Outdoor physical activity is uncomfortable and unhealthy in temperatures over 90°F (32°C) during the day and 75°F (24°C) at night. As global warming continues, ambient temperatures will pose an increasingly critical barrier in more and more areas to choosing walking, cycling and other active transportation modes.
Accordingly, it will be important to develop and promote routes and portions of routes that will be comfortable for walking and/or cycling in hot weather. For example, Todd Litman has designed the Cool Walkshed Index to evaluate and communicate pedestrian thermal comfort for an area. He breaks tactics into two groups: shadeways (e.g. areas with many large trees and/or other forms of shading), and pedways (enclosed climate controlled walkways.) |
