Design Of Pedestrian Facilities Research Articles

Pedestrian Facility Design For Sports Centre Area In Small Town Of Indonesia (Case Study: Bima Sports Centre Area)

The largest public space in Cirebon City, Indonesia, is Bima Sports Center, with conditions that could be more conducive, resulting in the conversion of sidewalks that are not suitable for their function into areas for street vendors and illegal parking, which hurts the interests of pedestrians. This study aims to provide design recommendations (prototype) based on PU regulation no. 02/SE/M/2018 about pedestrian facility standards. The methods used in this research are the Pedestrian Level of Service (PLOS) approach in evaluating the performance of pedestrian facilities, the Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) approach in assessing pedestrian satisfaction, and providing design recommendations based on the results of the CSI analysis. The research results show that the PLOS value in existing conditions varies from A - to F, and the main variables that determine pedestrian satisfaction are cleanliness, safety, and lighting facilities. Based on the analysis of the results, the design recommendation is to adjust the geometry according to standards and emphasize the Provision of cleaning facilities (bins), lighting, and safety fences along pedestrian paths.

Factors that influence pedestrian walking speed and behavior at crosswalks: a study of three metropolitan areas in Mexico

ABSTRACT Walking is the most common mode of transportation in the world. The design standards may need to be adjusted to local conditions to ensure pedestrian safety in different parts of the world. The paper aim is to find the factors that influence the crossing speed of pedestrians and their behavior in the crosswalk, and thus provide better tools for the design of pedestrian facilities. Thirty crosswalks from four cities in Mexico were analyzed, obtaining a sample of 8700 pedestrian crossing speed records. The results show that land use, median design, pedestrian traffic signals, number of lanes, the day of the week, gender, age, carrying objects, pedestrian platoon size, population, and geographical area are significant factors in pedestrian crossing speed. In addition, it was observed that a significant number of pedestrians exhibit unsafe crossing behaviors. Male pedestrians were found to be more likely to exhibit these unsafe crossing behaviors.

How does street environment affect pedestrian crash risks? A link-level analysis using street view image-based pedestrian exposure measurement

Street space plays a critical role in pedestrian safety, but the influence of fine-scale street environment features has not been sufficiently understood. To analyze the effect of the street environment at the link level, it is essential to account for the spatial variation of pedestrian exposure across street links, which is challenging due to the lack of detailed pedestrian flow data. To address these issues, this study proposes to extract link-level pedestrian exposure from spatially ubiquitous street view images (SVIs) and investigate the impact of fine-scale street environment on pedestrian crash risks, with a particular focus on pedestrian facilities (e.g., crossing and sidewalk design). Both crash frequency and severity are analyzed at the link level, with the latter incorporating two distinct aggregation metrics: maximum severity and medium severity. Using Hong Kong as a case study, the results show that the link-level pedestrian exposure extracted from SVIs can lead to better model fit than alternative zone-level measurements. Specifically, higher pedestrian exposure is found to increase the total pedestrian crash frequency, while reducing the risk of serious injuries or fatalities, confirming the “safety in numbers” effect for pedestrians. Pedestrian facilities are also shown to influence pedestrian crash frequency and severity in different ways. The presence of crosswalks can increase crash frequency, but denser crosswalk design mitigates this effect. In addition, two-side sidewalks can increase crash frequency, while the absence of sidewalks leads to higher risks of crash severity. These findings highlight the importance of fine-scale street environment and pedestrian facility design for pedestrian safety.

Simulation of bi-directional pedestrian flow in corridor based on direction fuzzy visual field

