County Weak, City Strong on Metro Walkability

In the wake of a meeting which saw comes an analysis of Walk Score ratings from Greater Greater Washington blogger Matt Johnson which argues that Prince George's County has the least walkable Metro stations in all of the transit system, and perhaps in the nation.

According to Greater Greater Washington's analysis, the area around Prince George's County's 16 heavy rail transit stations would rank last in terms of walkability when compared with development around other American heavy rail transit systems.

The county is at a disadvantage because of the placement of many stations. But even so, Prince George's has not committed to transit-oriented development around its stations. It also has a history of allowing development on the fringes of the county to short-circuit demand for offices and retail near Metro. - Johnson writing in Greater Greater Washington.

Now, a word about Johnson's methods. He based his analysis on the website Walk Score, which calculates an area's walkability based upon a number of factors such as availability of sidewalks and distance to destinations. Locations are graded on a scale of 0-100. The higher the number, the easier it is to get around on foot.  

System-wide, WMATA has an average Walk Score of 72.1, according to Johnson's analysis. Prince George's County's 16 Metro stations lag far behind that, with an average Walk Score of 49.8. That's about 10 points behind the Cleveland RTA Red Line's 18 station heavy-rail network.

Blogger David Klion also recently examined the issue through Walk Score results using a similar methodology and provided a station by station breakdown of Metro's walkability. 

According to Klion's analysis, the most walkable station area in Prince George's County is Prince George's Plaza, with an 88 Walk Score, far above the system-wide and county averages. Prince George's Plaza's Walk Score puts it in the company of transit oriented locales Brookland, Ballston, Wheaton and Union Station. 

The West Hyattsville Metro Station, tucked in the heart of the ranks a walkability score of only 55. 

College Park Metro comes near the county average at an even 48. 

Greenbelt is by far the least walkable Metro station in our neck of the woods along the Green Line's northern Prince George's County right-of-way, with a Walk Score of only 38.