Globally, walking and cycling have increasingly gained a lot of focus – both in developed and developing countries. This is particularly due to their wide use by majority of the world population especially the bottom 60. More than 75 percent of total daily trips made by Africa's poor are by walking, compared 45 percent by the more affluent (African Commute, 2018). When the poor use motorized transport, most of them rely on public transport or motorcycle taxis. In some instances, walking and cycling are associated with low-carbon functionality with the potential to enhance the quality of urban life and societal cohesion (UNEP, 2018). According to Wimbardana et al. (2018), the pedestrian environment is multi-dimensional and the road side environment subjects the pedestrians to a set of factors that significantly affect the perception of comfort, safety and convenience. In the attempt to provide better transport facilities, road engineers fail either to make provision for pedestrian facilities on the road side or compromise safety (Rankavat and Tiwari, 2016).

The Global Status Report on Road Safety (World Health Organization, 2018), links road infrastructure to fatal and serious injuries in road collisions. Improvements to the road infrastructure are critical to improving overall road safety. For instance, the lack of a footpath or a safe pedestrian crossing presents a major risk for death and injury to pedestrians. Therefore, poor quality of walking and cycling infrastructure for active modes of transport sends a message that pedestrians and cyclists are not welcome in the urban environment (ITDP and UN HABITAT, 2018).

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a considerable impact on active travel, and an increasing number of people have turned to walking and cycling (Goetsch and Quiros, 2020; Department of Transport, 2021). In England, a survey carried out between May and September 2020 showed that 34% of cyclists reported cycling more and 38% of those who walk as a means of transport reported walking more than before the COVID-19 outbreak (Department of Transport, 2021). The COVID-19 pandemic has continued to shape and reshape our cities in many ways. The shift has brought some visible changes, for instance; local air pollution has dropped by up to 60% globally (Goetsch and Quiros, 2020).

Progressively, African nations and cities are adopting non-motorized transport (NMT) policies. Currently, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda have NMT policies, which advocate for a safe, comfortable, and quality environment for pedestrians and cyclists. For example, the Nairobi City County NMT Policy of 2017 aims at increasing mobility and accessibility, increasing transport safety, improving amenities for NMT, increasing the recognition and image of NMT in Nairobi County, and ensuring that adequate funding/investment is set aside for NMT infrastructure. Nairobi County allocated 20% of its construction budget to NMT infrastructure in 2018 (Nairobi Metropolitan Services, 2020).

African countries are gradually recognizing transport policy and acknowledging it as vital in enhancing walking and cycling. For a sustainable transport system, these policies have recognized that active modes are affordable, accompanied with health benefits, and reduce air pollution in urban cities. The policies are expected to benefit existing users and they will encourage new users to begin walking or cycling as a reaction to the improved infrastructure (ITDP and UN HABITAT, 2018).

In Nairobi, where nearly fifty percent (50%) of all daily trips are made by walking and cycling, investing in non-motorized transport (NMT) infrastructure is not receiving the needed focus. Yet, NMT provides an alternative pathway for the city (Odhiambo, 2021). As pointed out earlier, half of the trips in Kenya are made by walking and cycling and private vehicles make only 15 per cent of the trips. That not notwithstanding, infrastructural needs of the majority are not given priorities. For decades, plans throughout the city for new roads construction and upgrades have only partially provided physical infrastructure for non-motorized users (UNEP, 2018).

Urban mobility challenges in Kenya, just like in other developing countries, are enormous. For example, the road infrastructure is majorly designed for Motorized Transport (MT) with little attention is given to Non-Motorized Transport (NMT). The inaccessibility of the NMT network, lack of integration with the other modes of transport, and poor enforcement of laws designed to protect pedestrians and cyclists have been reported in major cities of Nairobi, Accra, Cape Town, and Addis Ababa (Mitullah and Makajuma, 2009; Mitullah and Opiyo, 2012; Ogendi et al., 2013).