Bi-directional pedestrian flow in corridors is a complex dynamic system due to the diversity in pedestrian psychological characteristics. Incorporating individual differences of pedestrians is vital for improving pedestrian flow models. However, due to the inherent complexity and variability of pedestrian movement, model parameter calibration remains challenging. Controlled experiments are needed to collect empirical pedestrian movement data under different environments. This enriches the database on pedestrian movement patterns and provides necessary support for improving pedestrian flow models. To address this issue, we conducted controlled experiments to quantify pedestrian heterogeneity by defining the direction of fuzzy visual field (DFVF). The DFVF incorporates various static and dynamic pedestrian factors. We used it to modify the traditional cellular automata model. This improved model simulates bi-directional pedestrian movements in the corridors, reproduces density-speed and density-volume relationships, and reveals self-organization phenomena. Furthermore, an analysis was conducted to examine the impacts of pedestrian density and facility spatial layout on evacuation time. Pedestrian interactions were also studied to uncover fundamental bi-directional flow properties. As pedestrian density increased, the evacuation time showed an exponential upward trend. Corridor length significantly impacts evacuation time, while increasing corridor width helps control it. As crowd density increases, pedestrian flows exhibit three distinct steady states: the strolling flow at low densities, directional separated flows at medium densities, and dynamic multi-lane flows at high densities. In summary, the modified cellular automata model successfully incorporates pedestrian heterogeneity and reveals intrinsic bi-directional pedestrian flow patterns. This study provides valuable insights for pedestrian facility design and optimizing pedestrian flow organization.

A modified social force model for studying nonlinear dynamics of pedestrian-e-bike mixed flow at a signalized crosswalk

Mixed-traffic crosswalks with disordered e-bikes are one of the most common conflict zones in urban traffic. The frequent interactions between pedestrians and e-bikes may result in a reduction in traffic efficiency and safety at intersections. It is necessary to understand nonlinear dynamics of the mixed traffic flow. This study presents a modified social force model to describe complex phenomena of pedestrian-e-bike mixed flow at a signalized crosswalk. Geometry of e-bikes, visual range and typical behaviors (i.e., avoidance behaviors) are introduced in our model, and compared with an observational experiment. The proportion of e-bikes and the impact of the lane of e-bikes on pedestrians' walking comfort and safety are discussed. The arrival rate of e-bikes and the impact of the setting of the lane of e-bikes are analyzed. It is proved that pedestrians' comfort decreases with the increasing proportion of e-bikes. The pressure of the pedestrian-e-bike mixed flow is higher than that at a conventional crosswalk without e-bikes. The maximum crossing time of e-bikes decreases with the increasing width of the lane of e-bikes. Correspondingly, when the width of the lane of e-bikes increases, the average speed of e-bikes increases. Results suggest that an appropriate width of the lane of e-bikes has a positive influence on mixed flow. The study is helpful to an in-depth understanding of nonlinear dynamics in pedestrian-e-bike mixed flow, and is beneficial to safe pedestrian facility design.

Pedestrian Crowd Management Experiments: A Data Guidance Paper

Understanding pedestrian dynamics and the interaction of pedestrians with their environment is crucial to the safe and comfortable design of pedestrian facilities. Experiments offer the opportunity to explore the influence of individual factors. In the context of the project CroMa (Crowd Management in transport infrastructures), experiments were conducted with about 1000 participants to test various physical and social psychological hypotheses focusing on people's behaviour at railway stations and crowd management measures. The following experiments were performed: i) Train Platform Experiment, ii) Crowd Management Experiment, iii) Single-File Experiment, iv) Personal Space Experiment, v) Boarding and Alighting Experiment, vi) Bottleneck Experiment and vii) Tiny Box Experiment. This paper describes the basic planning and implementation steps, outlines all experiments with parameters, geometries, applied sensor technologies and pre- and post-processing steps. All data can be found in the pedestrian dynamics data archive.

Crowd Evacuation through Crossing Configurations: Effect of Crossing Angles and Walking Speeds on Speed Variation and Evacuation Time

The design of safe and efficient pedestrian facilities necessitates the knowledge of complex human movements, such as intersecting pedestrian streams, under different conditions. This study aims to experimentally investigate the impact of intersecting angles on collective crowd dynamics under two different urgency levels. Data were collected from a controlled laboratory experiment with scenarios consisting of three intersection angles (30°, 90°, and 150°) and two desired speed levels (normal walking and slow running). Trajectory data of individual experiment participants were extracted from the recorded video footage. The results indicate that the 30° intersection has the lowest bottleneck effect compared to the other angles. Moreover, the time-to-target analysis shows that the 150° intersection has a higher waiting time at the intersection compared to the other angles for the jogging scenarios. The speed distribution and space utilization maps implied an asymmetrical reduction in speed in the two corridors of the intersection, even though the physical and geometrical configurations are symmetric. The lane-based analysis of collective speeds revealed that the inner lane (the lane that initially encounters the intersecting flow) has the maximum reduction in speed. The outcomes of this study may be useful to evaluate the congestion effects associated with crossing configurations and in calibrating and validating simulation tools to reproduce such effects accurately.

