Pedestrian Experience Research Articles

Planning nodes, places, and pedestrian experiences in mountainous cities: an empirical transit station assessment tool

IntroductionIn the context of ongoing discussions in Chongqing (China) about urban development strategies for the city’s transit system, this paper introduces an empirical framework for assessing the development of urban transit stations in mountainous cities. Cities in mountainous areas possess unique natural topography, development patterns, cultures, and natural resources, leading to distinct urban development characteristics compared to cities built on plains.MethodsDrawing on the node-place modelling literature, we develop a multidimensional station assessment methodology adapted for mountainous cities. By adding the dimension of pedestrian experience, we propose indicators that represent the unique challenges of accessing stations in such terrains that are not typically reflected in conventional node-place analysis.ResultsOur findings reveal station-specific development opportunities in greater detail and can guide more targeted planning for land use around stations.DiscussionOur assessment method is particularly useful for cities facing terrain challenges that impact pedestrian experience.

Analyzing the Requirements for Smart Pedestrian Applications: Findings from Nicosia, Cyprus

This paper elicits and analyzes the main requirements for Smart Pedestrian applications designed to enhance the pedestrian experience in urban environments by offering optimized walking routes, improved accessibility, and support for social inclusion and connectivity. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, the research combines qualitative insights with quantitative data analysis based on surveys conducted in two strategically selected urban areas of Nicosia, Cyprus. Through the survey, the requirements and potential use of Smart Pedestrian apps are investigated while accounting for the quality of service of the urban infrastructure in a medium-sized city context. Additionally, the study contrasts the current smartphone applications, as they predominantly facilitate vehicular transportation, with the potential use of ICT/ITS to support pedestrians for sustainable mobility. The findings reveal a significant demand for a Pedestrian Smartphone app, driven by its ability to provide relevant information on optimum pedestrian routes, as well as act as a citizen’s voice for spotting infrastructure problems and improving the pedestrian network. Further, it is also revealed that limitations in the pedestrian infrastructure substantially restrict walking preferences, emphasizing the need for urgent city-level urban planning solutions to support active mobility. Additionally, the research carried out underscores the importance of a sustainable business model to support the successful deployment of Smart Pedestrian apps. Ultimately, the results of the study suggest prioritizing a smart technology leverage with a crowdsourcing social network business model to promote pedestrian mobility, thereby reducing vehicular dependence, enhancing public health, and improving the quality of life. Such an approach would act as catalyst for policymakers to concentrate on sustainability by investing in digital technology for integrated pedestrian networks, fostering the emergence of genuine smart cities.

Enhancing Pedestrian Safety by Providing a LiDAR-Based Analysis of Jaywalking Conflicts at Signalized Intersections

Motives: In response to the inherent vulnerability of pedestrians in urban settings, this paper is driven by a commitment to enhancing their mobility and safety. Recognizing the prevalence of jaywalking as a significant concern, the study seeks practical solutions through the application of LiDAR sensors at signalized intersections. By delving into the complexities of jaywalking events and their contributing factors, the research aims to provide valuable insights that extend beyond mere statistical analysis. The motivations behind this endeavour lie in the imperative to comprehensively understand and address the risks associated with jaywalking, ultimately fostering a safer environment for pedestrians navigating urban crossroads. Aim: The primary aim of this paper is to assess and analyse the diverse factors influencing the frequency of jaywalking at signalized intersections, leveraging the capabilities of LiDAR sensors for safety applications. Through a meticulous examination of 1000 jaywalking events detected over a six-month period, the study aims to pinpoint highly correlated independent variables to the frequency of jaywalking events. These variables include traffic signal controller patterns, signal phases, vehicle-pedestrian conflicts, weather conditions, vehicle volume, walking patterns toward the median, pedestrian volume, and the unique jaywalker’s ratio. Employing advanced statistical regression models, the research seeks to identify optimal models and unravel key insights into the nuanced dynamics of jaywalking behaviour. The overarching goal is to equip decision-makers and transportation specialists with data-driven knowledge, enabling them to implement targeted safety measures that mitigate pedestrian risks and enhance safety infrastructure at critical urban crossroads. Results: The outcomes of the study, derived from the optimal Poisson regression model, yield crucial insights into the multifaceted nature of jaywalking events at signalized intersections. The morning and mid-day signal controller patterns exhibit a substantial decrease of 44.7% and 34.4%, respectively, compared to the evening (PM) pattern, shedding light on temporal nuances in jaywalking behaviour. Additionally, the severity of vehicle-pedestrian conflicts escalates proportionally with the number of jaywalkers, emphasizing the importance of addressing pedestrian flow in mitigating potential conflicts. Notably, the presence of vegetation in the median emerges as a significant factor, significantly increasing the frequency of jaywalking. These results contribute to a nuanced understanding of the intricate interplay between environmental, temporal, and behavioural factors in jaywalking incidents. Decision-makers and transportation specialists can leverage these findings to formulate targeted safety interventions, fostering a safer pedestrian experience at crucial urban crossroads

