Pedestrian Route Choice Research Articles

Effectiveness of Changes in Street Layout and Design for Reducing Barriers to Walking

This study analyzed the effectiveness of two types of interventions to reduce built environment barriers to walking: changing the layout of the local street network (by increasing the density and connectivity of the links available to pedestrians) and redesigning a busy road (by adding crossing facilities, reducing the speed limit, or reallocating road space to pedestrians). The analysis focused on a residential neighborhood in London that was being extensively redeveloped. Anticipated effects of the interventions are assessed in regard to distance, delay, risk, and environmental quality of walking trips from residences to public transport nodes. The study also addressed methodological issues by modeling the off-street space available to pedestrians and considering alternative hypotheses for pedestrian route choice. Results show that, in this neighborhood, changes to the street layout always reduced delay and improved the pedestrian environment, although the changes might have increased trip distances and collision risk. Adding crossing facilities reduced risk but did not decrease delay, while reducing the number of vehicle lanes reduced distance and delay but might increase risk. All types of intervention improved the pedestrian environment, even in the cases of routes chosen to minimize delay or exposure to traffic.

A qualitative study on the role of the built environment for short walking trips

The present study uses a qualitative approach with the aim to identify built environmental factors influencing short walking distances for transportation among adults (18–65years), with special attention to micro-scale attributes. Three focus groups were held in Valencia (Spain) and conducted with participants who undertook, at least once a week, one short non-shopping trip in any travel mode (were “short trip” is defined as less than 30–45min walking distance). A thematic analysis of the data was performed and six categories of factors emerged related to the built environment. Factors were also classified as either barriers to walking, or secondary factors related to the attractiveness of the walking experience and the pedestrian route choice. Results show that factors related to safety from crime are the most deterrent to walking (absence of people and poor street lighting), along with the availability of car parking at destination for car users. Crossing large avenues and roundabouts in Valencia can be a deterrent to walking because of the high density of pedestrian traffic signals with a poor coordination, leading to long crossing waiting times. Secondary factors such as wide sidewalks, the presence of trees, and low traffic volume roads were mentioned by almost all participants. Our findings suggest that sidewalk width may not only influence pedestrian route choice but can be a barrier to walking. Focus groups also revealed that sidewalk cafes and bollards were seen as physical obstacles by some participants.

Space syntax 기법을 활용한 Social Path 효과분석

보행자는 일반적인 보행로뿐만 아니라 건물을 통과하거나 넓은 공간을 가로지르는 등의 비정형적인 보행 경로를 통해 다양한 방식으로 이동한다. 본 연구는 이러한 보행 경로를 social path로 정의하여 보행 네트워크의 범주 안에 포함시켜 정의하였다. 기존의 보행 접근성 연구에서는 이러한 보행 경로를 고려하지 못해 대상지의 공간적 위계 수준과 각 가로의 연결성을 올바르게 평가하지 못하였다. 이를 개선하기 위해 본 연구는 대중교통의 요지임과 동시에 상업 시설이 밀집된 서울의 주요 대상지를 선정하여 social path의 효과 분석을 수행하였다. 이를 위해서는 네트워크 공간 분석에서 활용되는 space syntax 기법의 공간 통합도(Integration)를 평가 지표로 설정하였다. 분석 결과, social path로 인해 각 가로의 연결성이 변화됨과 동시에 보행자의 최적 경로가 합리적으로 바뀌는 것으로 나타났다. 특히, 대상지 내부의 주요 가로와 social path의 개선효과가 두드러졌다. 이러한 점을 통해 social path의 연결성이 뛰어나고 보행자의 최적 경로를 보다 현실적으로 구현할 수 있다는 점을 증명하였다. Pedestrians not only walk along pedestrian pathways, but also choose unusual routes such as passing through buildings or crossing large scale open spaces. This study defines these unusual paths as social path, and includes them into one of the pedestrian road categories. Previous pedestrian accessibility and route choice studies could not evaluate correctly the space connectivity or optimal route because the social path was not considered properly. Therefore, this study analyzes the effectiveness of the social path in view of space connectivity focused on Coex and Seoul stations in Seoul, which are representative transit oriented development(TOD) areas. Global integration, which is widely used in network analysis, is selected (as performance index) to identify the space hierarchy and define new pedestrian links. The study results show that the network connectivity is improved especially in the main streets and social paths. This study demonstrated that the social path should be considered in finding the pedestrian optimal route from the practical perspective.

