer assignment
4. Directions to perform the audit
5. Detailed steps to download and use the ArcGIS survey 123 App.
6. Instructions for '2021 UI Campus Walkability audit survey' (General questionnaire of 40 questions with explanation and diagrams)
7. Instructions for '2021 UI Campus Deficiency reporting survey' ( Specific questionnaire detailing deficiencies under 8 categories)
Previous comments/suggestions for both the surveys were taken into account and incorporated in order to create the final list of questions for the surveys. (Please see attached pdf) During the meeting, Stacey brought up the possibility of having a multiple choice option for the Deficiency reporting survey since there is a possibility of encountering more than 1 deficiency at the same location. However, due to the inability of the ArcGIS survey 123 app to register more than one deficiency per submission, we had to move forward with the previously decided 1 deficiency per submission option.
Training sessions will be held next week, everyday from Nov 1- Nov 6 (Virtual training sessions and in-person training sessions) for 1 hour each. These sessions are for the volunteers to understand how to use the ArcGIS survey 123 app and the nuances of the questions included in the audit for both the surveys. The deadline for the volunteers to complete the data collection is 20th Nov 2021.
On Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, Oct 19, 22, 23, 2021, Sutapa and Sarthak met to work on the Training Manual for the Walkability Audit.
The training manual is designed for the volunteers to understand the project better before starting their audits next week. The training manual entails the following sections (more details included in the attached word doc):
1. Introduction to the Project
2. Maps of the site of intervention
3. Directions for volunteers
4. Understanding the Walkability Audit questionnaire- Each question explained with figures for key concepts
5. Understanding the Deficiency Reporting questionnaire- Categories of deficiencies with an example of how to collect data
The draft manual has been sent to everyone involved in the project for their perusal before finally sending it to the volunteers.
Volunteer list has also been processed. They have been divided into teams and assigned map blocks to audit. The list of teams along with the training manual will be sent to all the volunteers shortly after 26th Oct ( Tuesday's meeting).
On Tuesday, October 12, 2021, Sarthak briefly presented the Walkability study in the general monthly SPO meeting of Dept. of Urban and Regional Planning (DURP). The presentation aimed at getting as many students to volunteer for the project as possible. Project description, timeline and expectations from the volunteers were made clear during the meeting. The 'Call for volunteers' prompt has been sent out to various departments in their newsletters, group chats, course announcements etc. So far 32 students have registered to be volunteers.
Call for volunteers- sign-up sheet link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/14bxthUQCLzZp8Yc0eBJPrnrHpfuQYOyKMzzfIvC...
On Thursday, October 14, 2021, Sutapa and Sarthak met to work on the Training Manual for the Walkability Audit. This manual is designed as a guide to help volunteers correctly perform the walkability audit. Training sessions for volunteers will be held at the end of the month of October after finalising the draft.
Old description:
The Wellness Center on campus is working to promote a Culture of Wellness for our University students, faculty, and staff. This office has been collecting information on the Walkability of campus pathways. By working with volunteers to perform walking audits, the Wellness Center is collecting detailed comments and notes about walking around campus. This information will be shared with Facilities and Services and incorporated into project prioritization for sidewalk improvements.
http://wellness.illinois.edu/iWalk/walkFeatured.html
This description has been moved to the Background
On Friday, October 09, 2021, Sutapa and Sarthak met to work on the Training Manual for the Walkability Audit.
The training manual is designed for the volunteers which will include background information about the project, directions for executing the audit in an efficient way and details about each question with graphics for clarity.
On September 30, 2021, Sarthak and Sutapa met with F&S-TDM, F&S Grounds, F&S FIR, and faculty from the Urban Planning department to keep everyone updated regarding the Walkability Audit. The Survey Questionnaire and Deficiency report drafts were discussed and sent out for perusal and inputs to everyone involved in the project. Inputs are expected by October 11, 2021 to move forward with finalizing the drafts.
On Thursday and Friday, September 23 and Spetember 24, 2021, Sutapa and Sarthak met to edit the Survey Questionnaire of the Walkability Audit. The Deficiency Report parameters were finalized during this meeting. The creation of the Volunteer training manual process is scheduled to start after this meeting.
The draft documents mentioned above have been sent to the members involved in the Walkability study for their inputs. The inputs are expected to be received by Oct 11, 2021.
Next week, Thursday September 30th, a common meeting is scheduled and open to all members of the project to discuss the progress.
