SOCIAL RESEARCH:

PEDESTRIAN BRIDGES
The purpose of this research is to determine reasons of minimal usage of pedestrian
bridges by the general public and what steps can be taken to increase usage.
 2

Institute of Business Management

Term Research Report on

SOCIAL RESEARCH;
PEDESTRAIN BRIDGES

SUBMISION DATE: 2nd May 2010

COURSE TITLE: Method of Business Research

COURSE CODE: MKT404I

SUBMITTED TO: Mr. Kamil Yosuf

SUBMITTED BY:
Adnan Dohadwala 2008-3-39-8454
Sadaf Haque 2008-3-39-8422
Javaria Said 2008-3-39--8423
Hasan Raza Rivzi 2008-3-39-8421
Abdul Aleem Khan 2008-1-41-8765
 3

Letter of Acknowledgement

We would like to express our whole hearted thanks to Almighty Allah by whose grace &
blessings we have the knowledge, insight and opportunity to complete this report.

We would also be thankful to our lecturer, Mr. Kamil Yosuf for helping and guiding us in
completing this report. We have learned a lot through our experience of gathering
information relating to research related subject. Not only this, we have become more
familiar with the different aspects of business and social research.

We would also want to thank all the other personal’s who assisted & supported us
during data gathering, and analysis.
 I. Letter of Authorization

To: The Readers

From: Adnan Dohadwala Group Leader

As a student of MBA- Executive; Mr. Kamil Yosuf , our course instructor for Method of
Business Research (MKT- ) has authorized us to submit a report on the “Social Research
on Pedestrian Bridges” at the end of term on date May 2nd 2010. The report should be
able to highlight the following skills:

- Understanding of Research Methodology

- Sampling and Error
- Data Gathering and Sorting
- Researching skills
- Analytical skills
- Problem solving skills
- Research Presentation skills
III. Letter of Transmittal

Date: 2nd May 2010

Mr. Kamil Yosuf

Lecturer Method of Business Research
IoBM
Karachi

Subject: Social Research Report on Pedestrian Bridges

Dear Sir,

Here is the final report on Pedestrian Bridges – Identifying reasons of minimal usage of
pedestrian bridges by the general public and what steps can be taken to increase usage,
as you aided to submit as a term project at IoBM/CBM for our course of Method
Business Research.

The report is a brief portrayal of the research analysis and data gathering, sorting and
presentation skills. The various areas and challenges were analyzed during the data
gathering from various sources. I thank you for your precious knowledge and time.

Please be kind enough to grade us on this report and let us have your comments. In case
of any discrepancies and further clarification or recommendations, feel free to contact
us.

Emails: adohadwala@gmail.com Contact #: 0333-3748474

javaria.said@gmail.com
sadaf.fadas@gmail.com
hasan.rizvi86@gmail.com
abdulaleem.khan@yahoo.com

Sincerely,

Adnan Dohadwala
Group Leader
 6

IV. Table of Content

I. Letter of Acknowledgement .............................................................................................................. 3

II. Letter of Authorization........................................................................................................................ 4
III. Letter of Transmittal .............................................................................................................................. 5
IV. Table of Content ....................................................................................................................................... 6
V. List of graphs ............................................................................................................................................ 8
VI. List of appendices .................................................................................................................................. 9
VII. List of exhibits ..................................................................................................................................... 10
VIII. Executive summary ......................................................................................................................... 11
a. Major findings ....................................................................................................................................... 11
b. Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................... 12
c. Recommendations .............................................................................................................................. 13
IX. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 14
a. Background............................................................................................................................................ 14
Road infrastructure and pedestrian environment ................................................................. 14
Human Costs ......................................................................................................................................... 14
Social Costs ............................................................................................................................................ 16
b. Statement of the problem ................................................................................................................ 17
Research Objective ............................................................................................................................. 17
Hypothesis ............................................................................................................................................. 17
IX. Approach to the problem ............................................................................................................. 17
X. Research design ...................................................................................................................................... 18
a. Type of research design .................................................................................................................... 18
Population and sampling .................................................................................................................. 18
Type of Study ........................................................................................................................................ 18
Data Collection tools .......................................................................................................................... 18
Instrumentation/Analysis ............................................................................................................... 18
b. Information needs .............................................................................................................................. 18
c. Data collection from secondary sources..................................................................................... 18
d. Data collection from primary sources ........................................................................................ 19
 7