Pedestrian Experiences in a Megacity: A Case Study of Walkability in Johar Block-15, Karachi, Pakistan

Pedestrian Experiences in a Megacity: A Case Study of Walkability in Johar Block-15, Karachi, Pakistan

Jakarta Light Rail Transit Station: Elevating Pedestrian Experience Through Innovative Integration Facilities

Jakarta Light Rail Transit Station: Elevating Pedestrian Experience Through Innovative Integration Facilities

Walkability index for world heritage cities in developing countries

Walkability principles are an important part in the planning process of cities that face urban problems such as gentrification, pollution, and decay of their built heritage. The proposed factors – connectivity, proximity, land use mix, and retail density – form a comprehensive framework for evaluating walkability that transcends the boundaries of historical cities. These factors, while initially identified within historical contexts, possess inherent qualities that render them universally adaptable to various urban landscapes. By leveraging these factors, urban planners gain insights into the intricate fabric of pedestrian experiences in cities. They serve as universal evaluative tools, applicable not only to historical cities but also to burgeoning metropolises and smaller urban centres. This work introduces a novel approach to assessing the Walkability Index for World Heritage Cities, utilizing a Multiple Criteria Spatial Decision Support System (GIS-MCDA) structured in four stages. The approached methodology is particularly valuable for governments and decision-makers in developing countries of the Global South, where limitations in data and available tools are common challenges. The insights gained from this study can guide the improvement of policies, enable more precise implementation of sustainable mobility infrastructure, and motivate the pursuit or maintenance of UNESCO World Heritage nominations. The case study focused on the Historical Centre of Arequipa, Peru, a city designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The results of this study demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in such contexts, owing to its specificity and the integration of both objective and subjective elements.

Enhancing Walkability in Smart Cities: A Comprehensive Literature Review and Strategic Framework

This paper explores the intersection of urban planning and smart city technologies in enhancing walkability, a crucial aspect of creating sustainable and livable urban environments. Through an extensive literature review, the study identifies key factors contributing to walkability, such as safety, accessibility, and comfort, and examines the benefits of walkable cities, including improved public health, economic vitality, and social equity. The concept of the “15-minute city” is introduced as a model for promoting walkability by ensuring access to essential services within a short distance. Additionally, the paper discusses technological advancements and case studies of successful walkability initiatives in smart cities worldwide, highlighting the role of smart walkways, street lighting, public spaces, crosswalks, bike-sharing systems, and digital placemaking in enhancing pedestrian experiences. The comparative analysis of different approaches and strategies provides insights into their key features, benefits, and challenges, offering a comprehensive overview of the current landscape in this field. The study concludes with recommendations for future research and practice to address existing gaps and challenges and further promote walkability in smart cities.

A Bi-Objective Traffic Signal Optimization Model for Mixed Traffic Concerning Pedestrian Delays

Urban traffic networks suffer in numerous ways from traffic congestion. Some of these adverse effects are increased travel times of cars, buses, bicycle users, pedestrians etc., with the addition of excessive greenhouse gas emissions. Transportation engineers and policy makers try to improve the quality of urban transportation systems by developing projects to enhance the pedestrian experience, reduce private car usage, reduce total time spent in the network through different control strategies, and diminish the detrimental effects. In this context, this study takes Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs) and pedestrians into account at signal-controlled intersections. A novel intersection signal control optimization methodology that incorporates pedestrian delays and vehicular emissions from CAVs is presented. Non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II is utilized to solve the multiobjective optimization problem. For the emission calculations, the MOVES3 emission model is utilized. The proposed framework is tested on real-world case study. Simulation experiments showed major improvements in pedestrian delays and lower emissions.

