We are all pedestrians, before eventually becoming motorists, motorcyclists, and cyclists.
It is in all our interests to have the use of a safe and easy pedestrian network, pedestrians whose needs are variable, depending on age, different physical and sensorial abilities, different psychological and cultural approaches.
We are all weak users, in some phases of our life: we have to consider not just children, but also elderly and disabled people, and however all those who are in a personal condition which makes moving from one place to another more complex. In this category must also be included, for example, parents with baby carriages, people carrying bags, foreigners (for whom orientation and understanding of local signals could be difficult).
Their interaction with the environment and the traffic network could be particularly problematic if the planning has not taken into account the increased number of variables involved: we are talking about mobility and even orientation and emergency. Furthermore, it is not possible to consider just special needs and special solutions for special users, without thinking of the consequences that such solutions can have on the requirements of other categories of users.
Pedestrian mobility for all users, is a matter of urban planning, to be achieved using an organic approach, considering all the special planning instruments and going beyond a purely functional approach and single technical features.
The measures for moderation of the traffic contribute to a good organisation of the environment, and in general even the weak users mobility; but they cannot always provide full answers to the various requirements of mobility and safety with suitable features: some critical points can be for example any elements that prevent mobility and orientation, the lack of multi-perceptual signals, the different types of crossing adopted.
Several methods of evaluation of the quality of the pedestrian walkways will be described, in terms of compatibility with the various user needs, citing some national and foreign examples, and a proposal for a methodological study approach. |
