khashyar kashanijou; hamed mohammadi; naeime salehi
Abstract
Industrial revolution, urban growth and population increase have greatly affected the area of cities and have caused a staggering increase in the number of automobiles and streets built to facilitate automobile movement. One of the most important problems in urban streets is pedestrian-vehicle ...
Read More
Industrial revolution, urban growth and population increase have greatly affected the area of cities and have caused a staggering increase in the number of automobiles and streets built to facilitate automobile movement. One of the most important problems in urban streets is pedestrian-vehicle interaction at crossings which is a substantial concern for citizens. Installing footbridges has been supported by related organizations in Iran to solve this problem and increase walkability of the streets. In brief, walkability is the attraction level of places for pedestrians’ presence. Based on the opinion of many urban authorities, footbridge is one of the mobility facilities in crossing the streets. Bridges were used to cross the barriers since a long time ago. However, they were built for avoiding automobiles on the streets and their design were upgraded since about half a century ago. This applied research seeks to comparatively evaluate footbridges and pedestrian crossing in relation to walkability. For this purpose, Karim Khan-e-Zand Street in District 6 of Tehran, between Valiasr Square and Haft-e-Tir Square, was selected as the case study. It is a mechanized footbridge at the intersection with Hafez Street. An ordinary (non-mechanized) footbridge has been installed on it at the intersection of Kheradmand Street. The article is based on the analytical-descriptive method. The Analytic Network Process (ANP) is used to evaluate the findings. After studying the theoretical concepts of research through a documentary-library method, appropriate criteria for walkability assessment are weighted by the Delphi method and field data is collected through survey method using questionnaires distributed among 150 citizens. The obtained data was analyzed by Super Decision software package. Three options were considered for citizens to evaluate footbridges in terms of walkability of Karimkhan-e-Zand Street in Tehran: using non-mechanized footbridges, mechanized footbridges and pedestrian crossing. The findings show that security and safety, mobility, accessibility, and physical conditions are respectively more important than other criteria in selecting footbridges for crossing the street. Furthermore, the least important criteria are attraction and comfort of the path and its maintenance quality, respectively. Among the sub-indicators related to security and safety of paths, crime-related security and presence of others were selected as the most effective ones. The length of path is the most important factor while the slope and topography are the least important factors related to the physical condition of the path. Path lighting in night was selected as the most important sub-indicator related to facilities. Also, path continuity and ease of mobility can be referred to as the most important factors among sub-indicators of movement and accessibility. Finally, with regard to the walkability of streets, despite the opinion of urban managers, level crossing with a score of A=0.36 is more favorable than footbridges, and mechanized footbridge with a score of B=0.33 is more desirable than non-mechanized footbridges with a score of C=0.30. Therefore, it seems that a fundamental review is required in the current trend of development of footbridges in Iran.
