The Walking speed (m/s) field, under Walk time & distance in the Wayfinding settings, is the pace used to turn a route distance into the estimated minutes shown on directions.
What it controls
Every route shows an estimate like Est. 3 min. That comes from time = distance ÷ walking speed. Distance is measured from the route line and your scale; walking speed is this field. It is measured in metres per second. The default is 1.3 m/s, roughly 4.7 km/h, a typical adult pace.
Choose a value that fits your visitors
Faster crowd. A commuter or office site can keep the 1.3 default.
Slower crowd. A hospital, an aged-care campus, or somewhere with families and young children walks slower. Dial the value down (for example toward 1.0) so estimates do not run optimistic.
Leave the field blank to accept the 1.3 default. To set it, type a number in metres per second.
Step-free routes use a separate speed
This field is the normal-mode pace. When a visitor switches to step-free directions, the estimate uses a separate, usually slower value instead. See Use a slower speed for step-free routes and How estimated walking time is worked out.