Exploratory Audits
If you want to develop a sense of pedestrian distances between destinations in your community, or if your community does not have common pedestrian routes, exploratory audits are a good place to start.
Costs
Event Space
Map Printing
Stationary
Clipboards [Optional, but Recomended]
Time
Planning: 1- 5 Days
Advertising: 3 Weeks
Event: 1 Day
Follow-up: 2-3 Days
Getting Ready
Step 1: Pick a study area in your community.
Pick one or two landmarks in your community as starting points.
eg. parks, schools, libraries, community centres, major intersections
Print off a map of the area within 1-2 Km of your starting points - the range participants may cover in your audit.
Maps do not need to be professionally made, maps printed from Google Maps, Open Street Map, Bing Maps, etc will do.
Step 2: Pick a date for your audit.
The date you chose for your event affects who can attend and what conditions will be observed.
Avoid dates of holidays and observances to avoid excluding any cultural groups in your community.
Try incorporating your walkability audit as programming for a local festival or event.
Consider a rain date to avoid bad weather.
Step 3: Pick a nearby venue.
You will need a place for your participants to meet before your audit and debrief afterwords.
Avoid venues with barriers to physical accessibility, plan how to work around barriers if needed.
Consider the number of participants you are expecting, find a venue that can fit that number intimately to stimulate conversation.
Consider who is coming, and how they’ll be arriving:
Will there be be families with young children? Are there diaper change stations? Is childcare needed?
Is your venue accessible by public transit?
Are attendees coming from across the region? Will there be sufficient parking for cars and bikes?
Step 4: Invite your participants.
Your observations will be shaped by who attends your audit. The more perspectives in attendance, the more will be observed. Advertise your audit for at least 3 weeks to allow potential participants to schedule around it. Consider meeting directly with community groups and services that support individuals with varying needs. Try to reach:
People who use mobility devices [eg. wheelchairs, walkers, strollers, scooters]
Different age groups and combinations [eg. parents with young children, adults with older parents]
People with different sensory needs [eg. visual impairments, hearing impairments, autism spectrum disorders]
Step 5: Gather and prepare materials.
You will need means to record your observations during your audit and while debriefing. This will include:
Travel-sized maps of your study area [8.5” x 11”].
Clipboards are optional, but strongly recommended.
Table-sized maps of your route for debriefing [24” x 36”].
Pens, pencils, and markers for recording observations and drawing on maps.
Print What to Look For checklists.
Audit Day
Step 1: Gather your participants at your starting point
With everyone together, it’s time to go explore!
Distribute maps, pencils or pens, and clipboards.
Remind participants of your audit’s goal.
Go over the What to Look For checklist with your participants.
Give your participants the following instructions:
Set a timer for 5 minutes. Walk or roll in any direction you choose.
Keep a natural pace and observe your surroundings.
When your timer is up, write down the destinations you passed.
(businesses, parks, schools, landmarks, etc.)
Reset your timer for 5 minutes and keep exploring.
Again, when your timer is up, pause to write down any additional destinations you’ve passed.
Draw your route on the map, and backtrack to where you started.
Write down any more destinations you notice on your way back.
As you retrace your route, note any problems you see on your map.
Refer to the “What to Look For“ checklist.
Step 2: Lead Participants back to your venue to reflect.
Prepare your meeting space for attendees to share their observations.
Set up large ‘table-sized‘ maps of your audit route.
Distribute sticky notes, pens, pencils, and markers.
Invite participants to draw their routes on a communal map.
Have participants note their observations on communal maps as they see fit.
Step 3: Have a group discussion.
Let your participants share the strengths and weaknesses they found in their audit.
Ask participants why they chose the route they did.
Ask participants where they felt the most and least safe.
Ask participants about any interesting or unexpected observations they had.
Have someone take notes/minutes to record what comes up in conversation.
Step 4: Thank participants.
Your audit was a collaborative process, thank everyone involved for their contributions.
Be sure you thank your participants for taking time to help study the community.
Invite participants to join an email list or follow a social media feed where you will share the audit’s findings.
Collect individual maps to include observations participants may not have shared in discussions.
Following up
The observations shared in your audit will help identify where people prefer to walk and roll in your community, as well as barriers to mobility and pedestrian safety.
Compare participants’ routes, identify the most and least used segments of streets and pathways. This may help identify where people like to walk and roll and places where people feel unsafe as pedestrians.
Read through and transcribe discussion notes, sticky notes, and comments written on individual and communal maps.
Note items that are frequently noted in participants’ observations, identify themes and group comments by theme.
Assemble a short “What We Heard“ document that includes the following:
A concise summary of your audit method, and participation demographics.
A brief description of each theme, and every comment related to the theme.
Ideas suggested by participants for improving pedestrian conditions in your community.
Use your “What We Heard“ report to advocate for improvements.
Present the report to your municipal government.
Share your report with interested participants who provided their contact info during the audit.
If you have a social media presence, create a shareable post for each theme.