Like any word it’s used derogatorily by people who are themselves derogatory about everything.
The word itself isn’t derogatory, it just means foot-traveller. We don’t really have a similar term for vehicle or bicycle travel but that’s only because when it was created there was only pedestrian (foot-traveller) and equestrian (horse-travel).
Furthermore, the actual definitions of those words don’t denote the type of travel but rather anything that relates to that type of travel. So you can have pedestrian crossings, equestrian centres etc.
Like any word it’s used derogatorily by people who are themselves derogatory about everything.
The word itself isn’t derogatory, it just means foot-traveller. We don’t really have a similar term for vehicle or bicycle travel but that’s only because when it was created there was only pedestrian (foot-traveller) and equestrian (horse-travel).
Furthermore, the actual definitions of those words don’t denote the type of travel but rather anything that relates to that type of travel. So you can have pedestrian crossings, equestrian centres etc.
The word is literally derogatory:
Adjective ‐ Lacking in distinction or imaginativeness; ordinary; commonplace; dull; insipid; prosaic.
“pedestrian prose”