Pedestrian Flow Characteristics Under Heterogeneous Traffic Conditions

Abstract

Pedestrians are an important element of the traffic stream especially in a country like Bangladesh. Dhaka is the biggest metropolitan city of Bangladesh and thus people from different parts of the country are relocating to Dhaka. This has rendered Dhaka one of the most densely populated cities in the World. With the resource restraint and crumbling infrastructure, the transportation facilities can’t cope up with the ever growing population. A major proportion of the population are the urban slum dwellers and low income people who are left with the only option of walking. Pedestrians are the most vulnerable roadway users. Ironically they are not given due consideration in the design of roadway features. However, the alarming growths of pedestrians, inadequate sidewalks and their haphazard movement have forced them to share the carriageway with the vehicles. This has led to a shocking number of accidents in the past as well as contributed to further increasing the congestion on the carriageway. This study has attempted to present flow characteristics of pedestrians on exclusive sidewalks in three important urban areas of Dhaka namely Farmgate, Shahbag and Shukrabad. Pedestrian flow, density and walking speed are considered as the three primary parameters on which the flow characteristics depend. These are essential tools for determining the sidewalk capacity which will help in sidewalk design improvements required. The relationships between the three parameters were expressed in terms of three equations which makes it easy to comprehend the situations in these three locations. The level of service (LOS) has been determined at each location also. On the basis of flow rate, Farmgate has a LOS C and Shukrabad and Shahbag both have a LOS B. The average free-flow speed from three locations is about 1.18 m/s. This might help create an idea about the rate at which pedestrians might clear out from facilities.