A 'Curious' New Report on Pedestrian Behavior in Public Spaces

"A new study from the Seattle Department of Transportation shows that the vast majority of sidewalk users do not take advantage of city-provided seating, preferring standing (61 percent) or simply leaning on walls or using makeshift chairs (11 percent)," reports Angie Schmitt.

What's not clear from the findings is whether "pedestrians prefer to stand or simply whether there’s just not enough seating available."

Schmitt characterizes the reports as "curious," and noteworthy for its portrayal of pedestrians as motivated by a diversity of interests, like social, commercial, and resting.

The report required observations by a team of volunteers deploys to 108 blocks around 38 neighborhoods in the city. A blog post, written by Jeanne Clark to announce the study for SDOT, also claims that the study is the first of its kind for any municipal transportation agency in the country.