Objective: To analyze the motives for using and not using pedestrian bridges (PB).
Material and methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted of a sample of pedestrian users and non-users of PB; a logistic regression model was used to analyze the motives for use and non-use.
Results: The prevalence of non-use was 50.5 % of 813 surveyed pedestrians; the principal reason to use a PB was safety, and not to use it was "laziness". There were significant differences when analyzing the reason of non-use in the age groups 19 to 36 years, adjusted for education and physical characteristics of the PB ([aOR=1.7; 95 % CI=1.06-2.86] and [ORa.1.9; 95 % CI=1.14-3.33], respectively).
Conclusions: The results of this study allow us to identify important aspects to consider--from the perspective of the pedestrians--when constructing new PB and improving existing PB to increase use in areas with a high risk of pedestrian injuries.