Method of data collection ................................................................................................................. 19

e. Scaling techniques............................................................................................................................... 19
f. Questionnaire development and pretesting .............................................................................. 19
g. Sampling techniques .......................................................................................................................... 20
Sampling -Respondent profile ........................................................................................................ 20
h. Field work .............................................................................................................................................. 20
XI. Data analysis ........................................................................................................................................... 21
a. Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 21
b. Data analysis ......................................................................................................................................... 21
Statistical Analysis .............................................................................................................................. 21
Graphical Analysis............................................................................................................................... 22
XII. Limitations and caveats ..................................................................................................................... 27
XIII. Conclusions and recommendations ............................................................................................ 28
XIV. Appendix ................................................................................................................................................ 31
a. Questionnaires and forms ................................................................................................................ 31
b. Statistical output/data analysis..................................................................................................... 31
c. Graphs ...................................................................................................................................................... 31
Reference......................................................................................................................................................... 32
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V. List of graphs
Figure 1 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19
Figure 2 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20
Figure 3--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20
Figure 4--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22
Figure 5--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22
Figure 6--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 23
Figure 7--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 23
Figure 8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 23
Figure 9--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24
Figure 10-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24
Figure 11-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24
Figure 12-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24
Figure 13-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25
Figure 14-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25
Figure 15-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 26
Figure 16-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 26
Figure 17-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 26
Figure 18-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 26
Figure 19-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 27
 9

VI. List of appendices

Questionnaire----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 31

Data collection ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- CD

 10

VII. List of exhibits

CD (Group Pandora)

Title: Social Research on Pedestrian Bridges

Contents of CD:

- Soft copy of Report on Social research on Pedestrian bridges ( PDF file)

- Data entry and graphs ( Excel file)
- Questionnaire for data collection ( PDF file)
- Presentation on Pedestrian bridges research ( PPT slide show)
 11

VIII. Executive summary

With the amount of effort the Government and especially the City District Government
Karachi is putting into development of transport infrastructure, it is disheartening to
note that the day to day dangers of pedestrians remain the same. According to Dawn
News, every day 1 person dies due to road accidents. This is despite the fact that the
Government has built over 100 Pedestrian bridges in Karachi alone.

To understand why pedestrians don’t use these bridges despite the obvious benefits,
our group decided to conduct an exploratory study on the behest of our MBR teacher,
Kamil Yousuf as part of our course requirement. We did a survey, using a questionnaire
we developed, of more than 200 pedestrians to understand the following:

 What are the reasons due to which pedestrians don’t use overhead bridges?
 What can be done to encourage usage?
 And to discover whether there is any relation of location with usage

a. Major findings

Through statistical analysis we concluded that we are 90% confident that the
percentage of respondents who don’t use bridges due to placement is between 69.5%
and 81.1%

Since our survey was mostly based on school going or working individuals who usually
cross roads only when getting to work or to school, majority of the respondents (46%)
cross the road 0-1 time only. Of these the majority (46%) used roads to cross as they are
considered to be more convenient rather than waiting for zebra crossings to be
available or to climb overhead bridges. Also 52% of the people revealed that they do not
have pedestrian bridges available in the areas they cross the roads from.

An interesting fact uncovered is that generally people (88%) want their kids to use
pedestrian bridges whereas the rest suggested zebra crossings depending on the
availability. The reasons they cited were safety and civic awareness. Also people think
that pedestrian bridges should have facilities for handicapped people and kids vehicles
and prams as well.

