The reason the pedestrian plaza exists is because 1.) like you said, its only thirtyish feet wide whereas Kafadar is much, much wider, 2.) because it is less than a year old and we're trying to preserve its quality, 3.) because this area of campus has an extremely high amount of traffic, and 4.) because this area has more skateboard/bicycle/etc. vs. pedestrian accidents than any other part of campus.

I really think the dismount thing is dumb, considering it is not in effect anywhere else on campus. Apparently its too dangerous for bikes to be on a 30 foot wide plaza, but its OK to ride on a 5 foot wide sidewalk through Kafadar