Rapid urbanization combined with limited attention to walk-facilities has resulted in a substantial increase in overall pedestrian injuries and deaths in India. Developing policies based on user perception to improve existing pedestrian infrastructure is key to promoting safe and walkable pedestrian movement in urban areas. This paper demonstrates a pedestrian satisfaction-based methodology to prioritize an essential set of attributes influencing safety and walkability at sidewalks and crosswalks. Initially, an exhaustive set of 15 sidewalk- and 11 crosswalk-related attributes influencing safety and walkability were identified from a literature review. Subsequently, pedestrian perceptions of associated importance and satisfaction toward the identified attributes were collected using a five-point Likert scale. Face-to-face interviews were conducted at selected pedestrian crash-prone locations in Hyderabad, India. The data was analyzed using the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to the Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), a widely used multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) method to rank the attributes based on user priority. Importance–satisfaction analysis (ISA) was then used to group the attributes in a set of quadrants based on associated standardized satisfaction and importance, respectively. The relative strength and weakness of different sidewalk and crosswalk attributes were measured and compared simultaneously using TOPSIS and ISA. Both TOPSIS and ISA were simultaneously used to estimate and compare various sidewalk and crosswalk attribute relative strengths and weaknesses. Results indicated that physical separation from traffic, sidewalk amenities, sidewalk width, sidewalk continuity, and sidewalk cleanliness were the most important sidewalk attributes, but were rated as less than satisfactory, requiring immediate intervention. The crosswalk-specific priority attributes requiring urgent attention were vehicle stop-line behavior, conflicts with turning traffic, zebra crossing, pedestrian holding space. These research findings are expected to be critical inputs for rational decision-making regarding pedestrian infrastructure improvement in developing countries in general and Indian cities in particular.

Freight traffic fulfils not only the business needs of a region to move goods between producers, manufacturers, and end consumers, but also creates a host of unintended environmental, social, and economic impacts. Despite its importance, freight traffic impacts and associated logistic inefficiencies are largely overlooked in the urban transport discussions in developing economies like India. This paper addresses this research gap by outlining the research progress related to freight transport in India and discusses the key problems related to freight system performance. The published literature in the last three decades (1990–2020), policy briefs and institutional reports are explored to summarize key findings and uncover thematic linkages. We categorize the inefficiencies in the freight system into four aspects: (i) long-haul trucking, (ii) last-mile logistics, (iii) freight distribution (inventory level), and (iv) policies and regulations. Apart from identifying the limitations in policy discourse, this paper also explores the possible solution concepts to improve efficiency in freight transport and mitigate the unintended negative externalities in urban areas. The overall conclusion is that increasing and improving infrastructure and equipment, technology and operations, and policy and regulations will go some way towards making freight more efficient in India and reducing congestion and emissions of air pollutants and GHG. The present paper can be expected to promote further freight research and effective policy instrument design in India.