Development and Validation of a Seven-County Regional Pedestrian Volume Model

Abstract

This study describes the development and validation of pedestrian intersection crossing volume models for the seven-county Milwaukee metropolitan region. The set of three models, among the first developed at a multi-county scale, can be used to estimate the total number of pedestrian crossings per year at four-leg intersections along state highways and other major thoroughfares. Outputs are appropriate for annual volumes ranging from 1,000 to 650,000. We used negative binomial regression to relate annual pedestrian volumes at 260 intersections to roadway and surrounding neighborhood socioeconomic and land-use variables. The three models include seven variables that have significant positive associations with annual pedestrian volume: population density within 400 m of the intersection; employment density within 400 m; number of bus stops within 100 m; number of retail businesses within 100 m; number of restaurant and bar businesses within 100 m; presence of a school within 400 m; and proportion of households without a motor vehicle within 400 m. Results suggest that square root or cube root transformations of continuous explanatory variables could potentially improve model fit. The models have fair accuracy, with each of the three model formulations predicting 60% or more of validation intersection counts to within half or double the observed value. Future research could address overprediction by creating new variables to better represent the number of lanes on each intersection leg and low socioeconomic status of adjacent neighborhoods.