Evaluation of pedestrian facilities based on users' perception - Chennai as a case study

Walking is inevitable: yet the pedestrians are the most vulnerable lot suffering the highest accident rate, especially in developing countries like India. Previous research on the pedestrian traffic facilities mostly focus on the quantitative analyses for estimating the level of service (LOS) offered; very few studies have dealt with the qualitative aspects. The present study is a novel attempt at qualitative analysis to identify the LOS offered based on users'perceptions with Indian Metropolis of Chennai as the case study. The results do reflect the level of satisfaction of the users and can very well guide the decision makers in providing a direction for evaluating the pedestrian facilities based on environmental factors and launching proactive programs aiming at 'sustainability'.