Wayfinding and signage for people walking by Kate Mackay, Matt MacDonald and Michael Langdon

Abstract

The Queensland Walking Strategy, published in 2019, aims to make walking an ‘easy choice for everyone, everyday’. Achieving this will present opportunities and challenges, and require a multi-facetted approach. Consideration of wayfinding is essential. It is known that wayfinding can support more people to walk more often. But what walkers need from wayfinding is very different to what other road users need. Developing effective wayfinding for walkers should recognise the unique needs and characteristics of people walking. Walkers travel at slower speeds, across shorter distances, and navigate using time rather than distance, to name but a few differences. Recognising that there is no existing guidance in Queensland which comprehensively addresses the specific wayfinding needs of people who walk, the Department of Transport and Main Roads engaged Mott MacDonald to develop ‘Wayfinding and signage for people walking’. Now available for download on TMR’s website, the Guideline is applicable for the whole of Queensland and responds to local needs and situations, reflecting the diversity of the state. The Guideline is designed to illustrate a practical, step by step process for state agencies, local government, consultants and other providers of traffic management and road design expertise. It takes the user through the planning, design and development of wayfinding for walkers. It focuses on the outcomes sought from implementing wayfinding and how to respond to the unique characteristics of an area. It includes a case study example to illustrate the process and explain how individual context is reflected. Kate Mackay from Mott MacDonald and Michael Langdon from TMR will present on this new Guideline. They will explain the principles for effective wayfinding for walkers, illustrating how the needs of walkers are different to other road users and why specific wayfinding is needed for them. They will outline the process for developing wayfinding for walkers, using a case study example.