#25: Cami de Ronda Trip Report + Interesting New Walking and Micromobility Research

Welcome to The Weekly Journey - your two-minute journey through the world of mobility and beyond. Use it to stay informed, find a new go-to source, or just have a peek inside how we think. Brought to you by the team at Journey.

A Journey insight. 💡

Trip Report: “No Thanks, I’ll Walk”

What a walking holiday through Northern Spain reveals about howe can design better transportation systems at home.

Amanda, Journey’s Transit Analytics Lead, recently spent a week walking the Cami de Ronda, a historic coastal trail along Spain’s Costa Brava that winds through cliffs, coves, and forests, connecting a string of small, walkable towns. She also spent time exploring cities like San Sebastián and Barcelona. While the natural beauty and cultural richness of the Catalonia and Basque regions were undeniable, what struck her as a transportation professional was how easily the entire experience worked without a car.

Throughout Northern Spain, she found intermodal stations that prioritized ease of access—with escalator-style ramps that accommodated rolling luggage, strollers, and wheelchairs; intuitive signage; and seamless transfers between buses, trains, walking, biking, and taxis. In urban centers, car parking was often located underground or at the edge of the old town centers, freeing up surface-level space for plazas, tree-lined boulevards, and walking and biking infrastructure.

What stood out to her was not just the walkability of individual places, but the continuity of experience across settings—from small towns to larger cities to natural areas. Walking was more than possible—it was the obvious choice. Trails were integrated into the regional mobility network, designed to serve a range of users: commuters, tourists, runners, cyclists, and hikers.

Wayfinding systems were particularly impressive. Signage provided not just directional arrows, but also distances and estimated travel times. Larger signs would also include maps and routes, trail elevation changes and difficulty levels, additional historical context, and even local birds to keep an eye out for. Trails were branded and well-maintained, with clear information on allowed uses—whether for walking and/or biking, and if dogs were allowed. 

Material design played a key role in user orientation and place identity. In the cities, pavers and pavement textures signaled the intended use of public space. In San Sebastián, red-outlined bike lanes contrasted with stone pedestrian paths to indicate to people walking where to keep an eye out for bikes and to people biking that the pedestrians have the priority on that section of the path. Additionally, tactile cues supported visually impaired users to indicate the paths to crosswalks. Pavers in Barcelona were distinct and create a sense of place for specific neighborhoods or corridors. And trail surfaces also varied by region, using local stone or gravel, that reflected the natural character of the area and used local resources. These subtle but intentional design decisions created legibility and comfort across the network. 

Amanda came away from her trip with the sense that walking in Spain wasn’t just accommodated—it was celebrated. Mobility infrastructure had been designed with clarity, continuity, and connectivity in mind. 

In the U.S., that kind of experience remains rare. Trails are often fragmented and disconnected from the towns they pass through. Transit access to nature is limited. Walking infrastructure is inconsistently implemented, and land use or property barriers often prevent the creation of continuous, accessible paths. In many communities, choosing to walk means you’re in for a potentially dangerous and uncomfortable experience. 

🚶‍♀️ Takeaways for the U.S.: 

1. 🔁 Connect trails directly to transit and destinations — enable walking trips that serve recreation, errands, commuting, and tourism. 

2. 🚉 Make intermodal transfers seamless — prioritize active and shared modes through accessible station design and clear, intuitive signage. 

3. 👟 Design networks for diverse uses — trails and paths should support local users, tourists, and daily commuters across all ages and abilities. 

4. 🗺️ Create robust wayfinding systems — provide travel times, maps, nearby destinations, elevation changes, and multimodal info at key decision points. 

5. 🧱 Use materials and textures with intention — to guide users, support accessibility, and reflect regional identity using sustainable, local materials. 

Check out Lauren’s conversation with Peter Richards of Parkicity on curbside management best practices and oddities, plus their favorite and least favorite things happening at the curb.

A few interesting things. 🧠

🚶‍♂️‍➡️ Walking: Want more insights on the power of pedestrian infrastructure? Check out the latest research from Adam Millard-Ball and the UCLA ITS team and a companion webinar on June 23.

🚌 Frequent Transit: MeVa, the Regional Transit Authority serving the Merrimack Valley north of Boston, is leveraging a new grant program to provide service every 20 minutes on its highest ridership routes. Great to see RTAs pushing boundaries to improve service throughout the Commonwealth.

🛴 Micromobility: New insights on the effectiveness of various micromobility equity programs and policies across the United States.

💪 Job Postings: IndyGo is looking for its next Director of Strategic Planning. Like making maps (we know you do), join the MTA Regional Planning team as a Spatial Data Manager. NYC DOT is hiring a new Mobility Program Coordinator. Atlanta Downtown has two new postings: Planning Project Manager and Communications & Programming Coordinator.

A quick Journey update. 🏗️

👩‍🏫 Upcoming Events:

• Lauren will be attending and presenting at the ACT Annual International Conference in New Orleans, which starts on August 3. Lauren will be featured on multiple panels - stay tuned for details!

• Lauren will also be at the Moveability Summit in Austin on September 19. Make sure to check out her panel on Best Practices for Employee/Student/Residential Pass Programs.

📚 Book Clubs:

• ACT Book Club: Journey founder Lauren Mattern hosts the monthly Association for Commuter Transportation Book Club. Join us for an upcoming discussion of Killed by Traffic Engineer by Wes Marshall on Wednesday, July 16 at 3 PM eastern. Sign up here and earn 1 TDM-CP credit for attending.

• Chicago City Builders Book Club: Lauren co-hosts the monthly Chicago City Builders Book Club with Marla Westervelt of CityFi and Mike Ernst of Arup the fourth Wednesday of each month at a location in The Loop. This month, they are reading The City Is Up for Grabs: How Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Led and Lost a City in Crisis by Gregory Royal Pratt. The author will be in attendance at this month’s meet up! See you at CocoBar on Wednesday, June 25 at 5 PM central. Sign up here.

Did someone forward you this newsletter? Be sure to subscribe to get The Weekly Journey in your inbox or follow us on LinkedIn.