Influence of Urban Street Vending on Pedestrian Experience and Behaviour: A Systematic Quantitative Review

Urban street vending is an integral part of everyday public life and can contribute to vibrant and lively streets. Yet, few cities formally integrate this activity into public space design. This is because street vending is a highly contested, although transformative phenomenon that has complex inter-relationships with other urban entities. This paper systematically and quantitatively assesses the breadth and depth of academic literature that studied such a relationship; more specifically, the influence of street vending on pedestrians' experiences and behaviours and thereby identifies gaps in the existing literature. A systematic review of 25 peer-reviewed journal articles is undertaken to provide an assessment of the geographic extent, disciplinary scope, timeline of publications, keywords, methods, theories, constructs and concepts. This review concludes that the existing research is emerging, but rapidly accelerating and cross-disciplinary. Although the research was predominantly conducted in the Global South, it is largely affiliated with the Global North with limited North-South partnerships. The literature is largely qualitative, indicating a propensity for skewed perspectives. It also lacks theoretical applications exclusive to pedestrian-vendor relationships. Finally, potential areas where future researchers may expand and influence the knowledge domain are identified. This includes developing multi-contextual global perspectives through North-South partnerships and combining or independently applying grounded theory, mixed methods and case study research to broaden theoretical and empirical bases.

My Eyes Speak: Improving Perceived Sociability of Autonomous Vehicles in Shared Spaces Through Emotional Robotic Eyes

The ability of autonomous vehicles (AVs) to interact socially with pedestrians poses a significant impact on their integration with urban traffic. This is particularly important for vehicle-pedestrian shared spaces due to increased social requirements in comparison to vehicular roads. Current pedestrian experience in shared spaces suffers from negative attitudes towards AVs and the consequently low acceptability of AVs in these spaces. HRI work shows that the acceptability of robots in public spaces can be positively impacted by their perceived sociability (i.e., possessing social skills), which can be enhanced by their ability to express emotions. Inspired by this approach, we follow a systematic process to design emotional expressions for AVs using the headlight ("eye'') area and investigate their impact on perceived sociability of AVs in shared spaces, by conducting expert focus groups (N=12) and an online video-based user study (N=106). Our findings confirm that the perceived sociability of AVs can be enhanced by emotional expressions indicated through emotional eyes. We further discuss implications of our findings for improving pedestrian experience and attitude in shared spaces and highlight opportunities to use AVs' emotional expressions as a new external communication strategy for future research.

Unveiling the influence of urban revitalization on pedestrian flow and conduct: a case study in New Cairo, Egypt

ABSTRACT Urban pedestrian paths are vital for safe and accessible foot travel, promoting walkability and benefiting individuals and communities. However, these paths face challenges. One major issue is the lack of investment in pedestrian infrastructure, particularly in low-income areas and developing nations. This leads to poor-quality sidewalks, inadequate pedestrian amenities such as lighting and seating, and a lack of shade. Additionally, pedestrian paths often lack connectivity with other transportation modes like public transit and bike-sharing systems, making it difficult for people to access these services, especially those with mobility impairments. Urbanization also leads to increased traffic and higher speeds on roads, posing greater risks for pedestrians. Poor-quality crosswalks, inadequate traffic-calming measures, and insufficient enforcement of traffic laws further compound these dangers. A case study conducted in New Cairo, Egypt, aims to analyze the impact of urban redevelopment on pedestrian flow and behavior The site was studied by the authors through their on-site drawings and observations, and then Geographic Information System (GIS) was utilized for analysis. Combining scientific literature, site analysis from September 2022, and a comparison with the real upgrades in February 2023, the study utilizes data collection methods like pedestrian count and surveys. By employing GIS, the study examines changes in pedestrian movement patterns and behaviors before and after the redevelopment of specific areas in New Cairo. The study’s findings offer significant insights to urban planners and policymakers, guiding them in the design and execution of urban redevelopment projects that improve the pedestrian experience and foster walkability.

Transit station area walkability: Identifying impediments to walking using scalable, recomputable land-use measures

Transit station area land-use characteristics can increase or decrease the perceived costs of riding rail relative to driving or taking other modes. This paper focuses on those characteristics that create discomfort to riders who are walking between stations and destinations, with the aim of providing researchers and planners with a tool that can be used to identify pain points in any existing or potential station areas. We propose and demonstrate a scalable, recomputable method of measuring pedestrian quality for trips that relies solely on datasets readily available for almost any location in the United States, and we compare results using data from a global source, OpenStreetMap. We illustrate our tool in neighborhoods surrounding the Blue Line light rail in Minneapolis, Minnesota, calculating the population-weighted distribution of land uses within pathway buffers of walks from stations to nearby destinations. We focus on land uses that pose a disutility to pedestrians such as major highways or industrial tracts, and we compare disamenity levels across station areas. Despite their simplicity, our measures capture important differences in land-use-related pedestrian experiences and reveal the inadequacy of using circular buffers to designate and characterize station catchment areas.