With rapid urbanization, the rising demand for mobility will be met primarily by Non-Motorized Transport (NMT) as the most affordable option for the large section of the population. For the majority of people in developing countries, the only viable and available mobility options are walking, cycling, and public transport. Yet, with deteriorating, or non-existent infrastructure systems for NMT and public transport, these low-carbon modes are becoming increasingly unsafe (Badveeti and Mir, 2019). The quality of the pedestrian environment is critical in encouraging people to choose walking over driving (Southworth, 2005). According to Saelens et al. (2003), factors such as topography, residential density, urban form, connectivity, and the provision of sidewalks have a strong relationship with walking as a mode of active travel. Similarly, Lee and Moudon (2004) concur that walking happens primarily in neighborhood streets and in public facilities, and that the characteristics of such places influence the degree to which they are considered safe, comfortable and attractive for walking.

These arguments are supported by the tenets of the new urbanism theory. According to Katz (1993) in the new urbanism perspective, further emphasized by Morales et al. (2011), the community supports public space over private space. Therefore, the aspect of linking the design of the buildings and public spaces as well as land use scale, the road network system and how community operates are important. The theory suggests that although urban areas face a myriad of problems, planners can still proceed from the reality of these conditions and needs to explore and research the direction to solve these problems. This is against the backdrop of an increasing popularity of automobiles that will continue to promote the development of sub-urbanization. Unfortunately, there is little attention on planning (Vanderschuren et al., 2022) and budgeting for sustainable active transport. The majority of the resources are geared towards motorized transport as compared to non-motorized transport. Further, inadequate planning and prioritization of active transport modes have resulted in high injury and death rates especially for pedestrians.

Without proper infrastructure, features such as cycle lanes and sidewalks that ensure the safety of the NMT users further expose them to risk of injury and death. Therefore, the prioritization of the provision of affordable and safe public transport as well as facilities for safe walking and cycling remains a top agenda (World Health Organization, 2018).

According to global status report on road safety in 2018 by World Health Organization (World Health Organization, 2018), approximately 1.3 million people die each year as a result of road traffic crashes. From previous and current global status reports and various research undertakings, it has been shown that Road Traffic Deaths (RTDs) are severe on vulnerable road users, pedestrians, cyclists and riders of motorbikes and their passengers. These account for a staggering 46% of global traffic deaths (World Health Organization, 2009, 2018). About 93% of the world's fatalities on the roads occur in low- and middle-income countries. Nearly three quarters (73%) of such deaths occur among young males under the age of 25 years and are almost 3 times as likely to be killed in a road traffic crash as female counterparts.

The global status reports also identified RTDs as the leading cause of death for people between 5 and 29 years of age. An increase in average speed is directly related both to the likelihood of a crash occurring and to the severity of the consequences of the crash. For example, every 1% increase in mean speed produces a 4% increase in the fatal crash risk and a 3% increase in the serious crash risk. The death risk for pedestrians hit by car fronts rises rapidly (4.5 times from 50 km/h to 65 km/h).

Kenya's National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), in a status report on road safety released in 2020, reports that the country recorded 3572 fatalities, 6938 serious injuries and 5186 slight injuries as at December 2019. The recorded numbers have been a major concern for the various parties (Kelly, 2018). The general explanation on this has to do on the collection of data and the categorization of accident data. NTSA seemingly adopts a dead-on-the-spot for fatality report; no follow up is done with hospitals to determine which injuries led to death. This is contrary to international recommended standard of reporting which considers RTDs within a 30-day window (World Health Organization, 2018). Despite NMT being the most popular means of transport in Nairobi, key challenges related to poor infrastructure and air quality, safety of users, and congestion are conspicuous (Odhiambo, 2021). Thus, this study examined a range of barriers and perceptions to walking and cycling in selected sites in the Nairobi cosmopolitan area.

Despite NMT being the most popular means of transport in Nairobi, key challenges related to poor infrastructure and air quality, the safety of users, and congestion are conspicuous (Odhiambo, 2021). Thus, this study examined a range of barriers to and perceptions of walking and cycling in selected sites in the Nairobi cosmopolitan area.

The overall aim of the research was to examine the barriers to and perceptions of walking and cycling and how they influence people's decisions to walk or to cycle in urban areas.

The study adopted a descriptive survey design that utilizes surveys to gather data on divergent subjects. This approach yields quantitative data and targets to discern the extent to which diverse situations can be attained among the various subjects (Creswell and Creswell, 2017). Descriptive research has the advantage of precisely and systematically describing a phenomenon and answering the questions of what, where, when, and how and can use a wide variety of research methods.

