Need and Possibility for the Development of Pedestrian Facilities on Urban Road System

(Kebutuhan dan Peluang Pengembangan Pedestrian pada Sistem Jalan di Perkotaan)

Petrus Natalivan, ST., MT.

From the mid of twentieth century, development of transportation system is focused on automobiles and causes urban land use change from pedestrian to vehicle size. This change influences the development of urban road system, which is focused on the vehicle interests. It does not look at transportation system comprehensively, which marginalizes the role of “walking” as a mode of transportation. As the results, number of vehicles increases progressively and the quality of life and environment decrease. Although the development of the road system pays lack of attention on the pedestrian, the mode of walking still exists. Therefore, studying the need and possibility for the development of pedestrian facilities based on the existing road system will be an important step for not only improving the quality of urban environment but also locating this mode comprehensively in the transportation mode system.
This research is aimed at explaining the relation between urban road system and need and possibility for the development of pedestrian facilities. Literature review is conducted to formulate need and possibility for the development of pedestrian facilities. Empirical study is conducted to structure the problems of the development of pedestrian facilities, to identify the need based on the existing road system, and to formulate the possibility in the future.
The results show us that the need for the development of pedestrian facilities based on the existing road system can be identified based on road functions, road network pattern, and mobility pattern. Based on this criteria, pedestrian facilities on the road system of Bandung Municipality are highly needed. However, the large space needed for pedestrian facilities and limited dimension of the right of ways (ROW) cause the limited space available for the development of pedestrian facilities. There are only several rows of road on which pedestrian facilities can be optimally developed. The rests are restricted only for the main pedestrian facilities. Moreover, they have no possibility to be developed for pedestrian facilities because the roadsides are small.
Although the urban road system meets the criteria for the development of pedestrian facilities, it is not guaranteed that the pedestrian facilities are developed on it. This is because motive and perception towards the mode of walking also influence the development decision.