Analysis of Street Vendor Effects on Urban Arterial Road

The presence of street vendors on the road and along the sides of the road causes traffic and pedestrian congestion. Their impact on on-road performance was measured in terms of travel speed, capacity, and pedestrian level of service (PLOS). The field data collection was carried out on six purposefully chosen sites (four study roads and two validation roads). On the two days that correspond to the typical market, Wednesday and Saturday, traffic data were measured on two distinct spot segments along each study road. Street sellers are either stationary on the sidewalk or move around in the traffic lane. Flow, entry/exit vehicles, and SV (the combined effect of pedestrian, hawker, and non-motorized vehicles) as independent variables were used to simulate the travel speed of each road segment using SPSS. The effect of street vendor on-road segment travel speed was shown to be statistically significant. Pedestrians significantly reduced the road performance on Azewa and New Bus Station Roads. Furthermore, the service they provide to pedestrians has degraded significantly. Under ideal conditions, all of the study roads performed in the PLOS-B range. However, Azewa Road degraded to the PLOS-E range, while Giorgis and Ayer Tena moved to the PLOS-D range. The maximal reduction in speed was determined to be 55% on Azewa and Ayer Tena roads with a higher intensity of SV. On the other side, the presence of SV on the Azewa route reduces capacity flow by 49%.