Nairobi Metropolitan area was purposively selected due to its characteristics, for example, having a mix of high- and low-income areas as well as having areas with NMT interventions and other areas without NMT interventions. The metropolitan area comprises the capital city—Nairobi, and the surrounding counties of Kajiado, Kiambu, Machakos, and Murang'a. However, the study focused on sites proximate to Nairobi city because they have areas with infrastructure for both MTs and NMTs.

The particular selected sites of data collection were as follows: the lower Central Business District (CBD) (Landhis Road, River Road, and Kirinyaga Road). In addition, upper CBD (Moi Avenue, Kenyatta Avenue, and Harambee Avenue) and Outer Ring Road in the Eastlands area in Nairobi are outside the CBD but are still within the Metropolitan area. Ongata Rongai (Kajiado County) and Ruiru (Kiambu County) were selected to represent areas outside the city limits. All the study sites comprised areas with and without NMT interventions. For example, Ruiru has MNT interventions and Ongata Rongai has none.

The study utilized the convenience sampling technique—a non-probabilistic form of sampling where samples are obtained based on the availability at the moment in time and the nearest convenient location to the researcher (Edgar and Manz, 2017). In this study, it was adopted as it was the most feasible sampling technique for the study due to the nature of the population. In addition, it was necessary to interview the participants at the sites at that time. This constituted their natural environment as they walked or cycled. The study sample was 137 respondents. Interpretive findings.

From the study findings, it is apparent that the prevalence of NMT or its lack thereof in Nairobi is accompanied by barriers to its widespread uptake and various citizen perceptions toward its use. As barriers to and challenges for NMT, lack of proper infrastructure, safety due to poor planning, lacking policy to support the development of appropriate walkways and bicycling facilities, and low or no capacity to ride a bicycle are among the predominant factors that undermine the use of NMT. For example, the road infrastructure within the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD) was majorly designed for MT; therefore, little attention was given to NMT. This trend has yielded a scenario, where ideas to solve the mobility needs of the poor are concentrated around public transport. Similarly, poor citizens perceptions of walking as being the preserve for the poor and only for a particular gender may limit the use of NMT system in Nairobi. Instead, walking and cycling are considered low-carbon modes that are found to be affordable and flexible and can enable a majority of the people in low- and middle-income countries to participate and make a contribution to the economy and community. This is notwithstanding the co-benefits to health and contributions to access to education, healthcare, and other social services, especially in urban areas (UNEP, 2018).

In light of the findings, the study recommends that it is essential to invest in modern road equipment and traffic management in Nairobi in order to mitigate traffic congestion and transport service problems Nairobi (African Development Bank, 2013) that are shown to inhibit the use of walking and cycling in. There is, therefore, a need to arrive at a balanced provision of traffic infrastructure for both MT and NMT through participatory city frameworks and in ways that meet the transport needs of all. In regard to road safety rules and regulations, specifically for liability and safety concerns, it is essential to look into how the regulations influence the perception of pedestrians as they are key users of the sidewalks (Bahari et al., 2013).

It was also found that the walkways and cyclist lanes significantly contribute to the safety of pedestrians and cyclists. The study, thus, recommends that vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists be separated by sidewalks and cyclist lanes to enhance pedestrian and cyclist flow. Therefore, it is important to invest in and improve the sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, and cyclist lanes in order to improve mobility, accessibility, safety, and security of all road users.

Currently, there are inconsistencies around NMT research, policy, and practice. For example, NMT research and policy are not translated into practice to include NMT needs in new road projects. Is it a lack of tools and/or capacity to do so? Or have our policymakers become NMT planners? Where do these there three meet? As Cooke et al. (2022) indicate, NMT infrastructure is not always prioritized. When one buys a car, he or she becomes important in the prioritization and allocation of street space. In Nairobi, buying a car is akin to you buying the street! In order to change this in favor of walking and cycling in Nairobi, effective planning, design, and implementation should be influenced by appropriate data such as route user frequency. Furthermore, policymaking should be cognizant of citizen perception as it may influence or derail the acceptance and adoption of walking and cycling as active modes of transport for many in Nairobi. Until every road user and their needs are considered important, integration of walking and cycling into the design, planning, and implementation of urban infrastructure remains not just important but urgent as well.

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/Supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding authors.

Ethical review and approval was not required for the study on human participants in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectual contribution to the work and approved it for publication.