They also have grave concerns about walking safely to school.

The Victorian Walks organisation surveyed more than 2300 people across the state - and found pedestrians in the Ballarat, Ararat, Pyrenees, Central Goldfields and Moorabool areas walked much less frequently.

"Of the people in these Local Government Areas, there was particularly strong support for the state government making routes to schools safer and more appealing for walking," principal policy advisor Duane Burtt said..

"In the greater Ballarat region, 78 per cent of people agreed the government should provide pedestrian crossing facilities, traffic calming and/or adjust traffic lights to make it safer and easier to cross to get to local schools.

"That's higher than the state figure of 72 per cent."

He said the survey also found local walkers were more likely to cite poor or missing footpaths as a barrier to walking around the area where they lived.

"The survey found 64 per cent of people in your region said having no footpaths at all was a 'problem' - and another 32 per cent said it was a 'significant problem'," Mr Burrt said.

"More metropolitan people described themselves as frequent walkers. That is, they walked on four or more days a week.

"It was 69 per cent compared to the regional figure of 59 per cent."

A greater proportion of regional Victorians also said none of their weekly transport journeys were on foot - at 26 per cent - compared to the metro figure of 18 per cent.

"The survey has helped Victoria Walks to identify issues requiring investment from the next state government," MR Burrt said.

"We want to make sure all Victorians have opportunities to walk for transport and for recreation where they live."

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