The basic outcome desired by the strategy is to increase the amount of pedestrian movement as a proportion of all trips in Christchurch. If walking is perceived as a safe, convenient and viable alternative to other forms of transport, more people are likely to walk more. While all people are pedestrians and are likely to walk at some stage during each day, the outcome is to encourage more people to walk more often. This strategy for pedestrians is developed around a vision for pedestrian activity in Christchurch in the future. This is the guiding statement for all work in the pedestrian area and all actions will be evaluated by their ability to work toward the achievement of this vision.
Pedestrian are very vulnerable in the road environment, especially compared to other road users.
Safety is often a matter of perception and while physically facilities may be engineered to be safe, they are unlikely to be used if the pedestrian does not feel safe. However it should be noted that some social safety issues might be addressed indirectly by increasing the number of people on the street. The style of pedestrian movement eg. The pedestrian facilities utilised eg. The trip type eg.