ENGINEER - Vol. LIV, pp.

[27-38],
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OF ENGINEERS, SRI LANKA iesl/journal/format
© The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka DOI: http://doi.org/10.4038/engineer.v54i0.7450

Assessing the Walk-Score of Walking Paths in Kandy

City Area for Better Walking Experience for the
Tourists
T.W.K.I.M. Dias and K.P. Wijeweera

Abstract: Walking has been always considered as a sustainable method of transportation which
is more suitable for short distance trips. It is observed that tourists would prefer to walk more than
local residents in cities with many tourist attractions located in close proximity. The City of Kandy, in
Sri Lanka, can be recognized as one good example for such cities. Even though the tourists are willing
to walk longer distances, this study has assessed the walking experience of a pedestrian in the city
limits of Kandy, based on a walk score. Several walkability characteristics are taken into account to
generate the walk score for segments of roads in the city and Pedestrian Level of Service (PLOS) was
also considered. The objective of this study was to recognize the best walking paths between the
tourist attractions using these qualities. This study used an evaluation criterion previously developed
by Dias in 2012 to obtain the walk-score, and tourism specific features such as availability of shops
and ATM machines were considered. The study area was based on the tourist attractions in Kandy.
Data were collected through field surveys in 2018 to identify walking facilities provided and to
estimate PLOS in the selected street segments. Twenty-six road segments were selected for the study
and the Walk-score ranged from 24% to 60% with an average of 45%, which cannot be considered as a
satisfactory situation. The results showed lack of pedestrian amenities in many street segments could
be discouraging tourists to choose the street segment for their route. When selecting a walking path to
reach a tourist destination it is expected that tourists will tend to select the best walking path.

Keywords: Walkability, Walk score, Pedestrian amenities, Tourism, Kandy

1. Introduction walking as an active travel mode without any

interruption. Tourists may use walking as a
Walking has been always considered as a travel mode to reduce traffic congestion they
sustainable method of transportation which is may have to face during their trips.
more suitable for short distance trips. There are
several, but not many yardsticks available to 1.1 Background
measure walkability. When the definition is
taken, “walkability” is simply how walking is Kandy city, the cultural capital of Sri Lanka, is
facilitated by infrastructure and urban one of the major tourist attraction areas inside
planning. Further, the concept of “short the country. City has prominent tourist
distance trip” changes with the convenient attractions like temple of tooth, Old Royal
maximum walking distance of a human being. Palace compound (headquarters of Malwatta
As a result, a resident might not walk longer and Asgiriya within its precincts) Annual Esala
distances as compared to a foreign tourist. Perahara, Udawatte preserve and many
cultural heritage sites. It was declared a world
However, it is observed that tourists would heritage site by UNESCO in 1988[1].
prefer to walk more than local residents.
Tourism has a significant relationship with
walking. Most tourists like to feel the close
connection to the environment through Eng. (Dr.) T.W.K.I.M. Dias, AMIE(SL), PhD (USA), MSc
walking. This is noticeable specially in cities (Moratuwa), BSc Hons (Moratuwa), CMILT(SL), Senior
with many tourist attractions located within Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, General Sir John
Kotelawala Defence University, Kandawala Road,
proximity and also when the weather is Ratmalana, Sri Lanka.
perceived as comfortable. In order to develop Email: ishanidias@kdu.ac.lk
walking as a popular travel mode among the https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2503-5720
Second Lieutenant K.P. Wijeweera,
tourists, a city should have a variety of walking
Department of Civil Engineering
facilities provided to encourage walking. Most General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University
importantly tourists should be able to do Kandawala Road, Ratmalana, Sri Lanka.

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Within the Kandy city area, lesser foreign

tourists could be observed due to lack of
walking facilities and amenities. The sidewalks
inside the city area are often overcrowded and
it forces the pedestrians to use the road causing
traffic congestion. It is important to analyse the
adequacy of the walkways to facilitate higher
pedestrian volumes without interruption. One
basic requirement for pedestrians is sufficiently
wide sidewalks. Within the Kandy city limits,
walkways are obstructed due to many reasons
and some are shown in Figures 1 to 3.
Figure 3 - Unfavorable Obstructions for
Pedestrians

The outcome can be used to superimpose in a

digital map of Kandy, so that a tourist can make
an informed decision on which road links to
use to reach a particular destination from their
origin. This could also be used to plan out a
walking route to cover all the tourist attractions
within the city.