Laziness (23%) and bad placement (28%) were highlighted as the major reasons people
do not cross bridges – also some (17%) thinks that if they use roads instead of bridges –
it would save them time. But they would use bridges if they had attractive functional
bridges (20%) available with better lights(12%) and at a lower height (10%).
 12

Another thing highlighted was that people do not think that pedestrian bridges are safer
options as compared to roads as they are scared of theft (68%) and harassment (70%).
Interestingly not many have encountered it.

Moreover people believe that they need to be discouraged from crossing roads instead
of just building more and more pedestrian bridges. The majority of the sample (40%)
considered Grills and wires as an effective way. A slight minority also suggested security
cameras as an appropriate measure – when one is watched; one acts smarter.

b. Conclusions

Through statistical analysis we concluded that we are 90% confident that the
percentage of respondents who don’t use bridges due to placement is between 69.5%
and 81.1%

Since our survey was mostly based on school going or working individuals who usually
cross roads only when getting to work or to school, majority of the respondents (46%)
cross the road 0-1 time only. Of these the majority (46%) used roads to cross as they
are considered to be more convenient rather than waiting for zebra crossings to be
available or to climb overhead bridges. Also 52% of the people revealed that they do
not have pedestrian bridges available in the areas they cross the roads from.

An interesting fact uncovered is that generally people (88%) want their kids to use
pedestrian bridges whereas the rest suggested zebra crossings depending on the
availability. The reasons they cited were safety and civic awareness. Also people think
that pedestrian bridges should have facilities for handicapped people and kids vehicles
and prams as well.

Laziness (23%) and bad placement (28%) were highlighted as the major reasons
people do not cross bridges – also some (17%) thinks that if they use roads instead of
bridges – it would save them time. But they would use bridges if they had attractive
functional bridges (20%) available with better lights(12%) and at a lower height
(10%).

Another thing highlighted was that people do not think that pedestrian bridges are
safer options as compared to roads as they are scared of theft (68%) and harassment
(70%). Interestingly not many have encountered it.

Moreover people believe that they need to be discouraged from crossing roads instead
of just building more and more pedestrian bridges. The majority of the sample (40%)
considered Grills and wires as an effective way. A slight minority also suggested
security cameras as an appropriate measure – when one is watched; one acts smarter.
 13

c. Recommendations

Based on our findings and conclusions, our recommendations to the Government are as
follows

1. Pedestrian bridges should be made at

a. Schools/ Colleges
b. Hospitals
c. Market places
d. Signal free corridors
e. Bus stops
2. People will use bridges when they are well placed, well maintained, sturdy and
convenient.
3. Awareness campaigns should be carried out. People should not need to be forced
to cross roads from bridges by putting grills on road. People should want to use
the bridges.
4. Further more the following principles should be considered while designing of
pedestrian bridges:
a. Location of the bridge
b. Accessibility to the public
c. Integration with the environment
d. Landmark design
e. Experience of the pedestrian
f. Form of the structure
g. Approaches to the bridge
h. Safety for the user
i. Lighting of the bridge
j. Maintenance of the bridge
k. Color of the bridge
 14

IX. Introduction

a. Background

In most developing world cities, a large number of citizens walk as part of their daily
social, recreational, and livelihood activities. In Karachi, almost 21 percent of daily trips
are made entirely on foot, and of the nearly 66 percent of the commuters who use
different modes of public transport, a large percentage walk some or large part of their
daily commute. Every trip begins and ends with a walking trip. Nearly all trips made by
people entail some walking, either directly to a destination or to another mode of
transport.
The extent to which pedestrian infrastructure allows people to walk with ease and
safety determines quality of the pedestrian environment and the overall transportation
network.