Calibration of a Pedestrian Route Choice Model with a Basis in Friction Forces

This paper presents a pedestrian route choice model and its calibration with real data. The model explicitly represents interaction between pedestrians as an impedance force influences their route choice. This model approach was inspired by friction force equations and considered efforts by pedestrians to avoid passing near other pedestrians with high relative velocity. The route choice process was a function of impedance force and route length. A social force model was used to model pedestrian walking behavior. The calibration had its basis in data acquired from a real experiment developed in a simplified network. Data collection had its basis in video analysis. The paper presents and discusses results from the calibration processes. The model presented in this paper differs from other pedestrian route choice models because it seamlessly incorporates a pedestrian social force model into the route choice decision process.

Influence of the Built Environment on Pedestrian Route Choices of Adolescent Girls

Influence of the Built Environment on Pedestrian Route Choices of Adolescent Girls

How to Apply Assignment Methods that were Developed for Vehicular Traffic to Pedestrian Microsimulations

Applying assignment methods to compute user-equilibrium route choice is very common in traffic planning. It is common sense that vehicular traffic arranges in a user-equilibrium based on generalized costs in which travel time is a major factor.Surprisingly travel time has not received much attention for the route choice of pedestrians. In microscopic simulations of pedestrians the vastly dominating paradigm for the computation of the preferred walking direction is set into the direction of the (spatially) shortest path.For situations where pedestrians have travel time as primary determinant for their walking behavior it would be desirable to also have an assignment method in pedestrian simulations.To apply existing (road traffic) assignment methods with simulations of pedestrians one has to reduce the non-denumerably many possible pedestrian trajectories to a small subset of routes which represent the main, relevant, and significantly distinguished routing alternatives.All except one of these routes will mark detours, i.e. not the shortest connection between origin and destination. The proposed assignment method is intended to work with common operational models of pedestrian dynamics. These – as mentioned before – usually send pedestrians into the direction of the spatially shortest path. Thus, all detouring routes have to be equipped with intermediate destinations, such that pedestrians can do a detour as a piecewise connection of segments on which they walk into the direction of the shortest path. One has then to take care that the transgression from one segment to the following one no artifacts are introduced into the pedestrian trajectory.

Pedestrian route choice model based on friction forces

This paper presents a pedestrian route choice model devised to represent the influence of the impedance generated by other pedestrians on the route choice process. This model is inspired by friction force equations, and considers that pedestrians avoid passing near other pedestrians with high relative velocity. The route choice process is based on a weighting of the impedance generated by pedestrians and the path length. A social force model was used to model pedestrian walking behavior. The model is able to reproduce emergent behavior among agents, allowing the assumption that the friction equations may provide a suitable approach to route choice behavior and can also be used as an indirect measure of pedestrian delay.

Influence of the built environment on pedestrian route choices of adolescent girls.

We examined the influence of the built environment on pedestrian route selection among adolescent girls. Portable global positioning system units, accelerometers, and travel diaries were used to identify the origin, destination, and walking routes of girls in San Diego, CA and Minneapolis, MN. We completed an inventory of the built environment on every street segment to measure the characteristics of routes taken and not taken. Route-level variables covering four key conceptual built environment domains (Aesthetics, Destinations, Functionality, and Safety) were used in the analysis of route choice. Shorter distance had the strongest positive association with route choice, while the presence of a greenway or trail, higher safety, presence of sidewalks, and availability of destinations along a route were also consistently positively associated with route choice at both sites. The results suggest that it may be possible to encourage pedestrians to walk farther by providing high quality and stimulating routes.

