Influence of elementary students walking speed to children pedestrian pathway planning

Abstract

Children pedestrian use pathways for access on their journey. As part of the infrastructure, the pedestrian pathway for elementary students, require adequate access to and from school. Among studies on pedestrian, research on child pedestrian walking speed is limited. Child pedestrian speed is influenced by walking time and distance. This research aim is to analyze children’s pedestrian walking speed and its influence on children’s pedestrian pathways. The method of research is a field survey with recorded elementary student’s pedestrian area of walking and their behavior. Data is collected from the video and photo recorded of 14 elementary schools in the urban area and 9 elementary schools in the rural area in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. This study involves elementary students age from 6 to 12 years old from grades 6 to 12. The analysis is a comparison of student pedestrian speed in the urban and rural areas and with previous research. Due to most pedestrian children behavior is to run to and from school, the children’s pedestrian speed is higher than previous research. Considering the area along their walking time, facilities provided should be friendly and safe for children. Therefore, children, pedestrian pathway needs specific regulation considering the urban and rural area.