Foot-based microscale audit of light rail network in Montreal Canada

Introduction Light Rail Transit offers the potential to encourage physical activity, but the extent to which it does may depend on station design. Methods A microscale audit was conducted around the stations of the Réseau Express Métropolitain light rail network currently under construction in the Greater Montreal Area (GMA), Canada, to measure how conducive its stations are to walking. The audit made use of the Mini version of the Microscale Audit of Pedestrian Landscape (MAPS-Mini audit tool) audit tool, which generates a score for each segment, with additional questions being added for auxiliary data collection. Extensive data cleaning was conducted using inter-rater reliability testing and validated online verification methods. Results The findings of the audit reveal a large disparity in the scores whereby urban stations tend to score higher than suburban ones. A case study is presented examining the well-designed micro-geographies of the suburban Du Quartier station as an exception to this trend. No relationship was visually observed between the socioeconomic variables around each station and their MAPS-Mini audit tool scores or the mapped amenities. Conclusions The results of this study demonstrate the strength of the MAPS-Mini audit tool in highlighting stations with room for improvement. As such, we recommend its usage for future microscale audits as an efficient alternative to longer-form audits. We also suggest that new suburban transit stations emulate the micro-geographies of the Du Quartier station to promote an environment conducive to active transport.