Mechanical work for step-to-step transitions is a major determinant of the metabolic cost of human walking.

By J. Donelan, R. Kram, A. Kuo. Journal of Experimental Biology, 2002

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A Bipedal Walking Robot with Efficient and Human-Like Gait (2005, background): “Redirecting the center of mass velocity at the step-tostep transition (heel strike) is the primary cause of energy loss, and thus energy use, in both passive-dynamics-based walking robots and human walking [9], [10].”
Effects of obesity and sex on the energetic cost and preferred speed of walking. (2006, background): “The shorter stride length may reduce the metabolic cost of walking by reducing the mechanical work associated with redirecting the center of mass during the double-support phase (11).”
A biologically inspired soft exosuit for walking assistance (2015, background): “Humans expend much of the energy used during walking at gait transitions when the leg goes from the swing to stance phase and vice versa (Donelan et al., 2002).”
Energetic Consequences of Walking Like an Inverted Pendulum: Step-to-Step Transitions (2005, methodology): “5) to explain why the preferred step width is energetically optimal (6).”
Feedback Control of Dynamic Bipedal Robot Locomotion (2007, background): “Humans, even with prosthetic legs, use foot rotation to decrease energy loss at impact [72, 144].”
The six determinants of gait and the inverted pendulum analogy: A dynamic walking perspective. (2007, background): “(a) A major energetic cost in dynamic walking is for the work performed in step-to-step transitions (Donelan et al., 2002a), which occur mainly during double support.”