In research, policy making and implementation concerning the safe mobility and quality of life of pedestrians is a rather neglected issue. Former research projects started to deal with the issue and made it possible to get some grip on the topic. The difficulties due to a long neglect, however, are so substantial that a new COST Action (COST is an intergovernmental European framework for international co-operation between nationally funded research activities) is needed to build on the available knowledge and further to develop the insights gained in earlier projects in order to make a difference in towns and villages in Europe, and elsewhere. The main objective of the Action is to provide an essential contribution to systems knowledge of pedestrians' quality needs, thus stimulating structural and functional interventions, policy making and regulation to support the walking conditions across the EU and other involved countries. In transport and traffic safety sciences a comprehensive, integrated systems approach is now the State-of-the-Art. This new COST Action will follow that path to determine pedestrians' quality needs with regard to the physical and social environments, the transport system, and policy making and implementation for a safe and healthy mobility of pedestrians. Therefore, this PQN-study will be conducted from 3 perspectives: functionality, perception, durability and future prospects. Special attention will be given to the coherence and integration of these perspectives. The focus will be on pedestrians' quality needs with regard to the strategic, tactical and operational levels of travel and sojourn decisions of pedestrians, particularly in city outskirts. For the covering abstract see ITRD E138091. This paper is available from http://www.ictct.org/workshops/07-Beijing/32Risser117123.pdf.
Samenvatting