This article has been prepared for public health professionals and other curious individuals.

 

The Winter Walkability Audit Tool (WWAT) was developed to assess winter pedestrian-built environment features.

Among the many factors that may influence physical activity, climatic conditions and the built environment are primary considerations. In those regions that experience the four seasons (i.e. temperate zones), the rate of physical activity is generally lowest during cold and winter months. Individuals living in cities that experience a winter season identify poor winter maintenance and inadequate lighting of pedestrian environments as barriers to engaging in outdoor physical activity during winter months. Features of the pedestrian environment in winter may play a role in physical activity levels.

For instance, the City of Edmonton in Alberta, Canada created winter city design guidelines to encourage outdoor activity within the city during the winter months (City of Edmonton, 2016). It follows that, to promote winter outdoor physical activity, to identify potential barriers to physical activity, and allow for the evaluation of winter city design guidelines, objective assessment of built environment pedestrian spaces is necessary. The Winter Walkability Audit Tool (WWAT) was developed to assess winter pedestrian-built environment features. WWAT was pilot tested in Alberta with great reliability.

A study looking at the WWAT tool’s effectiveness will be available to the public in the Journal of Transport & Health this December 2025. The abstract titled: Development and reliability testing of the winter walkability audit tool is currently available to the public now.

Early analyses suggest hazards and snow reduce walking, while safer pedestrian crossings increase walking activity.

The aim of the study was to develop and test the reliability and validity of a comprehensive built environment audit tool specific to winter environments, the WWAT, that can be used to assess the health-supportiveness of pedestrian environments during winter.

The initial findings suggest that the WWAT is a reliable tool for evaluating winter pedestrian environments and their influence on walking behavior. Further testing is necessary to validate its effectiveness across different contexts. The WWAT holds significance for public health professionals as it:

  • Enables quantification of how winter-related built environment design policies impact individual health, and
  • Informs the development of targeted interventions aimed at promoting outdoor physical activity during the winter months.

The WWAT will allow trained researchers, planners, and policy makers to objectively assess the microscale winter pedestrian environment to inform policies and practices that can promote physical activity during winter months.

To read the abstract, visit HERE.

The full study will be available in December 2025.