Road infrastructure and pedestrian environment

The pedestrian infrastructure in Karachi is, to put it mildly, inadequate – often misused,
poorly designed, badly maintained and sometimes dangerous. Pedestrian convenience
and safety are often a blind spot or a low priority for authorities, and recent
investments in road infrastructure by CDGK bear this out.
To accommodate ever-increasing number of vehicles in Karachi, authorities have
embarked on upgrading and expanding road infrastructure as a way of dealing with
growing traffic congestion. These investments have mostly ignored the importance of
road users’ education –often the main cause of chaos on our roads - and basic
pedestrian mobility and safety features.
For instance, new road building and widening projects have reduced the width or
simply removed footpaths in a number of places. In other instances, flyovers, bridges
and underpasses have created new pedestrian accessibility and safety issues. Signal-
free corridors have eliminated at-grade crossings, making it difficult and dangerous for
people, especially women and children, to cross. Road crossings are badly designed and
often not marked, meaning vehicles rarely ever give right of way to pedestrians (note: a
very high number of pedestrian casualties occur while attempting to cross roads).
Footpaths do not follow a standardized design and are for the most part decrepit, poorly
maintained, encroached upon by cars, vendors, shop keepers, poles, transformers,
telephone boxes, postal boxes, signage and the like. All of this makes for a chaotic and
unpleasant walking experience for millions of people every day.

Human Costs

People walking on city roads in developing countries are much more at risk of injury or
 15

death than they are in developed countries – according to one study, between 86 and
172 percent greater risk1. In Karachi, road accidents kill and maim thousands of people
each year and the numbers are growing.
During 2008, there were 32,497 injuries2 resulting from road accidents in Karachi (see
table below for breakdown). Of the total number injured, 56 percent were those riding
on bicycles and motorcycles and 26 percent were pedestrians. However, of the total
fatalities of bicycle/motorcycle riders have decrease by 6 percent, while pedestrians
have increase by 26 percent.

Table 1: Comparison of Road User Group Injuries and Fatalities between 2008-2009

Source: Road Traffic Injury Research and Prevention Centre, JPMC, Karachi.

Comparison of data on pedestrian injuries and fatalities between 2008 and 2009 shows
an increase of 18 percent (from
212 to 251) and 6 percent
(from 799 to 766) in the
number who were seriously
injured or died as a result of
road accidents. Pedestrians
suffered the second highest
number of injuries (both minor
and serious), but had the
highest rate of fatalities.3

1 Krambeck, H., and Shah, Jitu, The Global Walkability Index: ‘Talk The Walk And Walk The Talk’.

2 Includes serious and minor injuries. RTIRPC defines serious as injury for which a person is detained in hospital as
an in-patient, or any of the following injuries whether or not they are detained in hospital: fractures, concussions,
internal injuries, crushing, burns (excluding friction burns), severe cuts etc; and minor means: injuries such as sprain,
bruises or cuts not judged to be severe.

3 Road Traffic Injury Research and Prevention Centre (RTIRPC) – Department of Neurosurgery, Jinnah Postgraduate
Medical Centre, Karachi.
 16

Social Costs

Beyond death and injury, an unsafe and inconvenient pedestrian environment impedes
social and economic mobility of poor people. Walking everyday in a chaotic road
environment like that of Karachi can be both unpleasant and unsafe. Moreover, it
reduces the time and energy that people could otherwise devote to work, family, and
other productive activities.
The absence of an enabling pedestrian environment also reflects poorly on the dignity
and respect accorded to citizens by the state, and on how outsiders (potential investors)
view the city.
The former mayor of Bogotá, Enrique Penalosa, argues that inadequate and poorly
maintained road and cycling infrastructure is a sign of a lack of democracy in a society,
‘it says that those who walk or cycle are not equal citizens to those who ride in cars’. He
believes “…importance of pedestrian public spaces cannot be measured, but most other
important things in life cannot be measured either: Friendship, beauty, love and loyalty
are examples. Parks and other pedestrian places are essential to a city's happiness4.” In
congested low-income housing settlements in Karachi, footpaths and surrounding land
serve as places for social interaction. These spaces need to be developed and expanded.
Besides its immediate benefits to poor communities, such developments would give
citizens a sense of pride and ownership in the city.5

4 http://www.pps.org/info/placemakingtools/placemakers/epenalosa

5 Preliminary Survey of Pedestrian Infrastructure in Four Areas of Karachi, August 2009, Arif Pervaiz.
b. Statement of the problem

Research Objective

Our research objective is as follows

“To determine reasons of minimal usage of pedestrian bridges by the general

public and what steps can be taken to increase usage.”

