Urban transportation is one of the most important target sectors for creating more
sustainable and livable cities. Many US cities are making huge investments in public
transit infrastructure in efforts to lower automobile use, encourage compact development, and curb greenhouse gas emissions. This paper explores how differences in
the urban environment impact walking and transit use and how urban residents utilize walking and transit as modes of transportation. I use data from neighborhood
mapping, observations, surveys, and interviews to explore these two questions. I
find that walking is indeed the main mode of transportation within the urban core
of Seattle. In contrast to what mainstream urban planning literature would suggest, residents living in the dense urban core of Seattle do not appear to be transit
dependent and continue to drive at higher than expected rates. To help explain
this, I explore how the ‘theory of urban fabrics’ applies to walkability and transit
planning. This new emerging theory encourages planners to rediscover how to prioritize different modes of transportation within different parts of the city instead of
current trends, which advocate for multimodal and shared streets throughout the
city. Evidence indicates that the most walkable neighborhoods are those that have the least number of conflicts between pedestrians, transit, and automobiles, and
that the transit system in Seattle suffers because it is not prioritized over cars in any
significant way. This reduces the likelihood that individuals will make the switch to
transit over driving, which has important implications for transportation planning
policies.
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