Car-Free Recreation — Survey
About 30 percent of people in the United States cannot drive or afford to drive ([US DOT, 2024](https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics/2024/pdf/dv1c.pdf)); many who can drive would like more and better alternatives, including to recreation and leisure destinations. Transit and active transportation modes are more sustainable and less expensive ways to travel, but there is little public data about demand and interest in car-free recreation access. We propose a short, simple survey as an initial step in assessing that demand and interest.
Just some of the many ways we envision sharing survey data:
- with elected officials who fund transportation
- with government organizations and transit agencies to encourage collaboration to serve recreation destinations
- with Destination Marketing Organizations to inform marketing to car-free/nondriver visitors
- with nonprofits pursuing aligned work on recreation access
- with the outdoor recreation industry to inform their policy work and marketing
How:
- Routes to Nature has created a survey for partner organizations to distribute to their members and consumers.
- Partner organizations offer SWAG at various levels for drawings to generate strong response rates.
- Responses are shared with full transparency among participating entities to promote car-free recreation and advocate for improved transit, bike, walk and roll access to outdoor recreation spaces and adjoining rural communities.
- Respondents’ personal data will remain confidential and will never be sold or re-used.
If your organization is interested in helping distribute the survey, please reach out to info@routestonature.org!