Hypothesis

Our null hypothesis is

H0= Location of bridges is directly proportional to usage.

Our alternate hypothesis is

H1= Location of bridges is not directly proportional to usage.

IX. Approach to the problem

To resolve this problem, we set out to answer three questions, each question related to
a separate purpose of the research.

Our questions were:

 What are the reasons due to which pedestrians don’t use overhead bridges?
To ask questions that help determine what are the major reasons due to
which people don’t use bridges.
 How to encourage usage?
To talk to pedestrians and discover what steps can be taken by the
government which will encourage pedestrians to increase use of bridges.
 Relation of location with usage
To use statistics to analyze whether there is any relation to where bridges
are placed and usage by pedestrians.
 18

X. Research design

a. Type of research design

The research is designed as an “Exploratory Research”

Population and sampling

Population: Karachi citizens

Sampling method: Convenience sampling /non probability sampling

Type of Study

Depth: Cross sectional study

Nature: Explorative, Descriptive and analytical study

Data Collection tools

 Secondary research articles
 Questionnaire Survey with customers (See attached the survey in appendix)

Instrumentation/Analysis
 Graphical analysis (Pie and bar charts)
 Statistical analysis

Time dimension: Cross sectional

Research environment: Field setting
Participant’s perception: Actual routine
The degree of research question crystallization: Exploratory study
Method of data collection: Survey
Sampling Design -Non-Probability sampling: Convenience sampling

b. Information needs

We needed to find out

 Why people didn’t use pedestrian bridges

 What steps could be taken to increase usage
 Does placement have anything to do with people not using bridges

c. Data collection from secondary sources

Secondary data has been extracted from various newspaper sources and the internet –
web articles ( please see footnotes and introduction).
 19

d. Data collection from primary sources

Method of data collection Methods of primary data

collection
Online
 Survey surveys
Online Surveys 33%
Email Surveys Self
Adminis
Self Administered surveys
tered
surveys
 Observation Email
55%
surveys
12%
Figure 1

e. Scaling techniques

We used Non-Comparative Scaling, i.e. Respondents only evaluated a single object.

f. Questionnaire development and pretesting

The questionnaire was divided into 5 Headings:

 Usage
The questions in this part were designed to determine if the respondent
used pedestrian bridges; their frequency and their preferences. We also
asked questions about their attitude when kids were involved.
 Placement
The questions in this part were designed to understand respondent’s
preferences regarding placement of bridges.
 Reasons
The questions in this part were designed to understand why people don’t
use bridges and how they can be encouraged to use them.
 Civic Sense
The questions in this part were designed to determine what people think
about pedestrian bridges and their knowledge of civic sense.
 Demographics
Basic information to determine demographics of respondent
 20

g. Sampling techniques

Sampling -Respondent profile

◦ Target respondent : Pedestrians

◦ Citizens : Karachi
◦ Gender : 71% male
29% females

◦ Occupation : Employed,
Students

Home based

◦ Age : 15-60 yrs

◦ Income : Not relevant Figure 2

h. Field work

Target size: 200 citizens

Achieved: 210 citizens

Sampling error: Response error

Total responses Uncomple

ted
2%

Complete
d
98%

Figure 3
X. Data analysis

a. Methodology

The research has been based on the following two sorts of data analysis depending on
the requirements of the research:

- Statistical analysis :
o This method has been used to prove the hypothesis using the interval
estimation of population proportion.
- Graphical analysis:
o This method was adopted to present and analyze the survey questions

b. Data analysis

Statistical Analysis

The hypothesis states that:

