A sustainable approach for planning of urban pedestrian routes and footpaths in a pandemic scenario

Francis M. M. Cirianni; Antonio Comi; Angelo S. Luongo

doi:10.6093/1970-9870/8629

Francis M. M. Cirianni DICEAM, University Mediterranea, Reggio Calabria, Italy, City, Italy
Antonio Comi Tor Vergata University of Rome https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6784-1638
Angelo S. Luongo University Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1368-0706

DOI: https://doi.org/10.6093/1970-9870/8629

Keywords: Social distancing, Pedestrian behaviour, Level of service, Pedestrian infrastructures, walkability

Abstract

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has forced national and local governments to re-consider the relationship between mobility, urban space and health in order to ensure physical distancing while meeting the travel needs of inhabitants. In the first stage, corresponding to the expansion of infection, mobility was limited to essential workers and freight. In the second stage, with the easing of restrictions, limitations still remained for public transport. Limitations associated with perceived risk of infection significantly influenced travel behaviors, pushing a modal repositioning in demand to active mobility (walking, cycling, and use of micro-mobility). On the other hand, the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines on mobility during the COVID outbreak are mostly directed at dedicating more urban space to cyclists and pedestrians, especially in densely populated urban areas, thus avoiding crowding on public transport and the use of private cars. In the same direction, the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO, 2020) went during periods of stabilization and long-term recovery. It suggests policies and measures for the cities mobility to help people maintain physical distance while moving around the city. In the given conditions, walking becomes predominant for a sustainable mobility scenario, and structural measures (widening of the pathway) or regulatory measures (regulation of pedestrian flows) can be adopted withing the given strategy. Current pedestrian infrastructural offer is severely limited in functional terms by the urban planning and development, therefore measures oriented to enhance non-motorized mobility require the development and planning of new public spaces and infrastructures for pedestrian mobility within the urban layout. Policy makers and town planners need to rethink urban spaces and mobility in the pedestrian perspective. A methodology for classification of pathways, by capacity and level of service, is presented in the paper, on which to base strategies, policies and specific measures to verify pedestrian mobility demand.

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Author Biographies

Francis M. M. Cirianni, DICEAM, University Mediterranea, Reggio Calabria, Italy, City, Italy

Qualified Engineer, with a degree in civil Engineering and a PhD in Transport Engineering from the Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, Italy, Lecturer in Transport Planning and Infrastructures. Consultant, author of over 100 international technical and research publications, member of the board of professional and scientific associations, deputy Chair of the National Agency for Engineering Certification, has over thirty years of research activity in the field of transport systems and infrastructures. Is Editorial Board Member of international journals and acts as reviewer for national and international journals.

Antonio Comi, Tor Vergata University of Rome

He received the M.S. degrees in civil engineering specialization in transportation, in 2000 and the Ph.D. degree in transportation engineering from the Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, Italy, in 2004. From 2006 to 2015, he was an Assistant Professor with the University of Rome Tor Vergata. Since 2015, he has been an Associate Professor with the Department of Enterprise Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, where he lectures in Theory of Transport Systems and Freight and Logistics Transportation Systems. He is the author of more than 150 papers in the field of transportation. His research interests include development and application of methods and models for the analysis and design of freight and passenger transport systems at urban and extra-urban scale, the development of tools for supporting users on unreliable networks and the simulation of path choice in real-time transit simulation. He is currently Associate Editor for Journal of Advanced Transportation, Transportation Engineering and Journal of Urban Planning Development, coordinated Erasmus+ project “SmaLog - Master in Smart Transport and Logistics for Cities”, and currently is responsible at the University of Rome Tor Vergata for the Erasmus+ project “AsiaSafe - Modernisation, Development and Capacity Building of Master Curriculum in Traffic Safety in Asian Universities”. He was appointed Board Member of the Italian Academic Society of Transport (SIDT) and is Academic Editor as well as Editorial Board Member of several international journals. He acts as a reviewer for many international journals.

Angelo S. Luongo, University Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy

He received a degree in Transportation Engineering from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” and the Ph.D in Transportation Engineering from the University of Reggio Calabria “Mediterranea”, Italy. He was contract lecturer of Transportation Engineering at the university of Basilicata, is teaching fellow in Transport Economy at the university of Bari “Aldo Moro, Consultant from 2016 to 2021 for mobility and transport services for the National Agency for Inward Investment and Economic Development (Invitalia) within the National Strategy for “Inner Areas” Strategy (SNAI). Mainly research interests are in the field of transport planning, traffic engineering and investment evaluation. Author of numerous scientific publications and technical papers on transpotation engineering and evalutation of the impacts of transport infrastructures and service.

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