'Wayfinding and signage for people walking' – a best practice guideline to support more walking, more often in Queensland

Hamish Speakman & Samuel Tasman-Jones

Mott MacDonald, New Zealand

This presentation was delivered at the 2021 Online Conference Series and until October 2022 is only available to registered delegates and Content Access Pass holders via Interchange. For information on accessing this and other presentations please review the Content Access Pass options.

ABSTRACT

TThe Queensland Walking Strategy, published in 2019, aims to make walking an'easy choice for everyone, everyday'. It is known that wayfinding can support people to walk more often; however, the needs of people walking are often overlooked in the planning and design of signage. 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 a best practice guideline,'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. 
Sam Tasman-Jones and Hamish Speakman from Mott MacDonald will present on the Guideline. They will explain the principles for effective wayfinding for walkers, illustrating how the needs of walkers are different to other road users. They will outline the process for developing wayfinding for walkers, using a case study example included in the Guideline. And they will comment on how the guide is being used across Queensland to help deliver the vision of the Queensland Walking Strategy.

Author(s)

Hamish Speakman | Mott MacDonald

Hamish is a transport planner, based in Mott MacDonald’s Auckland office, with experience working for public and private sector organisations in New Zealand and Australia. Hamish has a broad base of transport planning experience that includes preparing Traffic Impact Assessments for large scale housing developments and mixed-use retail and office buildings. He is also experienced in the planning and design of walking and cycling facilities. This includes work on several business cases in NZ relating to walking and cycling improvements, most recently for the Pt Chevalier cycleway in NZ. Hamish is also experienced in Travel Demand Management, currently being involved in developing a tool for the City of Gold Coast to assist in creating a TDM response for unplanned events.

Samuel Tasman-Jones | Mott MacDonald

Samuel is a highly motivated transport Planner with experience in New Zealand, Australia and Hong Kong. With a strong focus on, and experience in travel demand management, stakeholder engagement, transport policies and strategies, FUTURES and business case development.
Mott MacDonald’s FUTRES lead in New Zealand and exploring the challenges presented by the Volatile Uncertain Complex and Ambiguous environment we now live and operate in. Passionate about utilising FUTURES to deliver more resilient and future-proof transport outcomes in our evolving world.