Factors that need to be considered in order to

develop a walkscore are, walkway width,
pedestrian amenities, recreational activities, etc.
Walking is a good solution to prevent
unnecessary traffic congestion, but there are
better walking routes within the city which are
not recognized by the tourists. Thus, tourists
are not well informed.
Figure 1 - Unsystematic Garbage Piles
2. Literature Review

Tourists who ever come to visit some place are

mostly like to walk through the destination and
in-between their journey. As tourism becomes
more sustainable, there is interest in
encouraging tourists to use an active travel
mode when visiting destinations. A study done
by Kumarage and Bandara (2018) has proven
that tourists are willing to walk to the
destinations which are more attractive and it
has also mentioned that most of the tourists
Figure 2 - Constructions Encroaching into the believe that walking is the best way to
Sidewalks experience the city [2]. Hall and Ram (2017)
have identified that walkability affects urban as
The first objective of this study was to evaluate well as rural tourism in many ways [3].
the Pedestrian Level of Service (PLOS) of the Furthermore, tourists are also interested in
street segments within the Kandy City. The walking through built-up environments which
second objective was to estimate a walkscore is potentially an asset for tourist attraction and
for all the main street segments within the services such as transport, accommodation,
Kandy city between the Kandy Railway Station restaurants. It is also mentioned that tourists
and the Municipal Council junction (entrance to are not only interested in walking and they use
the Udawatte Reserve). Then a strategy is walking as a travel mode to maximize
proposed to choose the most preferred route sightseeing.
connecting the street segments from a given
origin to a destination covering the required In contrast with the interest to walk, an
tourist destinations. individual’s willingness to walk varies greatly

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depending on age, health, time availability, the effective length of an obstruction is

quality of surroundings, safety, climate, and considered as five times its effective width and
many other factors. As the convenient it further reduces the effective area of the
maximum walking distance varies for different sidewalk [9].
individuals, an average distance of 400m can be
accepted [4]. Connectivity factor which can describe as
connectivity to the main roads, linkage to other
2.1 Pedestrian Level of Service important walking paths which have higher
Pedestrian Level of Service (PLOS) is defined scenic views also very important when
by the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) and considering walking of tourists[10].
the version considered in this study is 2000 [5].
Use of PLOS concept to evaluate walking Buffers along sidewalks can be provided to
conditions is not new and it was observed in increase pedestrian comfort by increasing the
past literature as well. Miranda and Carrasco lateral separation between pedestrians and fast-
(2011) in their study have discussed various moving cars [9]. These buffers can be
practical methods to obtain pedestrian data for landscaped and include street trees, green
these studies [6]. They have found that infrastructure, street infrastructure such as light
pedestrians walking in the same direction toilet or utility poles, and transit stops. They
chooses the side of the road that has wider also provide space for driveway pads while
sidewalks to do their walk. Shaban and Muley allowing the sidewalk to remain level. Presence
(2016) studied the impact of weather conditions of buffers is taken as a measuring element by
on pedestrian volume and they have discussed Dias (2012) in the walkability evaluation
the importance of considering all seasons for criterion. Other than that, modal conflict is
pedestrian studies [7]. Sony and Destri (2018) safeguarded by elevated sidewalks and that is
have studied various PLOS methods other than also considered in the same criterion.
HCM and concluded that the evaluations vary Walkways should be comfortable for all road
but the recommendations related to effective users including differently abled people.
walking width improvements are much more Disability infrastructure listed by Dias (2012) is
reliable through HCM [8]. shown in Table 1.

2.2 Evaluating the Walkscore Pedestrians seek frequent crossing points for
Sidewalks are defined as the backbone of the their convenience. Most people will walk 150
pedestrian transportation network. Sidewalks feet (46 m) to get to locations rewarding their
narrow than 1.5 m are not encouraged to be arrival. If pedestrian crossings are not available
proposed for the score cards and sidewalks at frequent distances, pedestrians tend jaywalk
more than 1m can score because of the presence and increase the ability for road crashes [9].
of the sidewalks [9]. According to Dias (2012),
Table 1 - Disability Infrastructure – Survey Form Section