Effect of Height on Pedestrian Route Choice between Stairs and Escalator

In order to overcome the subjectivity of existing pedestrian route choice models, an alternative choice model is presented based on the utility equation. It is composed of several indirectly objective characteristic variables, including the height, length, and width of interlayer facilities; speed of automated facilities; and carry-on luggage. Considering the scene that pedestrians choose between the stairs or escalators, an extended binary logit model is developed. Calibration and validation of the model are accomplished by using the data collected in four typical passenger transfer stations in Beijing, China. The results show that the proposed model has an average accuracy of 86.56% in bidirection for predicting pedestrians’ behavior. An interesting phenomenon can be found that the length of facility has poorer impact than height on pedestrians’ route choice behavior. Some quantitative and irradiative conclusions have been illustrated on the relationship between the selection probability and the variables, which is expected to be valuable for extracting the implicit theoretical mechanism of passenger choice behavior.

Using Case Study Data to Validate 3D Agent-based Pedestrian Simulation Tool for Building Egress Modeling

MassMotion is an agent-based pedestrian simulation tool which employs 3D environments and behavioral profiles to analyze pedestrian movements and route choice. This paper describes how observed evacuation drills were used to validate MassMotion for tower building egress modeling. Validation metrics include modeled evacuation time, journey times, speeds, flow rates, and behavioral observations. The results indicate that MassMotion is a suitable application for tower building egress modeling, producing total evacuation times between 1% and 10% of observed times.

A Dynamic Pedestrian Route Choice Model Validated in a High Density Subway Station

Route choice models for pedestrians need to deal with the complexity of dynamic scenarios. Rather than producing a fixed path once a pedestrian is created, the path choice of each pedestrian must be continuously updated with local information. We present a dynamic pedestrian route choice model based on continuous observations of perceived time estimations. In addition wevalidated our model with real worldpassenger flow data from a subway station next to Vienna's largest football stadium.

Analysis of Changes in Pedestrian Route Choice Priorities with Progress of Stage of Life

User focused pedestrian facility planning requires an understanding of pedestrian behavior and needs. Analysis presented here has considered user attributes primarily from the point of view of stage of life of the person. User needs have been measured through responses to ten opinion statements. The primary field survey was conducted in Japan, in five cities of different sizes. A secondary survey was performed in Sydney, Australia for comparison purposes. Analysis has shown the viability of using different indicators to designate the stage of life. It is also shown that a bipartition classification is suited to explain how pedestrian needs related to shortness of paths and pleasantness of walking space as individuals go through phases of their life.

A potential field approach to the modeling of route choice in pedestrian evacuation

This study proposes a potential field algorithm for formulating pedestrian route choice behavior during evacuation in individual-based models with discrete space representation. The potential field reflects the effect of the route distance, pedestrian congestion and route capacity on route choice. Numerical simulations show that the developed model can reproduce more route choice modes in a scenario compared with several existing models. Three groups of pedestrian evacuation experiments are conducted and the proposed model reproduces pedestrian route choices effectively.

Simulation and experimental results of evacuation of pedestrian flow in a classroom with two exits

A microscopic pedestrian model based on cellular automata is proposed and three groups of experiments on pedestrian evacuation from a double-exit room are conducted to investigate the route choice of pedestrians during evacuation. In the model, the route-choice behavior of pedestrians is affected by the route distance from the pedestrians to the exit, the capacity of the frontal route, and the repulsive force between pedestrians. Through the analysis of the video recordings, certain conclusions related to the route choice of pedestrians in these experiments are obtained. Model parameters are calibrated by the experimental data. Simulation results indicate that the model can reproduce the evacuation behavior of pedestrians in the room effectively and evacuation time is an increasing linear function of student number. The present study is helpful for devising evacuation strategies and schemes in buildings that are similar to the room.