On Tuesday September 17, 2021, Sutapa and Sarthak met to discuss the progress of the Survey Questionnaire of the Walkability Audit. Several walkability toolkits were identified as potential references for creating a consolidated survey questionnaire. First draft of the new questionnaire was discussed and corrections were identified.
The survey questions as well as the Training manual will be finalized by Sept end.
On Tuesday September 7, 2021, Sutapa and Sarthak met to discuss the Survey Questionnaire of the Walkability Audit. Each question of the MAPS tool was analysed and a decision to restructure the questionnaire was taken.
On Thursday September 9, 2021, Sutapa, Sarthak and Prof. Lindsay Braun met for discussing the Survey questionnaire and the Deficiency report. The decision of focusing on 5 major categories was agreed on, which are as follows:
In conclusion, the database of the Walkability audit is to be collected using two methods: The Survey Questionnaire (focuses on the sub-block area as a whole) and the Deficiency report (focuses on individual locations within each sub-block).
On September 2, 2021, Sarthak and Sutapa met with F&S-TDM, F&S Grounds, DRES, F&S FIR, and faculty from the Urban Planning departments to discuss the updates regarding the Walkability Audit. Following is the brief outline from the meeting:
Proposal to do a 2-step data collection was finalized during the meeting.
The study is to be performed using four main parameters ( Safety, Accessibility, Connectivity and Walk Appeal). The study will also include entrances to the buildings as well as ADA ramps.
The next steps to be performed for the Project is to finalize the survey questionnaire and the individual maps of each subdivision (showing sidewalks, crosswalks, and entrances). The training manual is scheduled to be worked on right afterwards. Call for volunteers in the newsletter to be posted soon.
The Walkability Audit FY 2021-22 commences with designing a system to study the Walkability Index of the campus of UIUC and its neighboring areas. The site of intervention is divided into 29 divisions. A 2-level survey is chosen in order to generate an in-depth analysis, the survey questionnaire and a detailed study per division. The questionnaire takes care of overall parameters like pedestrian facilities, maintenance, crosswalks, aesthetics, path size, universal accessibility, shade, buffers etc (more to be added later) and is scored using 0-5 pts. The detailed study identifies and locates existing problems relevant to each division/subdivision individually.
By mid-September 2021, all the walkability parameters and the survey questionnaire will be finalized and the training manual for volunteers will be developed. Volunteers will be provided with maps of their respective subdivisions and trained to correctly observe each parameter and take reference pictures if need be. The data will be collected in the month of October after the training is complete. Volunteers will work in teams and a single division will be documented by 3 different volunteers after which an average of the scores will be generated. This average score is believed to best represent each parameter. Volunteer groups will be kept the same throughout each study level for consistency of scores. The database with scores should be generated at the end of October 2021 after which the Analysis phase of the Walkability Audit will commence.
The Facilities and Services- Transportation Demand and Management department is working on performing a Walkability Audit for the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign campus. The area covered in the audit encompasses the pedestrian walkways on UIUC campus, some parts of the cities of Urbana, Champaign, and Savoy located at close proximity to the campus. The site of intervention is bifurcated into 29 divisions with eventual subdivisions for detailed analysis.
The final objective of the audit is to create a Walking Master Plan of the area using best practices of Urban Planning and Design. This will be achieved by documenting the walkability index of the footpaths using surveys filled by volunteers. Volunteers involved in the project will be assigned certain subdivisions and will be trained to identify problems with the help of certain parameters. They will finally fill a questionnaire which will be the starting point of our database. A scoring system will be determined in order to identify the level of service present in each division. Through the scores, the divisions that require the highest priority of intervention will be identified and strategies will be proposed to tackle existing problems.
As a final product, a detailed report will be created that documents the results of the surveys, analyzes the existing scenario, and provides detailed measures to be taken to improve walkability. This report will be proposed to the university and will serve as a starting point to improve the urban walkability infrastructure in the campus and its vicinity.
Sutapa Banerjee, a Masters in Urban Planning student at U of I, will work with Sarthak Prasad with the Walkability Audit project in 2021-22 as her Capstone Project. She has an undergraduate degree in Architecture from Sir JJ College of Architecture, Mumbai. She joined MUP in Spring 2021.
Please see attached the project scope for the Walkability Audit. This project scope was distributed amongst the Masters in Urban Planning students on July 16, 2021.
