Evaluation of Human-Oriented Infrastructure Developments and Challenges in Urban Mobility (With Case Study)

Urban transportation networks and infrastructures design, in the traditional way was only car-based and almost all urban road network design parameters were extracted solely according to vehicle specifications and convenience. With the introduction and development of sidewalks as a human- oriented infrastructure in the urban road networks, the design and even conversion of roads that were previously designed exclusively for vehicles was developed into this type of urban infrastructure. However, the conversion of parts of the urban road network into roads for the exclusive use of pedestrians, or in the other words, pedestrianization, due to some restrictions at the network level, and especially in the adjacent roads of the project, always can cause various problems. However, the using some scientific transportation methods can prevent such problems. The main aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of creating pedestrian-oriented infrastructure at the micro and macro levels in the urban network and reduce its potential negative effects in order to increase the chances of success of this type of projects. In this regard, by simulating at both macro and micro levels, the conversion of riding passages to pedestrian infrastructure was examined both at the network level and at the project level. According to the research results, pedestrianization at the network level by converting riding passage to pedestrian infrastructure will increase the amount of trip by 2% and also increase the total produced pollutants at the network level by 1.5% and reduce the total network delay by about 1%. In addition, it reduces the speed and increases the delay at the project level, which with some proposed corrective measures can balance the values of slowing down and increasing the delay in order to succeed in this type of project.