Study on the Elements Affecting the Pedestrian Movements Around the Bus Stations of Indore BRT

Indore BRT is a median bus only lane, single route system that covers a length of 11.4 km. There are 20 median bus stations and one curb side station. The pedestrians have to cross mixed traffic lanes to reach median bus stations. There are no specific pedestrian amenities to ensure comfort, safety and time delays for the passengers of BRT system. Present study aims at evaluating the Indore BRT system to identify the challenges to pedestrian mobility and safety around Indore BRT to improve the conditions. The study has two components one the physical observations and second a survey on pedestrians’ perspective. A questionnaire is prepared with 25 questions of which 6 of the questions are demographic, 14 questions have qualitative answers scaled in a 5-point Likert Scale and 5 questions of yes and no type. In all 240 passengers of BRT system responded. The sample was from all the stations through different socio-economic strata of passengers. Explanatory factor analysis of the collected data was undertaken. The results showed that there were four factors that describe the challenges for pedestrian movements. The total variance explained by these factors comes out to be 81.204%. The dominant factors are obstacles in pedestrian movement and crossing conditions. From the study, the major conclusion drawn is that there is an unsafe, inconvenient and time delayed movement of the pedestrians and there is a strong requirement to improve pedestrian amenities in the BRT system to make it more pedestrian friendly.