Understanding Walking via Surveys and Route Evaluations in Geographic Information System (GIS) Environment

Abstract

Walking is a critical mode to be encouraged in sustainable urban mobility plans (SUMPs). However, the lack of analysis methodology is making it challenging to detect walkability aspects necessary to develop better policies. Middle East Technical University (METU) Campus was designed with a pedestrian-friendly layout which has been threatened recently by different factors (i.e. enlargement of the campus, changing traffic volumes, etc.). This necessitated further investatigation of walking and walkability in the campus, which was the main scope of the most recent survey, designed to investigate a) pedestrian perspective and b) walking limits on campus. While the former was investigated via traditional questions, the latter was sought after via map-based 1844 routes from 623 participating students. Besides the descriptive statistics performed by the responses to the traditional evaluation questions, the route-based data resulted in enriched analyses, proving the power of the latter in evaluating walkability, which has a spatial variation by nature. Consideration of both traditional survey approach accompanied by the route-based investigations enabled the development of a more comprehensive understanding of walkability of the study area, which should be used in evaluation of pedestrian mobility in urban pedestrian analysis zones, i.e. city centers, metro station capture zones, campuses, etc.