A Modelling Framework for Assessing Road Network Impact on Subjective Quality of Life

Development of well-connected road network to insure quality living in cities is a paramount concern in the recent years. Efforts have been made to establish the underlying relationship between urban road network and societal well-being. However, the causal impact of road transport system on societal well-being is not yet well predicted. Such predicament is prompted by limited capture of quality of life attributes in analysis and also due to undefined predictive model for the assessment. This investigation has addressed such gap by ascertaining the social indicators essential for developing a conceptual framework of road network impact on quality of life. Appropriate road connectivity components and quality of life indicators were identified through literature review. Then questionnaire was design and used to collect data on respondents’ opinion about the road connectivity components and quality of life indicators. Fifteen (37.5%) out of the forty districts within Abuja city were sampled in which 388 questionnaires were distributed to the respondents. At last, 367 questionnaires were found valid, and coded for the study. Then primary analyses including normality test, reliability test and sample suitability test were performed on the dataset using SPSS 15.0 software. After which exploratory factor analysis was performed to determine their validity for modelling and to summarize the variables into groups of similar identity for multivariate analysis. The present study has identified four road network social components – route options, transport efficiency, network reliability and traffic flow known as social predictors. These factors primarily influence transport-related subjective quality of life indicators - economic well-being, personal accessibility, personal mobility, social interaction and travel safety. Furthermore, the study has established measuring variables for the respective QOL indicators: economic well-being has 6 measuring variables, personal accessibility 5, personal mobility 5, social interaction 8, travel comfort 6, while travel safety has 6 measuring variables. This conceptual framework formed the basis for analyzing the extent to which road network influence the lifestyle of people in Abuja city. The model is essential and can be applied by researchers, planners, engineers and decisionmakers to evaluate the impact of transportation network on transport-related well-being.