Experimental study of movement characteristics for different walking postures in a narrow channel

In the event of a fire, the smoke produced by the fire will not only affect the visibility of pedestrians but also change the pedestrians’ walking posture. The pedestrians’ motion characteristics of stoop walking have not been systematically studied in pedestrian evacuation dynamics. Therefore, a series of single-file movement experiments under controlled laboratory conditions were performed by a transparent protective net which is used to limit the pedestrians’ height to change the walking posture. The probability density distribution of density and speed, the fundamental diagram, headway-speed relation and the lateral sway will be analyzed. The maximum flow rate of pedestrians in stoop walking is 26% lower than that of normal walking in speed-flow relation. Three states (free regime, weakly constrained regime, and strongly constrained regime) can be observed in the relationship between headway and speed, the free speed of pedestrians follows a Gaussian distribution. In addition to discussion of the longitudinal motion characteristics, lateral movement characteristics of the pedestrian will further be analyzed. The study found that the average lateral sway of normal walking is greater than that of stoop walking. The results of this study provide valuable information for the effects of different walking postures and help to develop precise models about different walking postures, which can finally contribute to the design of related pedestrian facilities.

The influence of weather and temperature on pedestrian walking characteristics on the zigzag bridge.

With the increasing number of tourists in recent years, ensuring the safety of visitors in tourist attractions has become an enormous challenge for safety management. At present, many experiments have been conducted to study pedestrian dynamics, but empirical data on tourists’ movement state under different weather conditions are still few. Therefore, a series of field experiments were conducted to analyze the effect of external weather and temperature on pedestrians’ movement characteristics. The results show that pedestrians are more concentrated in the middle and inner tracks during the turning process to seek the shortest path on rainy days. Moreover, it is found that pedestrians speed up under the conditions with low (below 10 °C) and high (over 30 °C) temperatures. The average speed of pedestrians is 0.677 m/s as the temperature is below 0 °C, which is much higher than the average speed of pedestrians in other temperature ranges. In addition, the speed of pedestrians changed more dramatically under the low-temperature conditions. It is hoped that this research can provide a reference for crowd control and rational design of pedestrian facilities.

Application of Pedestrian Upstream Detection Strategy in a Mixed Flow Traffic Circumstance

Walking is an environment-friendly trip mode and can help ease the congestion caused by automobiles. Proper design of pedestrian facilities that promotes effi-ciency and safety can encourage more people to choose walking. Upstream detection (UD) strategy is proposed by previous studies to reduce pedestrian waiting time at mid-block crosswalk (MBC). This paper applied UD strategy to MBC under mixed traffic circumstance where the crosswalk serves both pedestrians and non-motor us-ers. Traffic data was collected from an MBC in the city of Nanjing, China. Simulation models were developed by using the VISSIM software and its add-on module Vehicle Actuated Programming (VAP). The models were catego-rised by the volume and composition of pedestrians and non-motor users. Models were simulated according to different experimental schemes to explore the effective-ness of the UD strategy under mixed traffic circumstance. T-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to interpret the simulation results. The main conclusions of this paper are that the UD strategy is still effective at the MBC with a mixed traffic circumstance despite the pro-portion of non-motor users. However, as the proportion of non-motor users becomes higher, the average delay of pedestrians and non-motor users will increase compared to pure pedestrian flow.

