In this spacial analysis, I use a buffer and walking time analysis around transit stops in Washington, DC to determine the walkability to transit stops. Ideally, it is best to be located within a half mile of a transit stop in order for it to be considered walkable. Taking this into account, I run a buffer around each transit stop, including planned Purple Line and Silver Line stops that have yet to be built. This buffer shows the exact half mile radius that surrounds each station. I then ran a walking time analysis that determined how far you can walk to a transit station with the available street network. Ideally, you want your street network to reach as far towards the edge of the half mile buffer as possible in order to maximize the walkable environment around transit. What this analysis shows is that there is mixed results regarding the walkability around mass transit. While areas in more urbanized parts of the region with a more grid like street pattern almost take up the entire buffer, other areas only take up a sliver of it due to the lack of connections available in the street network. This analysis shows the work that needs to be done to improve pedestrian accessibility to mass transit and reduce automobile reliance.
However this analysis is not perfect in determining the true walkability. One reason is that many of the potential foot paths that are not on roads are unaccounted for. Another setback is that it does not count for the multiple station entrances that exist in downtown Metrorail stations and instead only focuses on one node regarding station accessibility.