Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Assessments

How Cities Evaluate Sidewalks, Curb Ramps, Crossings, and Related Pedestrian Facilities

Cities often undertake full public right-of-way accessibility assessments rather than just sidewalk assessments. This helps them capture the full range of features that affect how people move through public spaces.

This approach is helpful because sidewalks are just one piece of the accessibility puzzle. Public works and ADA staff need to look at how sidewalks, curb ramps, crossings, and other features all work together to make travel easier for everyone.

Daxbot is designed to fit into this bigger picture. Instead of looking at sidewalk data in isolation, Daxbot helps cities gather organized data that provides a fuller view of accessibility across the entire network.

Public Right-of-Way Assessment Framing

  • What it covers

    Sidewalks, curb ramps, crossings, and related pedestrian features in the public right-of-way.

  • Why cities use this framing

    Barriers to access are affected by how different parts of the right-of-way connect, not just on one feature by itself.

  • What it supports

    ADA planning, corridor reviews, setting priorities, and making sure public works projects work well together.

HOW IT WORKS:

What a Public Right-of-Way Assessment Usually Includes

A public right-of-way accessibility assessment usually looks at more than just individual sidewalk segments. Depending on the project, it may include:

  • sidewalks

  • curb ramps

  • crossings

  • pedestrian signals and related crossing features

  • route continuity or missing links

  • transit stop access features

  • on-street parking or other right-of-way elements that affect accessible travel

Taking this broader view is often more helpful for cities, since barriers are rarely limited to just one type of asset.

Why This Broader Framing Is Useful

Public works and ADA staff need to see how different parts of the right-of-way work together. For example, a place might have good sidewalks but still be hard to use if curb ramps, crossings, or other features are missing or not accessible.

Talking about the public right-of-way helps us focus on how people really move through the city. It also makes it easier to connect this work with corridor reviews, engineering, and city planning.

For many cities, this approach is more useful because it looks at accessibility across the whole network, not just one feature at a time.

How Cities Use This Type of Assessment

A public right-of-way accessibility assessment can support:

  • ADA transition-plan development or updates

  • corridor and neighborhood review

  • accessibility-related capital planning

  • prioritization of barrier removal actions

  • public works coordination across facility types

  • consultant review and broader accessibility planning

The real value is not just looking at more things, but getting a clearer picture of how conditions affect accessible travel.

TYING IT TOGETHER:

Where Daxbot fits

Daxbot can collect organized, GIS-ready field data for all public right-of-way elements needed to provide a full assessment. Depending on the project scope, this may include sidewalks, curb ramps, crossings, pedestrian signals, transit stop access, on-street parking, and other features.

For cities that want to do more than just respond to complaints, this kind of assessment makes it easier to plan, set priorities, and communicate clearly across departments.

Daxbot does not replace engineering review or city decision-making. Instead, it helps build a stronger field record to support those decisions.

Answers to common questions:

  • The difference is largely scope and the way the phrasing is used. A sidewalk assessment may focus more narrowly on sidewalks, while a public right-of-way assessment often includes curb ramps, crossings, and related pedestrian features.

  • Because cities often think about accessibility at the network and corridor level, not just asset by asset.

  • Not always. But it is often useful when the city wants to understand how multiple right-of-way elements affect accessible travel together.

  • Yes. Daxbot supports field data collection that can contribute to a broader accessibility review and planning process.

  • Depending on the scope, cities may look at sidewalks, curb ramps, crossings, pedestrian signals, route continuity, transit stop access, on-street parking, and related pedestrian features.

RELATED RESOURCES:

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