Publicação
The effect of sidewalk paving materials in the comfort and safety of walking: a case study in Braga, Portugal
| Resumo: | Sustainable mobility aims a modal shift towards more sustainable forms of mobility to minimize the harmful impacts associated to the intensive use of cars. The promotion of active travel, namely for short daily urban commutes, can help in decarbonizing transportation. As almost every trip begins and ends with walking, pedestrian infrastructure is a crucial component of any sustainable transportation system. Sidewalks are a critical pedestrian infrastructure and can be defined as an uninterrupted facility parallel to a carriageway to conduct pedestrian traffic and related activities. The general characteristics and condition of sidewalks determine the extent to which walking is a comfortable and safe mode of transport (Fonseca et al., 2022). Wide, well‐maintained, and clean sidewalks have been reported as enabling comfortable and safe walking experiences. The paving materials used on sidewalks can affect pedestrians' comfort and safety significantly. Slippery materials, uneven surfaces, cracks, depressions, and flooded sidewalks are very hazardous to pedestrians and may lead to accidents, falls and limit the mobility of seniors and disabled people. However, many cities still lack information about the characteristics of their sidewalks' paving materials (Hosseini et al., 2022). And surprisingly, the influence of sidewalk paving materials in walking remains a under-researched topic. This article summarizes the preliminary conclusions of an innovative study conducted in Braga, Portugal, to understand the effect of sidewalk paving materials and their condition on walking. A pedestrian route between the bus station and the University of Minho (Campus de Gualtar) was selected as a case study. This route connects the city center with the urban fringes, crossing various public facilities, commercial and residential areas, being utilized by many people, including students of the University of Minho. Methodologically, the evaluation includes a mixed approach, combining objective and subjective components. The objective component involved the evaluation of the following five indicators: roughness, friction, texture, thermal comfort, and reflectance of the paving materials used on sidewalks. The general characteristics of the sidewalks were collected through a street audit to identify the paving materials and their condition. The performance of the five indicators was evaluated in situ at seven specific locations. The presence of irregularities can be caused by several factors, such as broken, raised, or cracked surfaces. This indicator was measured by using a 3-meter ruler. In addition, the roughness of the entire route was measured through an accelerometer installed in a baby stroller. Friction is a fundamental parameter since a paving surface with adequate friction minimizes the risk of falls due to slipping. This indicator was evaluated through the British pendulum method. The texture is related to surface roughness, which influences drainage, surface deformation, anti-slipping and friction. The texture was evaluated through the Mean Profile Depth (MPD) method. Thermal comfort determines the level of comfort of pedestrians at the street level. This indicator was measured with a thermal camera and surface temperature sensor. Finally, reflectance shows the fraction of light a paving material reflects, which influences the pedestrian thermal and visual comfort. This indicator was measured with an albedometer. The subjective component was based on a face-to-face questionnaire addressed to pedestrians walking on the selected route. The questionnaire aimed to understand the pedestrians' perceptions about the paving materials used on sidewalks. The questionnaire includes a Likert scale through which respondents were invited to evaluate the influence of having paving materials providing a regular surface and appropriate friction, texture, thermal comfort, and reflectance on walking. Various different paving materials can be found along the route, which include granite cubes, mortar, stone slabs, traditional Portuguese cobblestones, concrete blocks, and concrete hexagons. Some segments are in poor condition, having extremely degraded paving materials. Regarding friction, the paving materials with lower values (moderate risk of slipping) were the traditional Portuguese cobblestones and the stone slabs, while the materials with higher friction were the concrete blocks and concrete hexagons. Most of the irregularities on the route were found in the segments paved with granite cubes, mainly at the beginning of the route (near de bus station). The questionnaire showed that respondents would like to have even sidewalks with paving materials providing an adequate friction, but in general they are not satisified with sidewalks found in the selected route. In sum, the preliminary results show that sidewalks on the selected route should be improved, as they are significantly damaged, thus interfering with pedestrian comfort and safety. Improving the sidewalk paving materials in this route and extending this work to the entire city should be included in future planning policies in order to make Braga a more pedestrian-friendly city. |
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| Autores principais: | Rodrigues, Alexandra |
| Outros Autores: | Silva, Hugo M. R. D.; Fonseca, Fernando Pereira da; Palha, Carlos Alberto Oliveira Fernandes; Ramos, Rui A. R. |
