New Routing System Prioritizes Senior Pedestrian Safety and Amenities

Traditional pedestrian navigation systems often prioritize the shortest or fastest routes, which can overlook critical factors for older adults such as safety, accessibility, and the presence of amenities. This new research introduces a design science approach to create a routing system specifically tailored for seniors. The system integrates real-world mobility constraints, identified through interviews with older adults, into its design. The developed artifact enriches OpenStreetMap data with information on amenities like benches, toilets, and shelters, and incorporates height data. An A*-based routing engine then generates routes with configurable costs and explanations. A field study involving 14 older adults demonstrated a clear preference for the senior-friendly routes over baseline options, highlighting the importance of factors like infrastructure maintenance, traffic exposure, and social context in route acceptance. The findings provide actionable design requirements and principles for developers, emphasizing context-aware hazard modeling, multi-route transparency, landmark-grounded explanations, and social-context sensitivity to improve pedestrian navigation for an aging population.