Measuring GIS-based pedestrian accessibility to bus stops: a sustainable approach to ease urban traffic problems at Hyderabad, Pakistan

Public transport stops played a pivotal role in accessing essential locations. It is always appealing for commuters if the transport stops are accessible within walking distance. However, people are facing difficulties in accessing transport stops in Hyderabad; the 8th largest settlement in Pakistan and ranked 2nd in the Sindh Province. The modern approach of network analysis in ArcGIS-10.8 was executed to evaluate the accessibility of current public routes. For the very first time, it was revealed that 53.5% (5 min) of the stops were very accessible. The rest of the 29.3% (10 min), 11.03% (15 min), and 6.17% (20 min or longer) were rated as moderately accessible, poorly accessible, and inaccessible, respectively. Commuters took 5 to 10 min to reach a public transit stop in the inner-city areas and central business district that were distanced between 500 and 800 m. Getting to a stop 1600 m away, however, required more than a 20-min walk. The questionnaire survey with a sample size of 400 was conducted to judge people’s attitudes toward the use of public transport services. The poll clarified travel accessibility issues that plagued Hyderabad's public transport system. The novel tactic of GIS-based network analysis with people's perception was implemented to eradicate pedestrians' accessibility issues while accessing bus stops at Hyderabad, which is rarely employed in developing countries. The results may assist transport planners in reconfiguring the route network system in Hyderabad and the rest of the congested urban centers of the globe. The study findings may also contribute to SDG-11, i.e., sustainable development of cities and communities.