Developing walkability index for the transportation vulnerable through the AHP analysis of environmental factors -Focusing on wheelchair users-

Recently, the need for continuous research on pedestrian environment design considering vulnerable people has risen. Therefore, in this research, we aim to develop a walkability index based on the wheelchair users perception on the quality ofwalking environment. In order to evaluate the relative importance of walking environment factors recognized by wheelchair users,we first selected the major walking environment factors and conducted a survey for wheelchair users and non-wheelchair users. Through the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) analysis, the relative importance of the walking environment factors was evaluated,and the walkability index was derived by using the relative importance as a weight. As a result of comparing the perceptiondifferences between the wheelchair user and the non-user group, the overall satisfaction of the wheelchair user was lower thanthat of the non-user, and the priority of the wheelchair user was that the slope of the road, the presence of a chin or curb,and the pavement of the road. The results can be used to improve the walking environment for the wheelchair users.N