An experimental study on bidirectional pedestrian flow involving individuals with simulated disabilities in a corridor

Individuals with disabilities are essential members of heterogeneous crowds. However, empirical data on pedestrian flow, including individuals with disabilities, are limited. In this study, a controlled experiment was conducted to explore the dynamics of counterflow involving individuals without disabilities and with simulated disabilities. For safety reasons, some individuals without disabilities were recruited to simulate persons with mobility-related physical and sensory disabilities (namely pedestrians on crutches, seniors, wheelchair users and persons who are blind) by using auxiliary equipment. A total of 64 pedestrians participated in the experiment. After gaining their movement trajectories, crossing behaviors, spatial–temporal characteristics, fundamental diagrams and the congestion level are analyzed under different split flow ratios of walkers from two directions and densities. Results demonstrate that the average speed of pedestrians in the direction of pedestrian flow comprising more participants is higher than that in the other direction. Helping behavior positively impacts on the movement efficiency of heterogeneous crowds, while the proportion of individuals with simulated disabilities has a negative impact. The split flow ratio has little effect on the average specific flow when density is smaller than approximately 1.25 m−2. The average specific flow in balanced flow (i.e. the split flow ratio is 0.5) is slightly higher than that in unbalanced flow (i.e. the split flow ratio is not 0.5) when density is larger than approximately 1.25 m−2. Congestion level is relatively higher here than that in counterflow, including all individuals without disabilities, when density is low. These findings have implications for safer pedestrian facility design.

Lane-design for mixed pedestrian flow in T-shaped passage

T-shaped passage is one of the most important facilities in urban rail transit station, and the crowded phenomena always appear during peak hours. Mixed pedestrian flow in T-shaped passage may generate some conflicts, which causes a lot of delays for passengers. For reducing conflicts and improving efficiency in T-shaped passage, we designed the walking lanes for mixed pedestrian flow with different origins (Os) and destinations (Ds), and the preference strength was proposed to perform lane-design rule. A cellular automata (CA) based pedestrian simulation model with the lane-design was built, and we simulated the mixed pedestrian flow with the effect of lane-design on the platform of MATLAB software. Simulation results indicate that pedestrian conflicts were reduced and the efficiency of passing was improved. Reasonable lane-design was useful for mixed pedestrian flow, and it could provide technical support for the planning and design of pedestrian facilities.

Pedestrians safety perceptions on midblock crosswalk utilization along urban corridors of developing countries

In Ghana, road crossing accidents account for more than 70% of all pedestrian fatalities as the task of road crossing is challenging, even in so-called ‘protected’ midblock crosswalks. This paper assesses pedestrians perception of midblock crosswalks safety along major arterials in the Sunyani municipality. Following the identification and ranking of twenty-four (24) pedestrian crash-prone locations using the MAAP IV software, identified pedestrian crosswalks were inventorized, their degree of utilization were investigated and some active pedestrians were interviewed. There is a strong correlation between pedestrian perceptions and use behavior behaviour as over 90% of pedestrians stated they did not use the midblock crosswalks, and about 77% stated the location of the facility influenced their crossing behaviour. In the strict use of designated midblock crosswalks, only 8.7% of active pedestrians complied. Findings suggest that the incorporation of pedestrian views into the design and construction of pedestrian facilities could significantly improve the use of these facilities and consequently the occurrence of crashes. These findings have implication particularly for transport managers in developing countries with limited budgets for infrastructure provision.

Fundamental diagrams of luggage-laden pedestrians ascending and descending stairs

In transportation terminals, a lot of passengers usually travel with luggage, which affects not only their mobility but also the ones who have no luggage, especially on stairs. As a result, congestion could be severer during rush hours. However, the impact of luggage on the movement characteristics of pedestrians ascending and descending stairs have not been systematically studied yet. Therefore, in this study, a series of single-file luggage-laden movement experiments under controlled laboratory conditions were performed. Trajectories have been extracted to analyze the movement features under different luggage-laden ratio scenarios. From the space–time diagram, it can be found the average stopping time gradually increases as the increase of the luggage-laden ratios. In the relationship between spatial headway and speed, two regimes are found, i.e., free regime and strongly constrained regime. The minimum descending headway is basically the same as the tread depth, while the minimum ascending headway is greater than the tread depth. The pedestrian adaptation time in the scenario of a high luggage-laden ratio is longer than that of none. Finally, in addition to longitudinal movement, with the increase of speed, pedestrian lateral sway amplitude decline rate in the descending process is faster than that in the ascending process. The impact of carrying luggage ascent and descent the stairs on pedestrian movement characteristics provided in this study is helpful not only for the calibration and verification of the pedestrian models but also for the design of pedestrian facilities in transportation terminals.

