Prioritizing Pathways Based on Satisfaction of Individuals Using Mobility Aids with Urban Road Infrastructure—Application of FSE and PROMETHEE II in Saudi Arabia

Husnain Haider (), Arshad Jamal, Meshal Almoshaogeh () and Fawaz Alharbi
Additional contact information
Husnain Haider: Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Qassim University, Buraydah 51452, Saudi Arabia
Arshad Jamal: Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Qassim University, Buraydah 51452, Saudi Arabia
Meshal Almoshaogeh: Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Qassim University, Buraydah 51452, Saudi Arabia
Fawaz Alharbi: Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Qassim University, Buraydah 51452, Saudi Arabia

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 24, 1-25

Abstract: The convenience of commuting for individuals using mobility aids (IMAs) depends on various features of urban road infrastructure. The present research selected different pathways based on the relevance and convenience of IMAs in three regions of Saudi Arabia, including Riyadh, Qassim, and Hail. A survey questionnaire was developed to evaluate the satisfaction of IMAs with four critical criteria of road infrastructure, including travel distance, slope, availability of footpaths, and number of junctions, using a 5-point Likert scale from very low to very high. A sufficient sample size of this exceptional proportion of the population from different genders, age groups, education levels, employment status, number of disability years, and types of mobility aid participated in the survey. The main reasons for dissatisfaction of more than 50% of the participants were inadequate infrastructure design of entrances to public facilities, pedestrian crossings, and junctions. Social stigma and inadequate assistive technology were also highlighted by around 20% of the participants. The fuzzy synthetic evaluation identified length, slope, and footpaths along the pathway as the most critical features based on the subjective opinion of the participants, of which around 65% have been using artificial limbs or manual wheelchairs. PROMETHEE II aggregated the importance of weights estimated by the participants’ opinion and performance scores of infrastructure features to effectively rank ten pathways in three major cities of the selected regions, using partial and complete outranking. The framework developed in the present study helps concerned organizations to comply with the Vision 2030 goal of a vibrant society in Saudi Arabia by identifying critical pathways and improving infrastructure design to ensure safety, convenience, and satisfaction for IMAs.

Keywords: decision making; fuzzy synthetic evaluation; PROMETHEE II; disability; ranking (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/24/11116/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/24/11116/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:24:p:11116-:d:1546931

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().