Optimizing the compliance of pedestrian facilities construction and alteration with accessibility requirements

State and local governments are required by federal and state laws and regulations to provide and maintain accessibility on their sidewalks and pedestrian facilities. Failure of public agencies to comply with these requirements resulted in injuries and subjected several state and local governments to costly non-compliance penalties and legal settlements. To provide better service to people with disabilities and avoid accessibility related penalties, state and local government need to achieve full compliance with accessibility laws and regulations by conducting self-evaluations and developing transition plans. Self-evaluations must be created and frequently updated by state and local governments to assess the compliance of their pedestrian network with accessibility requirements. Transition plans must include a detailed schedule of all upgrade projects that are required to achieve full compliance with accessibility requirements. These self-evaluation and transition plan requirements proved to be a challenging task for state and local governments due to (1) the large size of their pedestrian networks, (2) the limited availability of resources, and (3) lack of specific guidance in accessibility regulations and standards on how to execute these tasks efficiently. Accordingly, decision makers in state and local governments need to improve the efficiency of self-evaluation and optimize the development of transition plans to maximize their compliance with accessibility requirements within their limited budgets and resources. The main goal of this research study is to develop novel models, methodologies, and frameworks for maximizing the compliance of sidewalks and pedestrian facilities with accessibility requirements. To accomplish this goal, the research objectives of this study are to develop: (1) a comprehensive literature review of the latest laws, regulations, standards, guidelines, best practices, court cases, and legal settlements; (2) an effective and concise accessibility field guide; (3) a novel and practical framework for automating the extraction and modeling of sidewalk conditions, dimensions, and geometry from image; (4) a new methodology for assessing the degree of non-compliance of pedestrian facilities with accessibility requirements; and (5) an innovative multi-objective model to optimize the development and execution of transition plan. The performance of the developed models, methodologies, and frameworks was analyzed using real-life case studies. The results of analyzing these case studies illustrated the novel, unique, and practical capabilities of the research outcomes in enabling decision makers to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their self-evaluations and optimize the development and execution of their transition plans. These capabilities will result in increasing the accessibility of sidewalks and pedestrian facilities for people with disabilities, which will improve their participation in public activities and assist state and local governments in achieving full compliance with accessibility requirements