Disability Infrastructure
i Correctly placed tactile paving along the sidewalks YES NO
ii Correctly placed tactile paving along the crossings YES NO
iii Gradient/ slope of sidewalks are convenient (less then 1:20) YES NO
iv Cross slopes are convenient (less than 1:50) YES NO
Dropped curbs/ curb ramps are present at road junctions where there is a
v change in level YES NO
vi Water does not pool on pathways YES NO
vii No open drains/ tree routes across pathways YES NO
viii Central ramps with flared sides YES NO
ix Ramp surface is wider than 900mm YES NO
x Ramps have non-slip surfacing YES NO
xi Color of ramps and flare sides are in contrast with surrounding YES NO
Curb ramps leave at least 900mm of the pathway and do not obstruct through
xii flow YES NO
xiii No overhead obstructions below 2200 mm YES NO
xiv Audible warnings at pedestrian crossings YES NO

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Click or tap here to enter text.

In many studies it is found that pedestrian become the second need to improve the
friendly community include safety, weather, walking infrastructure in the city.
distance, lifestyle, and best suited layout that is To evaluate the PLOS for each segment,
having flat terrain, mild climate, inter- Highway Capacity Manual (2000) [5] was used.
connected network allows to develop
pedestrian friendly community[11][12]. In that
research, it was also mentioned that importance
of building recreational paths and walk paths
should be designed knowing that residents are
willing to walk 10-15 minutes at a time. Some
have identified factors affecting the walkability
as continuity, connectivity, absence of barriers,
linkage to the transport modes, safety from
traffic, physical condition of the path and
contextual values such as aesthetic and historic
values[13].
A study done for Dhaka city, identified walking
parameters as walking path modal conflict
(15%), availability of walking paths (25%),
availability of crossings (10%), grade crossing
Figure 4 - Street Segments on a Map
safety (10%), motorist behavior (5%), amenities
(10%), disability infrastructure (10%), In summary, the steps involved in estimating
obstructions (10%) and security from crime PLOS are as follows:
(5%) and all these parameters have given Step 1: Measure walkway width (m) - 𝑊𝑊𝑡𝑡
different weight to determine the walkability Step 2: Find the sum of obstructions (m) - 𝑊𝑊𝑜𝑜
ratings (which are given within brackets) [14]. Step 3: Calculate effective width (m) - 𝑊𝑊𝑒𝑒
According to a study done to compare Step 4: Measure peak 15-min flow (p/15-min) -
neighbourhood walkability to community 𝑉𝑉15
facilities in Putrajaya emphasized that, facilities Step 5: Calculate pedestrian flow rate
such as, grocery/supermarket, parks or (p/min/m) - 𝑉𝑉𝑃𝑃
recreational facilities (indoor and outdoor), Step 6: determine pedestrian level of service
elementary schools, other schools, community
centres, banks, bus stops, post offices, and Exhibit 18-6 of HCM (2000) lists the average
pharmacies and their availability within 400m, flow LOS criteria for walkways and sideways.
increase the tendency of walking [15].
However, it is important to note that HCM does
3. Methodology not provide PLOS evaluation measures for
pedestrian activity where pedestrian walk on
The study area is Kandy City and 26 street roadway, bicycle lanes. For these locations
segments in the city as shown in Figure 4 are PLOS as a concept is considered LOS F as well
analysed. High pedestrian volumes can be as for situations where pedestrian platooning
observed in the morning peak hours where occurs. Platoon-adjusted LOS criteria could be
commuters, school children and many other found in Exhibit 18-4 [5]. Flow rates less than 16
pedestrians are included on a regular day. In p/min/m is LOS A, 16-23 is LOS B, 23-33 is
the month of July, Esala Perahara (also known LOS C, 33-49 is LOS D, 49-75 is LOS E and
as Kandy procession) is starts and held for ten when available pedestrian space is less than
days. Data collection was done in the above- 0.75 m2/p and when the flow rate varies, the
mentioned roads during both in season and off- LOS is considered as F. The platoon adjusted
season time periods. flow rates range from 1.6 to 59 p/min/m.
Field data were collected on walking weekdays
3.1 Pedestrian Level of Service (PLOS) from 7.00 am to 10.00 am to identify the
PLOS was considered in this study only as a morning peak hour and 3.00 pm to 6.00 pm to
check to determine whether the minimum identify the evening peak hour.
required pedestrian facilities are available on
the selected road segments. Facilitating the
foreign or local tourists in walking could

