Usability of Road Infrastructure for Persons with Mobility Impairment

Abstract

Globally, there have been sustained efforts at addressing inclusion by providing access to safe, accessible, reliable, and affordable transport systems for all, including persons with mobility impairment. Individuals or groups such as children, the elderly, and people with disabilities, whose capacities to travel are restricted by some permanent or temporary frailties have been generally referred to as Persons With Mobility Impairment (PWMI). While many city dwellers take mobility for granted, it is not the case for PWMI as their travel experiences are marked by exclusion and frustrations due to inherent barriers in transport infrastructure and services. This study examined usability of road infrastructure for persons with mobility impairment. The study was centred on six randomly selected cities in Nigeria. Survey research design was employed by which primary data were collected through geometric measurement, observation, and the use of structured questionnaire. We adopted the Safety, Accessibility, Reliability and Affordability (SARA) analytical framework for data analysis. Statistical analyses of data were done using descriptive statistics, Analysis of Variants (ANOVA), and the Kruskal-Wallis H test. The study found insignificant numbers, and (in some cases), complete non-existence of pedestrian infrastructure and universal design facilities on major roads in the investigated cities. Most of the roads examined have facilities in less than 20% of the required locations. There was no statistically significant difference between the mean number of facilities across the selected roads and across the six cities studied. More than 90% of respondents rated each of the usability indices (safety, accessibility, reliability, and affordability) low. Generally, roads in Nigerian cities are characterised by structural barriers which impede safety and accessibility for people with mobility impairment thereby making them experience unreliable and less-affordable journeys, reflecting the low usability of road infrastructure across the cities.