Modeling the role of supporting infrastructure, concerns, beliefs, risk factors, and perceived safety on pedestrians' walking tendency.

Abstract

Objective: Pedestrian accidents are a global concern, necessitating pedestrian-friendly road environments with adequate infrastructure and safety measures. Understanding pedestrian perceptions of road infrastructure is crucial for enhancing safety and urban mobility. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the relationship and model the impact of supporting infrastructure, concerns, beliefs, and risk factors on pedestrians' walking tendency.

Methods: An online survey was circulated and data related to socio-demographics and pedestrian perception regarding supporting infrastructure, concerns, beliefs, risk factors and walking tendency was collected from 412 respondents. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and Ordered Logistic Regression (OLR) were employed for analysis to explore and model the relationship between various latent variables with walking tendency.

Results: Firstly, factor analysis was conducted to determine different latent variables from the obtained data. Five latent variables namely: Pedestrian Concerns (PC), Supporting Infrastructure (SI), Risk Factors (RF), Confidence and Belief (CB), and Perceived Safety (PS) were obtained from the factor analysis. KMO and Bartlett's test of Sphericity showed high adequacy (KMO = 0.801) and statistical significance (p-value < 0.01) indicating substantial correlation in the data. The SEM revealed significant positive associations between perceived safety (0.12), confidence and belief (0.38), and walking tendency, emphasizing the role of safety and psychological factors in encouraging walking. Supporting infrastructure was positively correlated with pedestrian concerns and risk factors, suggesting that infrastructure improvements mitigate safety concerns and encourage walking. The OLR model highlighted that perceived safety significantly increases walking tendency (15% increase per unit), with age influencing this relationship positively. Conversely, higher risk factors decrease perceived safety, particularly affecting older pedestrians.

Conclusions: The results from the SEM and OLR models the presence of risk factors like suspicious individuals and poor lighting can deter walking, especially among older individuals. Nonetheless, findings underscore the importance of comprehensive safety measures and well-maintained infrastructure to promote walking and enhance pedestrian safety in urban environments. Urban planners and policymakers are encouraged to prioritize these factors to create safer, more inclusive urban spaces conducive to walking as a mode of transportation.