International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET)
e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 04 Issue: 07 | July -2017
p-ISSN: 2395-0072
www.irjet.net
WALKABILITY INDEX BY GLOBAL WALKABILITY INDEX METHOD PRAGIA MINHAS1, ARUNAVA PODDAR2 1M
Tech (Traffic and Transportation Engineering), 2Assistant Professor Department of Civil Engineering, Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar-Delhi, G.T. Road, Phagwara Punjab (India)-144411 ---------------------------------------------------------------------***---------------------------------------------------------------------
Abstract –This study aims to suggest the Walkability values
and a qualitative analysis undertaking case study of Lovely Professional University(LPU)-India’s largest single campus private university. The paper includes an extensive study of important criteria such as the pedestrian facilities, safety, accessibility and aesthetic appearance. The survey applies the principle of Global Walkability index developed by H.Krambeck together for the World Bank along with the Clean Air for Asian cities (CAI-Asia). The methodology is qualitative as it provides insight to the several key parameters and enables the identification of areas for improvement. Walkability indicates the quality and safety of the walkways and sidewalks. LPU has student strength of approximately 25000. All of them have to either use private vehicles in large number causing congestion, bicycles or have to walk to their destinations inside the campus area. Therefore, it is necessary to find the safety, comfort and convenience of pedestrians for which the evaluation of GWI of LPU is needed. Key Words: Walkability index, pedestrian, walkway, crosswalk, built environment, congestion, urban planning
1. INTRODUCTION What is Walkability? Well it’s not just about the physical walking but also how walk able i.e. safe, convenient, comfortable, accessible and healthy the built environment is. A gas-belching, time-wasting, life threatening prosthetic device- how can we free ourselves from the dependence on the car and make our vicinity more walk able and more pleasant for people. A walk can be useful in many ways. It can initiate economical brilliance, better health and environmentally sustainable. Recently the urban planners have been working on the 3D’s of the built environment – density, design and diversity. The density of an area plays a vital role and is acknowledged by planners whereas the other two factors have just been ignored. It deals with the idea of how compact the built environment can be, mixed use of land, walking friendly design to degenerate vehicle trips and encourage people to walk, bike or take public transit as substitutes for automobile travelling particularly. Basically walk ability is of quite significance in an era where the congestion has become one of the main outbursts of the century. Population explosion is one of the major factors responsible for such a chaotic situation leading to congestion. This problem has lead to an intense pressure on © 2017, IRJET
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Impact Factor value: 5.181
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the transport network along with the exhaustion of the energy resources. So it’s important not only for the urban planners and the transport engineers but also for the people that owning vehicles and discarding the cheapest and healthiest mode of transport i.e. walking isn’t the best solution to the problem. Promoting public transport such as buses, metro etc will help not only conserve the nonrenewable source of energy but give efficient time to come with best possible solutions as its replacement. The Urban design philosophies include- new urbanism, transit oriented development and traditional town planning which have gained popularity in recent years as a way to boost the travel demand. These three have common transportation objectives which are: (1) reduced number of motorized trips, also called trip generation, (2) trips which are produced, hike the non-motorized part (i.e. by foot or bicycle); and (3) the motorized trips that produce reduced level of travel distances and increases the vehicle occupancy level (i.e. by encouraging shorter trips by transit, Para transit, and ride sharing). An expected outcome of degenerating trips will have a lessened negative consequences of an automobile oriented society such as – reduced pollution, fossil fuel consumption and; class and social segregation (Banister and Lichfield, 1995; Ditmar, 1995). In municipal planning and budgets often services related to pedestrian, infrastructure and amenities are neglected. Hoe desirable a vicinity can be based on safety, security and convenience of their pedestrian environments are all associated to walk ability and its significance in urban planning and design.
1.1 WALKABILITY INDEX Basically, Walkability reflects the built environment health, economics and over all livability of the area. Its not just about physical walking but also the factors like: safe, convenient, secure, attractive and connected the area is. Places undesirable of walking include: separated land use, dead end streets and poorly designed arrangement of developments. According to Brad Shaw Walkability can be defined as: A foot-friendly, easy to use and built environment friendly with leveled sidewalks, safe intersections, narrow streets, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal
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