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3.2 Determining the Walkscore A Tourists may have their own preference to
Walkscore was evaluated using several aspects. these amenities depending on their
Walkability measurement criterion proposed by requirements. Hence, as an output level, when
Dias [9] was used for these aspects. the concept proposed in this paper is available
through a digital version – as a mobile
 Presence and continuity of side walks application, the users can feed their preference
 Effective width of sidewalks to the application. Then, a factored score will be
 Modal conflict calculated from Equation 3.
– Presence of buffer ∑𝑛𝑛 𝐶𝐶 𝐹𝐹
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑒𝑒𝑠𝑠 =  𝑖𝑖=1𝑛𝑛 𝑖𝑖 𝑖𝑖 …(3)
Buffers along sidewalks can be provided to
Where, Ci is the score related to the distance to
increase pedestrian comfort by increasing the
each amenity and Fi is the weight factor for
lateral separation between pedestrians and fast-
each amenity.
moving cars [9]. These buffers can be on-street
A similar method used by Cubukcu et al (2015)
parking spaces, landscaped and including
in their study [16].
street trees, green infrastructure, bicycle lanes,
By allowing the users to choose the weight
street infrastructure such as lighting or utility
factor according to their preference will
poles, or bollards etc.. They also provide space
improve the suggested paths in a customized
for driveway pads while allowing the sidewalk
manner.
to remain level.
The weight factors used for these sample
Total length of sidewalk calculations are shown in Table 4.
that satisfy
the minimum width
of buffer  Availability of aesthetic views or
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 = ∗ 100% … (1)
Total length
of the street segment
recreational areas
Only four road segments among these 26
– Elevation difference between segments scored to have aesthetic views or
sidewalks and carriageway recreational areas. Those were: Segments B, D,
Height difference of the sidewalks and the E, and F. Hence this factor was removed from
carriageway affects the protection of the the final analysis to prevent bias.
pedestrian from motorized or non-motorized
3.3 Identifying the Street Segments
traffic flow. Most of the countries, instead of
Street segments are codes by alphabetical letters
raising the whole sidewalk, only the curb
such as Greek letters as shown in Figure 4. The
length is raised up to some level to prevent
list of names of the considered roads is shown
conflict between pedestrians and motor traffic.
in Table 2. Even though walkscore was
If such curb is available, it should be taken in
determined for 26 road segments, PLOS was
account as same as a raised sidewalk[9].
determined for three extra road segments.
Elevation of the curb depend on the Annual
Daily Traffic (ADT) of the conflicting road Table 2 - Street Names and Included
network and its land use [9]. Segments
𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙ℎ 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠
𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 #
𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒ℎ𝑡𝑡 Street name Letter Coding of road
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 =
𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠
∗ 100% … (2) segments
𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙ℎ 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒
𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 EL Senanayake Street A,J,O,U,X 5
Sri DaladaVeediya B,G 2
 Disability infrastructure
Walking should be comfortable for all road YatinuwraVeediya C,H,M,S,V 5
users including people with disabilities, parents Colombo Street D,E 2
using baby strollers, etc. Score for this is DS Senanayake Street F,L,R,Z 4
evaluated according to the disability
Raja Veediya I,K 2
infrastructure proposed by Dias [9] (See Table
1). Kumara Veediya N 1
SWRD Bandaranayake
 Availability of crosswalks
Mawatha P 1
 Distance to pedestrian (tourist) amenities
KandeVeediya W,Y 2
- Banks
Cross Street Q,T 2
- ATMs
- Restaurants Kappetipola Mawatha α 1
Sri WickramaRajasinghe
- Shopping malls Mawatha β 1
- Public transportation
Sangaraja Mawatha γ 1

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4. Results and Discussion Table 3 -PLOS Calculations for Road Segment

A
4.1 Pedestrian Level of Service Calculations
Examples of PLOS estimations are given below.
Street segment A is considered as EL
Senanayake Street. Several important amenities
and restaurants are located on this street and
this road segment is crowded because of the
Kataragama Kovil located on the roadside.
PLOS and walk score evaluation sheets for
segment A are provided in Table 3, 4 and 5.