| Assunto: | Sidewalks Pedestrian pavements Paving materials Walking Walkable cities |
| Ano: | 2023 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | outro |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso restrito |
| Instituição associada: | Universidade do Minho |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho |
| Resumo: | Sustainable mobility aims a modal shift towards more sustainable forms of mobility to minimize the harmful impacts associated to the intensive use of cars. The promotion of active travel, namely for short daily urban commutes, can help in decarbonizing transportation. As almost every trip begins and ends with walking, pedestrian infrastructure is a crucial component of any sustainable transportation system. Sidewalks are a critical pedestrian infrastructure and can be defined as an uninterrupted facility parallel to a carriageway to conduct pedestrian traffic and related activities. The general characteristics and condition of sidewalks determine the extent to which walking is a comfortable and safe mode of transport (Fonseca et al., 2022). Wide, well‐maintained, and clean sidewalks have been reported as enabling comfortable and safe walking experiences. The paving materials used on sidewalks can affect pedestrians' comfort and safety significantly. Slippery materials, uneven surfaces, cracks, depressions, and flooded sidewalks are very hazardous to pedestrians and may lead to accidents, falls and limit the mobility of seniors and disabled people. However, many cities still lack information about the characteristics of their sidewalks' paving materials (Hosseini et al., 2022). And surprisingly, the influence of sidewalk paving materials in walking remains a under-researched topic. This article summarizes the preliminary conclusions of an innovative study conducted in Braga, Portugal, to understand the effect of sidewalk paving materials and their condition on walking. A pedestrian route between the bus station and the University of Minho (Campus de Gualtar) was selected as a case study. This route connects the city center with the urban fringes, crossing various public facilities, commercial and residential areas, being utilized by many people, including students of the University of Minho. Methodologically, the evaluation includes a mixed approach, combining objective and subjective components. The objective component involved the evaluation of the following five indicators: roughness, friction, texture, thermal comfort, and reflectance of the paving materials used on sidewalks. The general characteristics of the sidewalks were collected through a street audit to identify the paving materials and their condition. The performance of the five indicators was evaluated in situ at seven specific locations. The presence of irregularities can be caused by several factors, such as broken, raised, or cracked surfaces. This indicator was measured by using a 3-meter ruler. In addition, the roughness of the entire route was measured through an accelerometer installed in a baby stroller. Friction is a fundamental parameter since a paving surface with adequate friction minimizes the risk of falls due to slipping. This indicator was evaluated through the British pendulum method. The texture is related to surface roughness, which influences drainage, surface deformation, anti-slipping and friction. The texture was evaluated through the Mean Profile Depth (MPD) method. Thermal comfort determines the level of comfort of pedestrians at the street level. This indicator was measured with a thermal camera and surface temperature sensor. Finally, reflectance shows the fraction of light a paving material reflects, which influences the pedestrian thermal and visual comfort. This indicator was measured with an albedometer. The subjective component was based on a face-to-face questionnaire addressed to pedestrians walking on the selected route. The questionnaire aimed to understand the pedestrians' perceptions about the paving materials used on sidewalks. The questionnaire includes a Likert scale through which respondents were invited to evaluate the influence of having paving materials providing a regular surface and appropriate friction, texture, thermal comfort, and reflectance on walking. Various different paving materials can be found along the route, which include granite cubes, mortar, stone slabs, traditional Portuguese cobblestones, concrete blocks, and concrete hexagons. Some segments are in poor condition, having extremely degraded paving materials. Regarding friction, the paving materials with lower values (moderate risk of slipping) were the traditional Portuguese cobblestones and the stone slabs, while the materials with higher friction were the concrete blocks and concrete hexagons. Most of the irregularities on the route were found in the segments paved with granite cubes, mainly at the beginning of the route (near de bus station). The questionnaire showed that respondents would like to have even sidewalks with paving materials providing an adequate friction, but in general they are not satisified with sidewalks found in the selected route. In sum, the preliminary results show that sidewalks on the selected route should be improved, as they are significantly damaged, thus interfering with pedestrian comfort and safety. Improving the sidewalk paving materials in this route and extending this work to the entire city should be included in future planning policies in order to make Braga a more pedestrian-friendly city. |
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