A system for efficient egress scheduling during mass events and small-scale experimental demonstration

Improvements in the design of pedestrian facilities have reduced the frequency of crowd accidents, and safety is now generally ensured in well-planned crowd events. However, congestion and inefficient use of infrastructures still remain an issue. To guarantee comfort and reduce close contacts between people, there are circumstances when crowd density may have to be reduced well below safety limits. Although research has given a lot of attention to extreme scenarios, methods to improve non-critical conditions have been little explored. In addition, crowd sensing technology is still mostly used for data collection and direct use on crowd management is rare. In this work, we present a system aimed at computing optimal egress time for groups of people leaving a complex facility. We show that, if egress starting time is accurately computed for each group based on actual crowd conditions, density can be greatly reduced without having a large effect on the total egress time of the whole crowd. To show the efficacy of such a system, a small-scale experiment is conducted where all components are tested in a simple scenario. As a result, an increase in total egress time by only 5% allowed to reduce maximum density by 35%.

Simulation of pedestrian counter flow with conflicting preference using a lattice-based simulation model

Pedestrian counter flows widely exist in public pedestrian facilities such as corridors, sidewalks, signalized crossings and so on. There is one specific flow in real life, namely counter flow with conflicting walking preference which often occurs in the case of presence of one-sidedly asymmetry due to shadows, light, snow and so on. It is often overlooked in practice and the related studies are still limited. In this study, to better understand the flow dynamics of pedestrian flow with various walking preference, a simple lattice-based model was proposed in which position exchange and walking preference were simultaneously considered. Specifically, simulations including pedestrian counter flow with preference (Case A), with conflicting preference (Case B), and without preference (Basic case) were performed. Results show that the presented model can capture some essential features of pedestrian counter flow with various walking preference. It is not always necessary to intervene the behavior of pedestrians ’ conflicting preference, since appropriate degree of preference is sometimes beneficial to movement of pedestrians. In addition, with the significant influence of position exchange, the flow in Case A with more orderly motion is more efficient in the context of low density, while the flow in Case B with more frequent interactions is more efficient in the case of high density. The findings in this study will be helpful in crowd management as well as the design and operation of pedestrian facilities.

EVALUATION FOR USER’S SATISFACTION ON PATHWAY AND STREET FURNITURE FACILITIES IN THAMRIN-SUDIRMAN AREA

The Global Climate Change Problem is a global problem throughout the world. This requires the attention of all countries to commit to reducing carbon foot print by reducing the use of private vehicles. One way of their lives. So the development of cities when they need to be designed using carbon fooprint. Design cities to encourage people to use public transportation and motivate people to walk. The Thamrin and Sudirman Areas are trade and service centers, and primary activity centers, as well as a strategic area (Integrated Commerce Center and Upper Hamlet area are exchanges of mass public transport (TOD)) (Spatial Planning for DKI Jakarta Province in 2010-2030 ). As a provincial strategic area, for the past 5 years the DKI Provincial government has built pedestrian and public transportation facilities to improve the convenience of pedestrian and public transportation users. This study discusses road user satisfaction with pedestrian facility requirements: lanes, road furniture, and nameplates in the Thamrin Sudirman area. This study discusses user satisfaction in pedestrian facilities in the Thamrin Sudirman area. Locations in Thamrin Sudirman: Sarinah, Bunderan Hotel Indonesia, Dukuh Atas, Setia Budi-Chase Plaza, Hilir-Atmajaya Dam, Bung Karno Gelora, Sudirman-MRT Senayan-Ratu Plaza, and ASEAN MRT area. Survey assessment tools based on satisfaction levels of 1-9 scale, with criteria for elements: (1) path (Property, design, quality, hallway, shade, lighting, user friendliness, landscaping, maintenance, environment), (2) Street furniture and signage (Furniture and road shades, lamp post placement, information boards, signage). The results showed the Sudirman-MRT Senayan-Ratu Plaza area and the Gelora Bung Karno area, as a road that was considered to have a high level of satisfaction for pedestrians. Pathway design, street furniture and signage can fulfill pedestrian satisfaction. Thus it is expected that the design of pedestrian paths in these locations can be a reference for the design of pedestrian facilities. Keywords: satisfaction, users, pathways, street furniture

