IN-PERSON Barcelona Livable Cities. Section A

Abstract

Improving the walkability of pedestrian infrastructure systems increases individual mobility and accessibility to services, improves mental and physical health, and promotes environmental sustainability. The ITS4US project within Metro Atlanta is designed to enhance the travel experience for underserved communities, including low income populations, people with disabilities, and older adults. The ITS4US project includes the development of the Georgia Mobility and Accessibility Planner (G-MAP), a smartphone navigation app that allows multi-modal travelers to create a personalized trip plan to navigate physical pedestrian infrastructure, avoid obstacles, and ensure accessibility in their travel. For app implementation, the project team used machine vision, video inspection, and field data collection to identify the pedestrian network and assess the design and condition of the network for navigation. This equity assessment case study uses the high-resolution pedestrian infrastructure data (network asset location, design, and condition), and the SidewalkSim shortest path routing tool, to assess community walksheds and relative accessibility across different income groups, ethnicities, and mobility modes through open-source platforms.