Table 4 - Distance to Pedestrian Amenities - Score for Road Segment A

Score
Weight for the Final
Segment Factor Equation Amenity Factor distance Score
Banks 0.75 89.60
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 Restaurants 1.00 100.00
Accessibility
∑𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑖=1 𝐶𝐶𝑖𝑖 𝐹𝐹𝑖𝑖
A =  Shopping malls 0.75 100.00 56.68
to amenities 𝑛𝑛 Bus stops/ train
stations 0.50 52.37
ATMs 0.25 60.00

Table 5 - Further Estimation of Scores - Road Segment A

Road Segement A
Main Factor Equation Considered Factor Data Score %

Presence and Total walkway length (m) 137

continuity of side ∑ 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 100
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 = 1- *100%
walks 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 Legth of discontinuity (m) 0

𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 Total walkway width (m) 1.4
Effective width 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 0
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 =
𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 Effective length that satisfy the
0.5
minimum width (m)

Total walkway length (m) 137

𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠
Present of buffer 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢 0
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 = *100% Sidewalk length that satisfy the
𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 0
minimum width of buffer (m)

Height different 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 Total walkway length (m) 137
𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠
between side walks 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 = *100% 0
𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠
and carriageway Sidewalk legth that satisfy the
0
minimu height of sidewalk (m)

4.2 Distances to the Nearest Pedestrian Distance (m) Color

Amenities/Services 0-100
101-200
Figure 5 shows the Color-Coded Map 201-300
according to the distances to the banks and 301-400
ATMs. The key to the color code shown in
Figure 5 is applicable to Figure 6, 7 and 8 as
well. Figure 6 shows the Color-Coded Map
according to the distances to the restaurants.
Figure 7 shows the Color-Coded Map
according to the distances to the shopping
malls. Figure 8 shows the Color-Coded Map
according to the distances to the bus stops or
railway stations.

Figure 5 - Color-Coded Map for - Banks and

ATMs

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benches at lake side, higher number of hotels

and restaurants are also available in this street
segment.
4.4 Total Walkscore
When all the above parameters are considered,
a total walkscore can be generated assuming
equal weight to each parameter. If an opinion
survey could be conducted to take the
preference for each parameter from the foreign
and local tourists, a weightage could be
determined. However, that task was not carried
out during the study period. Table 6 lists the
names of the road segments, in a descending
order from the highest walkability to the
Figure 6 - Color-Coded Map for - Restaurants
lowest. With that, it is observed that the highest
walkscore obtained by a street segment in the
Kandy city is 65%, which is not so satisfactory.
Furthermore, when the PLOS is considered, the
street segment with the highest walk score “G”
has PLOS of F which is the worst condition. It
shows that, even though some street segments
are facilitated with sufficient amount of
walkability measures, due to high pedestrian
volumes, the Level of Service for pedestrians is
lower. If PLOS A is considered as 100, and
PLOS F as zero and respectively, PLOS can be
included to estimate the average walkscore, in
Figure 7 - Color-Coded Map for Shopping that manner, street segment “G” gets 57%.
Malls However, that decision can be made by each
tourists by themselves depending on their
priorities or preferences. It is also emphasized
that the best route suggested through the
highest walk score may or may not be the
shortest path between the selected origin and
the destination. Hence it has to be understood
that it is always the decision of the tourist to
decide what they value and select the route
accordingly.

4.5 Walk Score for a Selected Walking

Path
Here, it is shown how to take an informed
Figure 8 - Color-Coded Map Bus Stops or decision on choosing the most favourable route
Railway Stations from an origin to a destination. The estimated
walk scores in Table 6 are uses. A route consists
4.3 Aesthetics
of one or more street segments and as a
The total or the average walk-score shown in
combination. If the distance factor is put aside,
Table 6 has not incorporated aesthetics factor.
this concept can be discussed more
Satisfactory levels of aesthetics or the
elaboratively, when two alternative routes with
availability of recreational areas were scored by
similar trip length is considered. An example is
only four street segments, namely B, D, E, and
from the Kandy Railway Station to the Temple
F.
of Tooth Relic (Maligawa).
Considered recreational areas were parks,
Figure 9 shows the shortest route Route 1 from
roadside benches, availability of trees for shade
the Kandy Railway Station to the Temple of
etc. Although street segment 𝛾𝛾 does not have a
Tooth Relic (Maligawa), but to discuss the walk
higher walk score, it has higher number of
score, two other alternatives are recognized to
recreational areas like parks, tennis courts and
activities like boat rides. Amenities like trees,

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fulfil that trip: Route 2 (Figure 10) and Route 3

(Figure 11).

