Functional Evaluation of Footbridges based on Personal Preferences, the Case Study of Shiraz

Extended abstract 1- Introduction The new approaches of urban and transportation planning are being aimed to facilitate pedestrian movement and improve the quality of spaces denoted specifically to pedestrians in the last two decades. In this regard, the route of a movement is as important as the origin and destination points of that movement. One of the contributing factors in facilitating the flow of pedestrian movement is creating over/underpass. A huge bulk of funding has been denoted to establish and maintain such structures in Iranian metropolitan areas in recent decades. However, field experience shows that in most cases, if possible, a significant proportion of pedestrians are less likely to use overpasses. The main theme of this paper is to identify and then measure and analyze the scope and quality of the factors influencing the use or non-use of pedestrian overpass. For this purpose, a total of 20 bridges with relatively balanced distribution throughout the metropolitan Shiraz are selected. Then some 300 pedestrians are interviewed to ask about their usage of footbridges and desires of using them. The result of interview shows that lack of lift or ramp is a crucial factor in using a bridge. Moreover, low perception of personal security when passing over the bridge is a negative affective factor. These two factors especially matter for non-drivers who choose walking for any reason. The results of the discrete choice model indicate that there are factors such as the physical obstacle under the bridge, history of residence, accident record and the appearance of the bridge effective. The findings of this paper can be helpful in managerial decision making for the improvement of exist bridges or establishment of new ones.