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This article describes the COSMA (COntext Sensitive Multimodal Assessment) method that uses contextual information to develop road infrastructure recommendations for the purpose of improved road design. The method uses a GIS‐based Spatial Multi‐criteria Analysis (SMCA) that is combined with statistical clustering techniques to identify contextually similar areas along arterials. The context is defined in terms of a range of land use, socioeconomic, environmental, and transportation information, presented spatially, which are used as inputs to the SMCA. The results of this analysis describe the relative suitability of different modes of transport to locations along an arterial route. Clustering the output of this analysis allows for sections of the route with similar contexts to be identified. The attributes of these clusters are then used to derive descriptive statements of contextually appropriate operational conditions for each mode in a particular section of the route in terms of access, right of way, and independence of movement. These can be used by road designers to develop proposals for road infrastructure design. We demonstrate the workings of the method for an arterial road in Cape Town, South Africa. The method described is explicitly multimodal and sensitive to the variations in local context. It can be used by planners and roads authorities to provide additional perspective on road user needs and facility provision, and introduces quantification, and the concomitant benefits thereof, to the largely qualitative field of Context Sensitive Design.

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Improving mobility is seen as key to facilitating the economic uplift of the urban poor. In South Africa, the majority of the urban poor live on the periphery of cities. They travel long distances at great cost to go to work and school and are dependent on public transport and nonmotorized transport (NMT) (walking or cycling) for their travel needs. Despite legislation and policies that emphasize the role of public transport and NMT, road planning practice in South Africa continues to be automobile-centric. The needs of other road users are often overlooked, even in areas where they are in the majority. This paper describes the use of spatial multicriteria evaluation to rank modes according to their suitability at points along a defined route by using land use, socioeconomic, environmental, and transportation factors in combination to describe the contextual setting of the route. A case study conducted along an existing arterial route in Cape Town, South Africa, is used to demonstrate the method and the results of the analysis. The research finds that contextual regimes can be identified along the route and shows that each of these regimes has differing implications for the various modes that pass through these corridors.

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