Walkability of Select Areas in Metro Manila Using Road and Pedestrian Infrastructure

Date of Award

12-1-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Computer Science

First Advisor

John Paul C. Vergara, PhD

Abstract

In Metro Manila, there is a car-centric attitude, referring to a preference towards vehicles as the primary mode of transportation. This study aims to develop a method to score the walkability of select areas in Metro Manila to build more walkable cities that promote walking. The WalkScore algorithm was utilized as the foundation. This method was contextualized to the Philippines by changing the types of amenities being considered, modifying the configuration of the weights and validating this new configuration using silhouette score, average separation score, and separation margin, and incorporating additional penalties. A total of 26 areas were scored --- 20 areas in Metro Manila and 6 areas in the United States for comparison. The new walkability scores indicated the need to improve pedestrian crossings and sidewalks. Nevertheless, all areas were correlated to route directness, which encourages walking. The new walkability scoring method is promising, especially for areas in Metro Manila.

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