When researchers Ralph Buehler and John Pucher looked at the latest release of national data showing how people are traveling around they were stunned. The numbers ― official government data ― showed that over nearly two decades, on average, there has been no increase in the amount of time people are walking and cycling.
Over the last two decades, the number of daily trips made by walking or biking ― whether that be running errands or getting to work or school ― stayed flat. “I just couldn’t believe it,” said Pucher, professor emeritus in urban planning and policy at Rutgers University. “It just didn’t make sense to me.”
But upon closer inspection the two researchers realized why. And the answer was even more unsettling: despite an increase among adults, there has been a dramatic decline in the amount of time children spend walking and biking each day.
Between 2001 and 2017, on average, there has been a 34% decrease in the number of trips made by walking each day among children ages five to 15, and a 55% drop in their daily cycling trips, according to the researchers’ calculations. “That’s a very disturbing trend,” said Buehler, associate professor in urban affairs and planning at Virginia Tech.
Their research, published in January, reflects a trend that stretches back decades ― to 1973 ― of children cycling less as a way to get around. In addition, recreational cycling for children ages 7 to 17 has dropped 48% since 1997, according to the National Sporting Goods Association.
One major reason for this, the study argues, is that our streets are simply not set up for bicycling or walking. More investment is needed to create safer cycling and walking infrastructure so that children are able to better navigate the streets by foot or by bike. The inequitable and insufficient urban planning that caters to cars over vulnerable populations comes with a big cost: our children’s health. | 
