Winter Walking photo by H. Beattie
WINNIPEG, MB –In most winter cities, municipal governments and the public focus on plowing snow off streets. However, with the promotion of walkability, it has become imperative to understand both the experience and causes of poor walking conditions. During this winter of 2015-2016, pedestrians have the opportunity to contribute to a new website that is gathering information about winter walking conditions throughout Winnipeg.
The Winter Walking: Evaluating Human Perception and Climatic Factors to Enhance Pedestrian Safety study is being conducted in partnership by Dr. Gina Sylvestre and Dr. Nora Casson, both Assistant Professors, Geography, University of Winnipeg.
Winter walkers are encouraged to participate by providing information about walking surfaces that they experience. The website will collect information that includes rating the level of walking difficulty, descriptions of snow clearing, ice and snow conditions that create barriers to walking, as well as basic information about a walker’s physical ability and frequency of winter walking. The physical conditions of walking surfaces in winter are very difficult to measure, and there is very limited research in this area.
“Using this innovative ‘citizen science’ data collection method allows us to create a large dataset across the city, while engaging Winnipeggers in the issue of winter walkability,” said Sylvestre.
“The goal of the study is to better understand the relationship between winter walking conditions and weather conditions, to help policy makers decide how and when to deploy limited snow clearing resources.”
Participants in this project will help create knowledge that will assist cities in creating safer winter conditions for pedestrians. People can take this survey multiple times throughout the winter, as walkway conditions change in response to weather, snow clearing and traffic. The more data collected, the better the picture of what affects winter walking conditions in Winnipeg. All information provided by survey participants is confidential.
Take the winter walking survey here now!
Link to the video, Walking on Ice, created by Dr. Gina Sylvestre with student videographer, Hillary Beattie. It provides a visual perspective of the barriers encountered by older adults in Winnipeg winters.
RESEARCH CONTACT
winterwalkway@gmail.com.
MEDIA CONTACT
Diane Poulin, Senior Communications Specialist, The University of Winnipeg
P: 204.988.7135, E: d.poulin@uwinnipeg.ca
