Toowoomba Healthy Towns: A Citizen Science Initiative on Active Transport in Regional South East Queensland, Australia
Queensland, Australia (December 2020 - June 2023)
Project Goal:
Empowering community members to advocate for walkability and cycling within their community
Guiding Question:
What helps or hinders your choice to walk or cycle, and physical activity in your neighbourhood?
Project Description
An intergenerational project in which community members of the towns, Toowoomba and Oakey, advocated to improve walkability and cycling within their community
Insights
30 children ages 10-12, adults and older adults residing in the the towns of Southeast Queensland Australia, Toowoomba and Oakey participated in 30 data collection time points. Oakey children captured 203 photos, Toowoomba adults captured 177 photos, and Toowoomba older adults captured 187 photos with accompanying rankings (positive or negative). During community meetings with participants, 5 themes were identified:
- Safety:
- Need for safer crossings in areas such as from school to park
- Infrastructure:
- Increase the size of the basketball court and skate park for older children.
- Ensure restrooms are unlocked and clean
- Walkability and cycling:
- Need for crosswalk by busy roads
- Signage
- Need for Zebra crossing signs
- Increase signage near park
- Representation:
- Need for more artwork to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture
- More Native gardens for aesthetic and to provide more clean air
Strengths Identified
- Students enjoy spending time at the local park
- Areas due to small connecting laneways allow for more accessible methods to reach desired destinations.
- Toowoomba artwork, sculpture and gardens are attractive and make walking more pleasant.
- New lights were installed along walkways increasing safety within the neighborhoods.
- Community members felt safe due to the installation of closed circuit television (CCTV) footage that provided automated recordings of people on the streets
Identified Areas for Improvement
- Lack of Infrastructure and maintenance:
- Safer crossings from school to park
- Create a zebra crossing
- Increased signage by the local park
- Clean and accessible restrooms near local park
- Need for wider sidewalks and/or separate bicycle lanes
- Improve cracks on pavement
- Need for water fountains
- Sidewalks are inaccessible for those in wheelchairs, walkers etc.
- Lack of Cultural Appreciation
- Graffiti to be replaced with artwork that celebrated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture
- Lack of Safety
- Cars don’t stop on busy streets
- Need for signage to prioritize pedestrians instead of vehicles
Solutions Identified by Citizen Scientists
- Safety:
- Create crosswalks
- Zebra crossings signs
- Underpasses
- Roundabout placement to improve traffic flow for pedestrians and cyclists
- Infrastructure:
- Improvements to sidewalks and pavements
- Dedicated bike lanes
- Addressing specific barriers encountered on their walking/cycling routes (e.g., uneven surfaces, missing signage)
- Repave pavement
Activities and Project Outcomes
- Citizen scientists met with the Regional Active and Public Transport Advisory Committee (RAPTAC) and the Deputy Mayor to discuss their findings.
- One of the citizen scientists became involved in a Walking Working Group in the Toowoomba region consisting of city council members, not-for-profit organizations and community members to advocate for the changes recommended by the citizen scientist group.
- The other citizen scientists invited members of RAPTAC and city council members to attend a “workshop” to view routes where citizen scientists collected data in order to influence their voting on council projects supporting active transport.
- Through the Citizen scientists’ findings and advocacy, the Toowoomba Regional Council was more readily informed for developing a walking and cycling plan and active transport policy.
People and Collaborators
- Project Lead(s):
- Tracy Kolbe-Alexander
- Paul Gardiner
- Adam Schmidt
- Melinda-Covey Hansen
Collaborating Organization(s) / Institutional Partner(s):
- Stanford University
Funding Source(s):
- Safer Toowoomba Regional Partnerships
Associated Publications
- Kolbe-Alexander, T., Gardiner, P. A., Banchoff, A., Schmidt, A., Covey-Hansen, M., & King, A. C. (2024). Toowoomba healthy towns: A citizen science initiative on active transport in Regional South East Queensland, Australia. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 21(11), 1132–1141. https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2024-0119