Designing architectural continuity in a historic urban quarter of Dinajpur, Bangladesh

This research paper examines the morphological transformation of the historic urban quarters (HUQ) adjacent to Maldah Patti in Dinajpur and provides guidelines for maintaining architectural continuity in new constructions. The study employed a mixed-methods approach, including historical research, physical surveys, user interviews, design ethnography, and participant experiences. The identified factors contributing to architectural degradation in HUQ adjacent to Maldah Patti in Dinajpur include economy-focused considerations, lack of awareness, municipal regulations, community sense, owner preferences, bureaucracy, and the architect's lack of knowledge. The study identified physical characteristics of historical structures in the HUQ, including location, ownership, present use, facade emphasis, style, and pedestrian experience. The study recommends balancing historical continuity and socio-economic development, designing elements to evoke historical ambience, acknowledging functionality and spatial constraints, ensuring client participation, paying attention to detail, taking inspiration from historic structures, deriving vertical and horizontal emphasis in the façade, facing trade-offs and compromises, giving importance to communication, and paying attention to security issues to achieve architectural continuity in HUQ.

How to improve pedestrians' trust in automated vehicles: new road infrastructure, external human-machine interface with anthropomorphism, or conventional road signaling?

Automated vehicles need to gain the trust of all road users in order to be accepted. To make technology trustworthy, automated vehicles must transmit crucial information to pedestrians through a human-machine interface, allowing pedestrians to accurately predict and act on their next behavior. However, the unsolved core issue in the field of vehicle automation is to know how to successfully communicate with pedestrians in a way that is efficient, comfortable, and easy to understand. This study investigated the impact of three human-machine interfaces specifically designed for pedestrians' trust during the street crossing in front of an automated vehicle. The interfaces used different communication channels to interact with pedestrians, i.e., through a new road infrastructure, an external human-machine interface with anthropomorphism, or with conventional road signaling. Mentally projected in standard and non-standard use cases of human-machine interfaces, 731 participants reported their feelings and behavior through an online survey. Results showed that human-machine interfaces were efficient to improve trust and willingness to cross the street in front of automated vehicles. Among external human-machine interfaces, anthropomorphic features showed significant advantages in comparison with conventional road signals to induce pedestrians' trust and safer crossing behaviors. More than the external human-machine interfaces, findings highlighted the efficiency of the trust-based road infrastructure on the global street crossing experience of pedestrians with automated vehicles. All of these findings support trust-centered design to anticipate and build safe and satisfying human-machine interactions.

Strengthening Pedestrian Safety: An Evaluation of Signals at Major Intersections in Lahore, Pakistan

Pedestrians’ safe mobility at intersections is associated with the facilities provided at the crossings. Lahore is one of the most populous cities in Pakistan. Too many road accidents occur daily at various areas of Lahore in which pedestrian-vehicle collision has a major ratio. To reduce the pedestrian-vehicle collisions, pedestrian signals are installed at major intersections of Lahore city. This paper examines the relationship between pedestrian signals and Level of Service (LOS), with a focus on enhancing awareness of pedestrian signal operation and investigates the impact of pedestrian signals on the LOS of intersections in Lahore in terms of pedestrian movement. Research shows that the poor level of awareness about how pedestrian signals work contributes to the inadequate level of service of intersections in terms of pedestrian movement. The results also provide valuable insights for policymakers and practitioners in developing effective strategies to improve the pedestrian experience and reduce pedestrian-vehicle collisions at intersections.

A relational perspective on the walking activity in urban spaces: Shaping, transformation, and interrelations

New walking studies have been concerned with the multiplicity of pedestrian experiences. Some consider walking as an activity that unfolds as part of social life, allowing people to create relationships with others, where multiple walking types can be identified depending on these relations. Some contributions, inspired by actor-network theory (ANT), suggest understanding this activity through a networked perspective that associates human and non-human actors, with a focus on their various and dynamic relations between them. The focus on stabilized networks, which emphasizes the recurrence of these relations, helps in identifying and extending the multiplicity of walking activity experience and emerging types. Despite this potential, ANT contributions are still limited. This paper aims to present the ANT potential in unpacking the multiplicity of the walking activity. It utilizes the case of Dahiyat Al Hussain park in Jordan and applies an ANT-inspired ethnographic approach to unpack walking. It uses desk research, in-depth interviews, go-along interviews, and observations to engage with participants’ views and experiences. By tracing the recurring relational patterns, the paper identifies three instances when walking practice can be considered as stabilized during network shaping, transformation, and interrelations. These stabilizations provide a nuanced perspective into the multiplicity of walking practices.

