Feasibility of a simplified index to improve active mobility infrastructure based on digital survey: the case of Dublin

Abstract

The advantages associated with active mobility, i.e. walking and cycling, include not only the possibility of moving in an environmentally friendly way, but also health and economic benefits. Assessing the quality of infrastructures for active mobility should consider aspects related to geometric features, traffic volume and human perception; this can be a time and resources consuming procedure for administrations to be performed on the entire urban area, mostly due to the need to carry out on-site surveys. Based on this premise, the aim of this study is to assess the feasibility of a simplified index for the evaluation of the quality of pedestrian/cycling infrastructure fed by digital survey procedures. The results can be used to provide a first ranking of the roads under study, in order to identify the main criticalities to be analysed through on-site auditing.