Ho= Location and placement of bridges is directly proportional to usage

H1= Location and placement of bridges is not directly proportional to usage

Using the Interval estimation of population proportion formula – ‘P’ is

ˆ  z / 2 ˆ (1  p
p ˆ)
p n
p= proportion of sample who are in favor

q= proportion of sample who are against

q=1-p

n= numbers in sample

Sample error is 10% (assumption) α =10%

(1- α) 100% Confidence Interval will be

135 out of 210 respondents don’t use pedestrian bridges because of bad placements

p= 135/210

=0.6428 or 64.28%
 22

Hence q= 0.3572 or 35.72%

α=0.10

α /2= 0.05

Z α /2 = +1.645 (from z- table)

90% Confidence Interval will be

= 0.753+_0.058

0.695<P<0.811

69.5% <P<81.1%

Interpretation:

We are 90% confident that the percentage of respondents who don’t use bridges due to
placement is between 69.5% and 81.1%

Graphical Analysis
How many times in a day do you
cross a road in a day
The figure illustrates how majority of the
respondents (46%) cross the road 0-1 0-1 times 2-3 times 4-5 times > 6 times
time only whereas as the other major
part (34%) crosses roads 2-3 times a 2%
9%
day. The reason behind such a response
is that the sample was usually based on 35% 54%
school going or working individuals who
usually cross roads only when getting to
work or to school and back to home.
Figure 4

Also the ones, who cross, use roads in Where do you cross the road from?
majority (46%) and the rest of them 50%
either use overhead bridges or zebra 40%
Percnetage

crossings. Roads were considered to 30%

be more convenient rather than 20%
waiting for zebra crossings to be 10%
available or to climb overhead bridges. 0%
Road Overhead Zebra
bridges Crossing
Series1 46% 32% 23%

Figure 5
 23

Do you have pedestrian bridges Also 52% of the people revealed that
available in areas you pass they do not have pedestrian bridges
frequently available in the areas they cross the
roads from. Even thought the
Yes government has built 116 bridges
already but a lot of areas are still not
No equipped with facilities like overhead
48% bridges.
52%

Cheaper/Convenient method of
crossing roads
Underground
crossing
Figure 6
8% Guards
12%

Zebra
Moreover when inquired- crossing
Pedestrian
37%
people considered bridges
pedestrian bridges as a 43%

cheaper and convenient

option when compared to Figure 7
zebra crossings, underground crossings and guards.

Figure 8

Usage frequency (over head

bridges) Also not a lot of people use the
40% overhead bridges on a daily
35% basis- majority of the
30%
population used overhead
Percentages

bridges once in a while i.e. 35%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
Monthl Once in
Daily Weekly Yearly
y a while
Series1 21% 21% 17% 5% 35%
 24
Figure 9
When with kids you will cross
Why suggest kids to cross from bridges? from?
90%
80%
70% 12%
60%
50%
40%
30% Bridge
20%
10%
0% Road
To teach civic 88%
Safety Others
sense
Series1 82% 18% 0%
Figure 10

Where would you suggest kids to

cross from?

Pedestrian bridges
Also when inquired regarding
Zebra crossing where would people want their
kids to cross roads from-
Roads
approximately 80% wanted
them to use pedestrian bridges
0% 50% 100%
whereas the rest suggested
Pedestrian zebra crossings depending on
Roads Zebra crossing
bridges the availability. The reasons
Series1 1% 21% 78% beings safety and civic
Figure 11 awareness.

Figure 12

People also wanted pedestrian bridges to

Do you think pedestrian
have facilities for handicapped people and
bridges should also provide
kids vehicles and prams as well.
facilities for?

