Evaluation of roadside service centers. Case study: Zahedan to Khash Road

In the recent century, the excessive and unplanned growth of urbanism and inattention to the proper and correct selection of locations for roadside uses, especially roadside services, have led to the appearance of problems such as lack of spaces for service centers, inappropriate access, and other problems. The strategic location of the city of Zahedan among other cities of Sistan and Baluchistan Province and its connection to the national corridors requires development and growth of transportation industry and improvement of its performance. Some of the utmost important centers that have to be established for this purpose on the roadsides in the required quantities are roadside service and welfare centers. Therefore, in order to maintain and promote the security of the roads in the country, the establishment of such centers requires studies, evaluations and eventually, determination of appropriate and secure locations. In this study, considering the necessity of establishing service and welfare centers on the Zahedan to Khash Road, first, the existing centers were evaluated from the perspectives of passengers, then, by the use of site selection systems, some locations were determined in the high traffic parts of this road. The research methodology in this study is descriptive-analytical which is used in order to analyze the collected data. The research findings show that according to the passengers, the conditions of roadside services on the Zahedan to Khash Road and the existing infrastructures are weak. However, they are satisfied with social and security-related factors. The passengers also stated that these roadside service centers have created job opportunities in the region. They also have been effective in providing security of the roads.