An observational survey of the use and non-use of footbridges by school children in Ghana

Pedestrian facilities, especially footbridges, are provided to minimize pedestrian-vehicle interaction, which may result in pedestrian crashes. Schoolchildren constitute a critical pedestrian population group, and their use of footbridges to cross highways is highly encouraged. However, studies have shown that the use or failure to use footbridges by school children are characterized by certain behavioral patterns. This study aims to investigate the behaviors exhibited by school children in Ghana when using and not using footbridges. Seven behaviors (i.e., accompanied, talking among themselves, talking on the phone, wearing earpieces, carrying luggage, running, and riding a bicycle) were observed together with demographic and contextual factors. A total of 8056 schoolchildren were observed during seven days in the vicinity of seven footbridges in the Greater Accra (6) and Kumasi (1) Metropolitan areas of Ghana. Most of the schoolchildren who used the footbridges were talking among themselves, wearing an earpiece, or being accompanied. A binary logistic regression was fitted to establish an association between the seven behaviors, using demographic and contextual explanatory variables and the use of the footbridges. The results revealed that gender, location of the footbridges, day of the week, time of observations, being accompanied, wearing of the earpiece, carrying a piece of luggage and riding a bicycle were significantly associated with the use of footbridges in Ghana. The findings of this study have significant policy implications for the development of targeted education and footbridge policing. • The use of footbridges is likely to be high among school children. • An unobstructive-observational survey was used in the study. • There is a significant difference in the rate of usage of footbridges by school children. • Inculcate the appropriate use of footbridges by/among school children. • School children tend to be law abiding when the perceived danger seem to be high.