Coming as little surprise to anyone who’s nearly been run over trying to ride their bike to work or simply walk to the neighborhood H-E-B, a new study ranks San Antonio as one of the world’s least-walkable cities.
The report by home loan-shopping company Compare the Market ranked 90 cities along eight walkability factors, and the Alamo City landed at a dismal No. 84. Those factors range from each city’s percentage of residents living near basic services to its share of commuters to its number of walking trails.
Though San Antonio boasts a comparatively low public-transportation ticket price at $1.90, the study found plenty of other deficiencies in our pedestrian infrastructure. Just 16% of SA residents live near essential services, for example, while only 9% are near car-free areas and 6% commute by foot, bike or public transit.
The study named Prague the world’s most walkable city. In the Czech Republic’s capital city, 82% of residents live near a car-free space, while 71% reside near essential services.
The study’s results aren’t surprising for San Antonio pedestrian advocates.
“We have over 2,000 miles of broken [sidewalks] or gaps in our sidewalks, so it makes it super-difficult to navigate walking around with that disruption to safe spaces for walking,” said Melanie Cawthon, co-founder and executive director of disABILITYsa, which works to represent the community’s people with disabilities.
“If you’re a wheelchair user, and you use the sidewalks to navigate across the city and there are sidewalks missing, you’re forced to go into the street,” Cawthon added.
Statistics bear out Cawthon’s safety concerns.
San Antonio recorded 769 traffic crashes involving pedestrians in 2024, according to Texas Department of Transportation data. In those, 83 people died and 168 others had serious injuries. Those numbers have stayed largely flat in recent years, the Express-News reports.
“[Walkable infrastructure] keeps people alive,” said Joey Pawlik, executive director of ActivateSA, which pushes to make San Antonio more bike and pedestrian friendly.
Beyond improved safety, walkable spaces offer people greater access to necessities and loved ones, create healthier lifestyles and reduce traffic congestion, Pawlik said.
For SA to emerge as the kind of walkable city disABILITYsa and ActivateSA envision, improved pedestrian infrastructure must become a political priority, Pawlik said. Fortunately, the city has taken steps in that direction, he added.
In 2011, San Antonio adopted the Complete Streets policy, which focuses on improving the design of streets and roads. It also implemented Vision Zero with the aim of reducing traffic deaths. Beyond that, ActivateSA’s community coalition works to support new plans and policies, according to Pawlik.
However, the Compare the Market study shows there’s more work to be done. For Cawthon, increased foliage and better upkeep of the sidewalk system are vital.
“We have a lot of work to do, but I think we’re taking better steps to get to that direction of a more walkable, bikeable city,” Pawlik said.
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