More people in Washoe County are walking and riding their bikes than ever before. Reno Public Radio’s Noah Glick explores why.
The Regional Transportation Commission recently released its annual report on bicycling, walking and wheelchair use. Amy Cummings is the RTC’s director of planning and says the increase in pedestrian traffic is partly due to their goal of creating more of what they call “complete streets.”
“It’s more attractive for people to walk when there are multiple destinations for them to get to in a short period of time," Cummings says. "And we know people are much more willing to walk where there’s sidewalks and other quality infrastructure for them to use.”
Cummings says the region is seeing a lot of growth in more vehicle-dense areas like South Meadows and Spanish Springs, where commercial and residential zoning are more separated. But she’s also seeing revitalization to the urban core, which encourages more people to walk.
“It’s great for our air quality, it’s also great for community health," she adds. "So that’s one of our guiding principles in our regional transportation plan, is to improve safe and healthy communities and to provide more transportation choices.”
The RTC is working on additional transportation improvements, including a 10-foot wide, paved, multi-use path that will run from Sparks to South Reno, which should open in about two years.
