Southern Nevada Walk Audits
The Southern Nevada Health District is committed to engaging with community members to improve street and sidewalk conditions, traffic safety, and health. To accomplish this, the District is partnering with the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC), the Nevada Department of Transportation, Clark County, and the cities of Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Mesquite, and Boulder City to share and promote walk audits in your neighborhood!
What is a Walk Audit?
A walk audit is a controlled visit of a street to assess how supportive it is for walking or rolling, which is travelling with a use of mobility device or stroller. Walk audits can be conducted solo or by a group of people as a part of community engagement for civic projects. They usually occur as part of a bigger plan to assess overall walkability, which is the ability to safely and comfortably walk to places within a reasonable distance. They can also be a one-time event to understand or express safety concerns about a specific area. Using a “Walkability Checklist”, participants of a walk audit document physical or mental barriers to walking, observe present activities, assess street conditions, and note general perception of comfort of walking along a route.
Walk audits are beneficial because they let a community directly survey a route and document concerns with the city. Conducting a walk audit can be the start to making positive change in your community, leading to a safer, more accessible, more comfortable walking environment for people of all ages and abilities. Walk audits can also help the community understand potential safety deficits and identify inequities in transportation, leading to action towards safer and fairer street environments in the region.
As required by the 2021 Nevada Assembly Bill No. 343 (AB343), the RTC developed an action plan to describe roles, priority locations, community engagement approaches, checklists, and reporting methods for ongoing walk audits. This plan was completed in May 2022, in collaboration with the Southern Nevada Health District, local governments, and the Nevada Department of Transportation. AB343 Walk Audit Plan
Where Have Walk Audits Already Occurred?
In 2016, the RTC conducted the School Walk Audits project, in partnership with Clark County School District (CCSD). This project developed fifteen new Safe Routes to School (SRTS) audits along with updating previously completed audits. The project team reviewed challenges and identified site-specific recommendations to improve safety. The School Walk Audits project aligned with the goals of Southern Nevada Strong (SNS), a community-driven regional plan, including the goal to increase transportation choices for residents.
What’s Next?
The RTC will be conducting a series of Walk Audits in conjunction with its Livable Centers Phase II study. Livable centers are typically vibrant walkable communities that offer increased mobility options, encourage healthy lifestyles, improve environmental quality, and provide improved access to a wide variety of jobs, housing and services. In collaboration with the City of Henderson, the RTC will conduct one walk audit series at the Nevada State College Livable Center.
Our partner agencies and jurisdictions are also conducting walk audits in association with their own projects these include:
How Can I Give Input or Participate?
To suggest a potential walk audit location in or near your neighborhood, or to be notified of upcoming walk audits, please email the RTC SouthernNevadawalkaudit@rtcsnv.com.
Past Audits Archive
About the RTC
The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC) is a regional entity that oversees public transportation, traffic management, roadway design and construction funding, transportation planning and regional planning efforts known as Southern Nevada Strong.
Additional RTC Initiatives:
Updated on: January 23, 2024