He’s been ambling down the picturesque, neighborhood streets of Provo since 1994. On some days his pace picks up to a pressing four miles an hour in order to make a doctor’s appointment or to arrive at an early morning class in the nick of time. Jason Kiser has been 100% committed to active transportation for twenty-nine years, and most of that has been daily walking with an occasional bike, bus or train to ease his way. So what better subject could I deem to write about this month, as we celebrate “International Walk to School Month” and BikeWalk Provo’s own educationally entertaining, initial launch of “PROVO WALK TOBER!”
Not only has Jason been “walking everywhere all the time” for nearly three decades, but so has his family. Growing up in Provo, Jason’s mother guided her two young sons along this city’s sidewalks and walking paths to “church every Sunday,” school every weekday, and whenever there was a need to do a bit of grocery shopping, usually at Smith’s or the renamed and known today as Fresh Market. His mother also operated in those early days a day-care service, and on any given afternoon you might have found her leading a troop of curious, young minds across town, as Jason’s “mom” found it necessary to execute an errand during working hours.
Jason remembers many memorable days walking to Joaquin Elementary School, before the school was demolished and apartments built on the site. This was a quieter, less traffic intensive and congested Provo; today, Jason’s pedestrian routes are more likely to be on the west side of University Boulevard. He often frequents the not too long ago improved 500 W, traveling south toward Center Street where he visits businesses, restaurants, and cafes. One might find him strongly vocalizing 70s and 80s rock songs at Peace On Earth’s karaoke night.
I ask him how comfortable he feels while walking late at night on Provo’s city streets, and Jason responds favorably. But there is a problem, whether day or night, Jason tells me he’s “nearly been killed a number of times,” mostly by “young drivers flying around the corner right in front of you.” Fortunately, he hasn’t been injured during those many years of urban, pedestrian trekking. But a “co-worker was hit and killed over by BYU in 2011, [he] was one of my supervisors.”
Improvements have taken place over the years, though. Jason thinks it’s “great that some traffic signals change on their own” at crosswalks today and at others one is given more time to cross. As for the condition of the city’s sidewalks, “Provo’s sidewalks have always been bad,” he takes no time in answering without reservation. Still, Jason knows a “fair amount of people that walk,” such as his mother and brother who continue today using active transportation as their major means of traveling. And for those longer trips to other cities, there’s always FrontRunner or UVX, of which Jason has the opportunity of using to greatly extend his reach on foot.
Most of the time Jason has “no problem” being out late in the evenings, “generally speaking, I do feel safe late at night in Provo… pretty quiet late at night.” BikeWalk Provo, I’m thinking, hopes to hear even more positive statements such as that.