Dynamic analysis of stepping behavior of pedestrian social groups on stairs

Human movement dynamics is highly correlated with stepping locomotion. This paper aims to explore stepping behavior of pedestrian social groups on stairs through a field observation. A total of 96 singles and 194 pedestrian groups with different sizes were adopted as test subjects. Their stepping features such as speed, step length, step time and step width were obtained according to trajectory extraction and curvature calculation. Relations between these variables during ascending and descending movement on stairs are analyzed and compared. The effects of group sizes and movement processes on stepping locomotion are also discussed. It is discovered that both step time and step width for groups with larger size are significantly higher during descending movement. This study provides a new insight into stepping behavior of pedestrian groups on stairs, and is beneficial to group movement modelling and pedestrian facility design.

Assessment of Pedestrian Walking Speed Through the Religious Occasions in Iraq

The design of safe pedestrian facilities usually depends on the assessment of pedestrian characteristics and behavior. In this investigation, pedestrian walking speed through the religious occasion have been monitored at three locations, Al- Kadhimiya (Imam AL-Kadim), Najaf and Karbala (Imam AL-Husain) holy shrines. Video captures of the pedestrian through their walking to the two holy shrines have been prepared and analyzed for walking speed, gender, age groups, and clothing tradition. The pedestrian sample size is 468, 501, and 447 for Al- Kadhimiya, Karbala, and Najaf respectively. When the gender is taken into consideration, it can be noted that the walking speed of male and female pedestrian is (0.97, 1.68, and 1.63) and (0.82, 1.46, and 1.48) meter/second for Al- Kadhimiya, Karbala, and Najaf respectively. When the cloth tradition is considered, female pedestrian wearing Arabic style is slower than male by 9% for Karbala and Najaf and 3% for Al- Kadhimiya. On the other hand, when age groups are considered, the elder pedestrian is slower in walking by 6% regardless of the gender and location. It was recommended that the restricted walking path at Al- Kadhimiya could be improved to control the jam density of pedestrian and increase the walking speed to its standard limit.

Modelling the Pedestrian Speed at Signalised Intersection Crosswalks for Heterogeneous Traffic Conditions

Pedestrian crossing speed is the key element in the design of pedestrian facilities. It depends on various attributes related to road, traffic and pedestrians. In this paper, an attempt has been made to explore the variation, examine the influencing factors and formulate a model for the pedestrian crossing speed at signalised intersection crosswalks. The data have been collected using video graphic technique at 16 signalised crosswalks of the Chandigarh city. The findings reveal that a 15th percentile crossing speed (1.11-1.31 m/s) exceeds the design crossing speed of 0.95 m/s. It is also higher than the crossing speed of 1.2 m/s, usually being prescribed and adopted in the developed countries. The statistical analysis indicates no significant difference in the percentile crossing speeds between males and females. However, the variation exists among different age groups, group sizes, and crossing patterns. The correlation analysis depicts that the pedestrian crossing speed has significant negative correlation with the crosswalk width, the crosswalk length, the width of the pedestrian island, the classification of road, average traffic flow and average pedestrian delay, whereas the availability of separate bicycle paths at intersections is positively correlated. Furthermore, the stepwise regression model with 70.1 percent accuracy reveals that the crosswalk width, the width of the pedestrian island and the average pedestrian delay play a predominant role in determining the pedestrian crossing speed. The authors propose the usage of the developed model for setting out the standards for the appropriate design crossing speed for different crosswalks having similar geometric and traffic conditions as that of the study area.