A small minority (9%) also wanted the 9%

Motorcyclists
pedestrian bridges to provide for 9%
motorcyclists and bicycles as well whereas 40%
Bicyclists
the rest considered it irrelevant since roads
can provide way for bicycles and Handicapped people

motorcycles. The vehicles would only make 42%

Kids vehicles and
the bridges unsafe for pedestrians. Prams
 25

Reasons for not using pedestrian bridges

Age factor (Generally)
Tiredness
Height phobia
Medical Reasons
Due to Beggars
Save time
Bad placement
Not strongly built
Laziness

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

Figure 13

Laziness and bad placement are also one of the major reasons people do not cross
bridges – also a vast majority thinks that if they use roads instead of bridges – it saves
them time.

Suggestions to increase usage

You could see the

road Better lights
9% 12%
They had escalators
17%

Shops on the bridge Lower height

6% 10%

Attaractive bridges More grills on road

20% 21%

Police intervention
5%

Figure 14

Our research also highlighted that attractive functional bridges, better lights and lower
height would increase usage. People also felt safer if they were able to see the roads
instead of billboards while crossing the bridges
 26

Do they make you feel safe? Are you afraid of theft?

Yes

5% No
No
32%

Yes
68%

95%

Figure 16
Figure 15
Another thing highlighted is that
people generally think that
Figure 17 pedestrian bridges are safer options
Are you afraid of harrasment? as compared to roads. Also people
Yes have some misconceptions and are
30% scared while using bridges of theft
and harassment but not many
No
70%
people have encountered it.

What would discourage road crossing?

Other
Security Camera 0%
17% Grills
40%
Fines
16%
Walls Wires
8% 12%

Trees/Shrubs
7%
Figure 18

Moreover people believe that they need to be discouraged from crossing roads instead
of just building more and more pedestrian bridges. The majority of the sample (40%)
considered Grills and wires as an effective way to prevent people from using roads for
crossing purposes. A slight minority also suggested security cameras as an appropriate
measure – when one is watched; one acts smarter.
 27

Is bridges a good step taken by the Govt?

97%

3%

Yes No

Figure 19

Conflicting the current observed situation – approximately 100% of the people consider
pedestrian bridges as a rational step taken by the Government. With the increasing
traffic and signal free corridors – the majority of the citizens highlighted the importance
of the City District Government Karachi (CDGK)’s efforts as appreciative towards the
infrastructure development.

Even though the public does consider pedestrian bridges a necessity – only a minority
(i.e. 32% - please see chart 2) use overhead bridges; the rest either crossing from roads
or zebra crossings.

XII. Limitations and caveats

Our limitation in this research was as follows:

 Limited data availability on internet

 Survey results biasness errors

 Time constraints
XIII. Conclusions and recommendations

After our research we concluded that even if people want to and despite the
government’s best efforts pedestrian bridges are still not in easy access. This is because
people want a bridge immediately in front of their destination and are not willing to
walk any distance to cross the road. This is because that despite being literate – people
do not have civic awareness.

Also people strongly think that pedestrian bridges should be made at

 Schools/ Colleges

 Hospitals

 Market places

 Signal free corridors

 Bus stops

Also zebra crossing should be present at Round-about and underpasses.

Another disturbing fact that we discovered is that rather than encouraging use of
bridges, people believe that they need to be discouraged from road crossing. That is
they will only use bridges if they are unable to cross from any other way. This shows the
mentality of the general public and their road sense.

Based on this we believe that the points to be considered by Government are;

1. People will use bridges when they are

 Well placed,

 Well maintained,

 Sturdy and

 Convenient.

2. People’s opinion regarding requirement of bridges should be taken in account while

planning.

3. Awareness campaigns should be carried out. People should not need to be forced to
cross roads from bridges by putting grills on road. People should want to use the
bridges.

Further more the following principles should be considered while designing of

pedestrian bridges:
 29

LOCATION: Pedestrian bridges should be located to serve identified desire lines as

much as possible. This will ensure that the use of the bridge is maximized. Isolated
locations should be avoided. The natural topography should also be considered in
determining suitable locations for pedestrian bridges.