Table 6 - Total Walk-Scores (without amenities)

Modal conflict

Score for effective

walkway width
Street Segment

of cross walks
continuity %

Walk Score*
Availability
Score for

Average

PLOS
Height difference
Buffer between sidewalk
and carriageway

P 100 80 100 100 0 76.0 E

G 100 59.4 0 100 100 71.9 F
H 100 80 0 100 50 66.0 E
Q 100 79.5 0 100 50 65.9 C
U 100 66.7 0 61 100 65.5 E
X 100 73.9 0 100 50 64.8 D
Y 100 73.9 0 100 50 64.8 D
F 100 86.4 0 0 100 57.3 D
Z 100 84 0 0 100 56.8 C
B 100 82.1 0 0 100 56.4 F
K 100 80.9 0 90 0 54.2 C
R 100 64.8 0 0 100 53.0 C
W 100 63.7 0 100 0 52.7 E
T 100 0 0 100 50 50.0 D
C 69 75 0 100 0 48.8 E
L 100 42.9 0 0 100 48.6 E
O 100 62.5 0 0 50 42.5 E
E 100 0 0 100 0 40.0 D
M 100 94.4 0 0 0 38.9 E
I 100 0 0 79 0 35.8 C
A 100 0 0 0 50 30.0 D
V 0 80 0 0 50 26.0 E
N 64 0 0 13 50 25.4 C
J 100 0 0 0 0 20.0 F
D 100 0 0 0 0 20.0 D
S 0 80 0 0 0 16.0 E
*This average score is calculated without the score for the distance to amenities.
Note: Scores for disability infrastructure were zero for all road segments. Hence, it was removed from the table.

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5. Conclusions

Twenty-six (26) street segments were selected

to evaluate walk score from the Kandy city
area. HCM 2000 was used to evaluate
Pedestrian Level of Service for the selected
street segments. By conducting pedestrian
surveys during both morning and evening peak
hours, it was identified that the higher
pedestrian volume occurs on the road during
Figure 9 - Shortest Route from the Railway the morning peak hours. Collected data was
Station to Maligawa (Route 1) taken used to calculate PLOS and to check the
adequacy of the walkway segments under two
parameters, continuity, and effective walkway
width.

Evaluation of walk score of the street segments

was done according to a developed method by
Dias in 2012 [9] and suitable approaches were
also studied from other literature. Walkscore
for each street segment basically indicates a
qualitative measure of the street segment and it
was given a quantitative nature considering
Figure 10 - Route 2 (P-B-A-E-F) several parameters. In this study, all parameters
were given equal weight. However, due to
limited availability, aesthetics and recreational
areas were not incorporated into the total
average walk score. Finally, total walk score is
evaluated from taking the average walk score
from each category and given a single walk
score for each street segment.Walk scores are
given considering factors that are important to
both local and foreign tourists in the city. Road
segment J on EL Senanayake Street has lowest
PLOS value, which calls for widened sidewalks.
Figure 11 - Route 3 (P-C-D-E-F)
When selecting the best walking route from an
As indicated in Table 7, the shortest path has origin to a destination, a local tourist may not
the highest walk score and a tourist may choose want to select a longer route instead of the
that path. If they were to select between Route 2 shortest path, unless they want to access an
and 3, both the Routes 2 and 3 have trip lengths ATM or a restaurant etc. For any of these
of 971 m, but the walk score for Route 2 is preferences, this study gives sufficient data for
slightly higher than Route 3. Hence, it is clear a user to take an informed decision. This is
that a pedestrian (tourist) can make an done by considering each street segment’s
informed decision using these results. length with the total route length.

Table 7 - Walk Score Comparison for Route 1 Outcome of this study has to be developed into
and 2 a mobile or web application. With such facility,
amenities will be indicated on a map. No
Street weightages were given for the amenities as the
Route segments TripLength Walk weightage can vary between local and foreign
No. included in (m) Score % tourist groups. However, the mobile app could
order
be developed in a way that the user can select
1 P-B-G 738 54.88
their own preference to those amenities and get
2 P-B-A-E-F 971 49.60 the output customized to their needs. In that
3 P-C-D-E-F 971 48.86 case, this concept can be used by both local and
foreign tourists.

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This study has assessed how walkable the Gothenburg, Sweden. Published online
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