A novel pedestrian road crossing simulator for dynamic traffic light scheduling systems

The major advances in intelligent transportation systems are pushing societal services toward autonomy where road management is to be more agile in order to cope with changes and continue to yield optimal performance. However, the pedestrian experience is not sufficiently considered. Particularly, signalized intersections are expected to be popular if not dominant in urban settings where pedestrian density is high. This paper presents the design of a novel environment for simulating human motion on signalized crosswalks at a fine-grained level. Such a simulation not only captures typical behavior, but also handles cases where large pedestrian groups cross from both directions. The proposed simulator is instrumental for optimized road configuration management where the pedestrians’ quality of experience, for example, waiting time, is factored in. The validation results using field data show that an accuracy of 98.37% can be obtained for the estimated crossing time. Other results using synthetic data show that our simulator enables optimized traffic light scheduling that diminishes pedestrians’ waiting time without sacrificing vehicular throughput.

French Adaptation and Validation of the Pedestrian Receptivity Questionnaire for Fully Autonomous Vehicles (F-PRQF)

This research is based on the adaptation and validation in French of the Pedestrian Receptivity Questionnaire for Fully Autonomous Vehicles (PRQF). Faced with the emergence of numerous issues related to interactions between pedestrians and fully autonomous vehicles (FAV), this questionnaire is a reliable and scientifically valid means of collecting pedestrian experiences when they cross a road in front of an autonomous vehicle. The translation methodology of the PRQF was based on a committee approach, which consisted of asking several bilingual experts to come to an agreement on a consensual translation. The validation of the French PRQF (F-PRQF) was based on the completion of 584 questionnaires. Different psychometric tests were carried out, including an accuracy analysis, a principal component factor analysis (PCA) and a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Our results show that the F-PQRF displays satisfactory psychometric qualities, in particular in terms of internal consistency (α = 0.932 and ω = 0.935). We also find a scale with five components, which confirms the theoretical model structure of the original scale. The F-PRQF showed good psychometric qualities, which should thus facilitate research in fully autonomous vehicles among French-speaking audiences.

Building a New Framework for Urban Parking Facilities Research with Quality Improvement: The Case of Chongqing, China.

People-oriented development has become the main theme of China's current social development, and the construction of various urban infrastructure has shifted from a focus on functionalism to a continuous pursuit of service quality. As an essential infrastructure for urban transport, urban parking facilities have an impact on pedestrian experience and landscape appearance based on the provision of parking functions. Therefore, this study is oriented to improving the quality of parking facilities, proposes a research framework of parking facilities based on meeting functional demand and service quality, and constructs a quality index to evaluate the quality of parking facilities, which includes three dimensions of evaluation indexes: pedestrian space impact, environmental space impact, and demand matching. By analyzing the current characteristics of urban parking facilities and measuring their quality index (6.5), the study finds that while satisfying the basic function of parking demand, it brings a negative impact on the pedestrian experience and the overall urban landscape appearance of the city. Motivated by this, this study proposes strategies to improve the quality of parking facilities: demand matching, spatial synergy, and environmental design to address parking difficulties, while injecting different ideas for future value orientation of parking facility planning and construction.

Dark Adaptation in Urban Environments: An Innovative Design Framework for Pedestrian Lighting

Outdoor lighting has mainly been approached as an engineering subject throughout its history. The current urban lighting requirements are established upon factors which mainly refer to motorised traffic dynamics. As a consequence, excessive lighting levels are found in the city environments with a negative impact on the human as well as the environmental sphere. By synthesising scientific knowledge on human visual system and outdoor lighting theories, this research seeks to formulate strong arguments to point at the lack of human scale in the contemporary practice and to question the adequacy of the standard requirements for human vision in nighttime settings. The knowledge gained from scientific studies and ongoing research shows how the nighttime visual experience of pedestrians is still an untapped dimension, unveiling the lack of defined guidelines and methods to approach the design of urban lighting through the lens of this target. With a focus on soft mobility, the aim of the study is to address dark adaptation as a human factor in the design of urban lighting and to provide evidence on the human eye’s ability to perform in dim conditions. Important findings from the literature review were used as requirements to formulate a methodology to approach the design of pedestrian lighting in urban environments. Strong conclusions could be drawn on the figure of dark adaptation and important lighting requirements were identified to facilitate this process in the condition of soft mobility. Even though further research and experimentation are required to implement dark adaptation in the design of urban lighting, this paper’s goal is to open up new perspectives in the field, shaping the vision for the future of cities with reduced urban illumination.