AHP-Based Approach for Location Planning of Pedestrian Zones: Application in Montréal, Canada

Abstract

Location planning for pedestrian zones is a multifaceted problem. The selection of best location from a list of potential stations involves consideration of different technical, economical, environmental, and social factors. For some of these factors, numerical values can be provided, but the others are based on the qualitative data. In this paper, a multicriteria decision analysis approach is presented based on analytic hierarchy process (AHP) for location planning of pedestrian zones under lack of quantitative data. A decision-making committee comprised of representatives of city transportation officials, public administration, and city residents or users is formed to select the criteria/subcriteria for evaluating pedestrian zones. Five locations for pedestrian zones are considered for evaluation in the city of Montréal: namely, Downtown, Jean Drapeau, Olympic stadium, Old Montréal, and Saint Denis. The results of this study indicate that the downtown area is the best choice for a pedestrian zone. Sensitivity analysis is conducted to determine the influence of criteria and subcriteria weights on the decision-making process.