Understanding pedestrian bridge usage considering perception and socio-demographic characteristics of the road users in Dhaka city

• Perception and socio-demography influence footbridge usage. • Perception and socio-demography show heterogeneity among the footbridge users. • Increasing age, higher education, lower income and no personal vehicles enhance the perception of footbridge importance. • Ensured safety and convenience are more likely to influence footbridge use. • Road users from Dhaka city are more likely to perceive footbridge a time-inefficient infrastructure. Walking often involves crossing a road, where the chance of vehicle–pedestrian conflict increases. Footbridges are one of the engineering instruments that offer safety for pedestrians during road crossing avoiding any physical conflicts with pedestrians. However, the usage of pedestrian bridge is affected by several factors. This paper aims at finding the effect of socio-demographic factors and perception on the frequency of footbridge usage. Using data from 893 road users at ten footbridge locations in Dhaka city, a Random Parameter Ordered Probit Model is employed to address unobserved heterogeneity and capture variations in user behavior. Results suggest that people transitioning towards mid-age start using footbridge more, pursuing higher education helps to perceive the importance of footbridge and higher income and vehicle ownership cut footbridge usage significantly. From the perception of road users, when they acknowledge the safety and convenience of footbridge, they are more likely to use it frequently provided that safety enforcement is ensured. In contrast, road users perceive footbridge as a time inefficient infrastructure. Furthermore, road users are found to be less prone towards bandwagon effect, indicating that the usage could be a habitual factor for them. The study suggests various policy implications in light of the outcomes and prior research, which are expected to provide valuable insights to the transport agencies, policy makers, and built environment experts in understanding footbridge usage.