Pedestrian Flow Characteristics Studies: A Review

Abstract

Out of total trips made, the share of walking is considerable enough to warrant giving more emphasis to pedestrian flow studies in order to incorporate them in integrated design of urban areas. Analyses of pedestrian flow characteristics constitute one of the foundations of urban traffic planning and this includes analyzing walking speed, flow, density and space required by the pedestrians. As pedestrian flow characteristics are a location-based phenomenon, various researchers have studied these locally. An extensive review of literature is undertaken for various existing studies on pedestrian flow characteristics under different traffic conditions and on different pedestrian facilities in urban areas. These studies are focused on various parameters of pedestrian movement that are of fundamental importance in any pedestrian modeling approach. These parameters are pedestrian speeds and pedestrian speed–flow–density relationships. These studies aim to cast light on the need to provide exclusive pedestrian facilities and to correct any deficiency in facilities provided to the pedestrians. The review highlights the lack of a global and detailed consideration of pedestrian behavior along entire trips in urban areas. A set of studies of pedestrian flow characteristics are discussed thoroughly and general suggestions for further research in the field are presented at the end.