Active Mobility Assessment in the City of Bamenda

Embarking on active mobility strategies, by promoting cycling and walking as transport modes in combination with public transport to facilitate longer distances can greatly influence cities' livability. Active mobility forms part of Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning. The inadequacy of sidewalks, which include narrow, uneven, obstructed, or even absent sidewalks, poses significant challenges and safety risks for pedestrians, who are among the most vulnerable road users. The study aimed at examining the active mobility infrastructure in the city of Bamenda and identifying the various barriers involved. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through survey, inspection, interviews as well as secondary data sources. A sample size of 250 was used to represent the population of the focus area and considering the parameters on the checklist used, the average adequacy, which represents the qualitative score of the active mobility infrastructure for the six areas surveyed, was rated at 6.31 percent. Walking is the mode of travel predominantly used in the city of Bamenda as almost half of the total daily trips (48.8%) are made on foot in combination with taxis but unfortunately, initiatives have focused on roads and intersections meant for motorist travel and not on a systematic diagnosis of active mobility, especially sidewalk safety. The roads in the city are poorly designed with streetlights, pedestrian crossings, and sidewalks visibly absent or partially obstructed by permanent obstacles and street vendors. Traffic safety is the leading factor, with a significant influence of 82.0% on active mobility. Good health is another important factor influencing the preference for walking or cycling, with a score of 70.40%. Thus, traffic safety and good health are interconnected factors that significantly influence the preference for walking or cycling in Bamenda. Consequently, pedestrian infrastructure need urgent improvement while cycling facilities are still to be conceived and implemented in the city by the policymakers. Thus, active mobility reduces reliance on private vehicles, alleviates traffic congestion, contributing to a more sustainable transportation system by lowering greenhouse gas emissions and reducing air pollution.