ACCESSIBILITY: Bridges should be accessible to all pedestrians and cyclists. This

includes mobility impaired people who may require ramps. Any ramps should be
incorporated into the approaches to the bridge and their slope minimized. Ramps and
stairs should be located as close as possible. In special circumstances lifts may be
required.

INTEGRATION: Bridges are elements within the wider urban fabric and should be
integrated into their context. This includes relating the structures to the character and
scale of the surrounding urban form or landscape to ensure that the design fits in well. It
also includes seeking opportunities to create new connections to existing cycle and
pedestrian networks.

LANDMARK DESIGN: Bridges can be prominent structures offering opportunities to

create new landmarks and to incorporate the cultural and historic values of the area
into the design. A landmark structure will not be appropriate in all situations.

EXPERIENCE: Compared with vehicle bridges, pedestrian bridges provide a greater

opportunity to create an interesting experience for users as they travel slower and
spend more time on the bridge. These opportunities include maximizing or framing
views and using street furniture and other design features to create an attractive
environment.

FORM: Pedestrian bridges carry lighter loads than traffic bridges, which allows more
flexibility to the form of the bridge and the choice of materials. Sleeker, more elegant
structures may be possible. Barriers and handrails perform an important safety
function, but care should be taken to ensure they are not visually dominant. If needed,
safety screens should be integrated in the overall bridge design. The finished texture
and color of the bridge can also play an important role in highlighting all or part of its
form.

APPROACHES: Approach ramps should be designed as part of the bridge composition

and integrated in the landform and landscape. Wherever possible, minimize the length
of ramps and staircases by taking advantage of the topography or using noise bunds and
earth mounds as landings.

SAFETY: The safety of users must be considered in the bridge location and design. If the
bridge is to be used by cyclists as well as pedestrians, the bridge should be wide enough
to accommodate both groups and it may be necessary to provide separate paths. The
angle of the bridge and its approaches should be designed to suit both groups and
reduce opportunities for collision.
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LIGHTING: Most bridges will be used at night and therefore require lighting to ensure
the safety of users. Bespoke lighting can be used as a design feature but care must be
taken to avoid light spilling into the surrounding environment. The protection of
lighting from vandalism must also be considered, either through the design itself or the
use of protective boxing.

LANDSCAPING: Well considered, low maintenance planting can be a feature of

pedestrian bridge design. This can include planting on the bridge itself which can be
beneficial when integrating a bridge into a landscape setting. Planting can also be used
to good effect at the ends of pedestrian bridges in order to reduce the visual impact of
ramps and associated structures.

MAINTENANCE: Select durable materials and finishes that do not significantly degrade
in appearance over time. Where required, anti-graffiti coating should be applied as part
of the bridge construction phase to the full extent of piers and barriers to prevent
patchy application and appearance at later stages.

COLOUR: Color provides opportunities to give consistency to a family of bridges and to

reinforce the landmark quality of a stand alone structure. When used to highlight
particular elements it should form part of a coherent, ordered composition. Color must
be used carefully as it draws the eye, especially in a rural setting. 6

6 Urban Design Principles _ Pedestrian Bridges, New Zealand Transport Agency.

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XIV. Appendix
a. Questionnaires and forms
b. Statistical output/Data collection
c. Graphs

(Please find questionnaire on next page and data collection and graphs in the excel file in the CD –
due to excessive data it could not be included in report printable form)
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Reference

a. Krambeck, H., and Shah, Jitu, The Global Walkability Index: ‘Talk The Walk And Walk
The Talk’.

b. Road Traffic Injury Research and Prevention Centre (RTIRPC) – Department of

Neurosurgery, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi.

c. http://www.pps.org/info/placemakingtools/placemakers/epenalosa

d. Preliminary Survey of Pedestrian Infrastructure in Four Areas of Karachi, August 2009,

Arif Pervaiz.

e. Urban Design Principles _ Pedestrian Bridges, New Zealand Transport Agency.