Development of pathNav: A Pedestrian Navigation Tool that Utilizes Smart Data for Improved Accessibility and Walkability

The condition of sidewalks and pathways affect all pedestrians, but people with disabilities, older adults, and injured veterans are especially affected by them. For instance, among wheelchair users surveyed in the U.S., the wheelchair and the physical environment were the most significant factors limiting community participation.

The TRB IDEA (Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis) Program's Transit IDEA Final Report 87: Development of pathNav: A Pedestrian Navigation Tool that Utilizes Smart Data for Improved Accessibility and Walkability details pathNav, a pedestrian navigation web app that utilizes smart data and a connected network of sidewalk and pathway data to improve accessibility and walkability.

Typical pedestrian navigation apps do not use the sidewalk network to provide navigation, nor do they know the quality of the routes that they direct their users. In addition, these tools are not user-friendly for people with disabilities. pathNav implements a route accessibility index (RAI) that considers the quality of the pathway as determined by data collected through pathVu’s PathMeT device and/or reported through its pathVu mobile app. A web interface also allows pedestrians to search for the most accessible routes to their destination based on a custom profile they create for themselves.