Pedestrian Route Choice of Vertical Facilities in Subway Stations

Transit infrastructure is under pressure. As the trends toward greater urbanization and more sustainable mobility continue, that pressure is likely to increase. Finding ways to accommodate passengers more effi-ciently in existing transit facilities will become of ever greater importance, as will the tools and techniques to assess pedestrian movement. The suite of pedestrian analysis tools is reliant on first principles knowledge and research, where gaps exist. This paper describes research that has been completed to fill one such gap, namely rider choice at vertical circulation. First, field research was conducted on the Toronto Transit Commission subway system in Canada. Key explanatory variables were then tested for significance, including total height, density of flow, rate of opposing flow, and mobility of the individuals. On the basis of this analysis, a series of aggregate logistic regression models is proposed to explain pedestrian choice at colocated elements of vertical transport, specifically, stair-versus-escalator choice. Validation data indicate that the model generates values that provide a good fit with observed data.

Pedestrian environment and route choice: evidence from New York City and Hong Kong

To better understand the relationships between walking and the environment, this study tests the feasibility of route choice modeling based on pedestrians’ walking behavior. 321 pedestrians were interviewed in two urban neighborhoods (one in New York City and one in Hong Kong) to identify their actual walking routes. Then, we generated potential alternative routes using a modified labeling approach, measured the route environment through environment auditing and secondary data, estimated two multinomial probit models, and compared the results between the two neighborhoods and between the alternative choice models. It is found that route choice models based on revealed preferences could be a valid and complimentary method for assessing the pedestrian environment, and they could help to prioritize or justify investment related to pedestrian infrastructure. In contrast, contingent rating based on stated preference may overestimate the importance of more tangible attributes, such as distance and safety, because pedestrians were often unable to articulate intangible amenities, such as streetscapes and façade designs. However, route choice modeling seems to perform well only when the pedestrian system offers many route alternatives and pedestrians do have experience with multiple routes.

Activation of Shopping Pedestrian Agents—Empirical Estimation Results

This paper reports progress in the development of a multi-agent model which simulates pedestrian destination, route choice and scheduling behavior. In this model, the simulation of movement is embedded in a more comprehensive model of activity scheduling and choice behavior. We assume that pedestrians will be activated to visit a store if the store is suited to conduct any of the activities that are still scheduled, and that they are aware of this store. When pedestrians are aware of a store and the store is included in their consideration set, they will be activated and gradually move to a store. We assume that activation level is a stochastic variable. To estimate the activation function, survey data were collected. Visitors were interviewed about various aspects of their behavior such as familiarity with stores, motivation, and expectations about store aspects like assortment, sphere, quality and service. In this paper, we will discuss some of the findings of this data collection.

Route choice in pedestrian evacuation under conditions of good and zero visibility: Experimental and simulation results

The route choice of pedestrians during evacuation under conditions of both good and zero visibility is investigated using a group of experiments conducted in a classroom, and a microscopic pedestrian model with discrete space representation. Observation of the video recordings made during the experiments reveals several typical forms of behavior related to preference for destination, effect of capacity, interaction between pedestrians, following behavior and evacuation efficiency. Based on these forms of behavior, a microscopic pedestrian model with discrete space representation is developed. In the model, two algorithms are proposed to describe the movement of pedestrians to a destination under conditions of both good and zero visibility, respectively. Through numerical simulations, the ability of the model to reproduce the behavior observed in the experiments is verified. The study is helpful for devising evacuation schemes and in the design of internal layouts and exit arrangements in buildings that are similar to the classroom.

Two-level modeling framework for pedestrian route choice and walking behaviors

A microscopic two-level simulation modeling framework is proposed to analyze both decision-making processes at a crosswalk as well as physical interactions among pedestrians when they cross a street. The model at the higher level is based on Decision Field Theory to represent the psychological preferences of pedestrians with respect to different route choice options during their deliberation process after evaluating current surroundings. At the lower level, physical interactions among pedestrians and consequent congestions are represented using a Cellular Automata model, in which pedestrians are allowed biased random-walking without back step towards their destination that has been given by the higher level model. A typical crosswalk with split sidewalks in the Chicago Loop area is employed as a case study, which has been implemented in AnyLogic® software. Weekday pedestrian counts on the 15-min basis near the studied crosswalk have been collected and used to construct and validate the simulation models. Experiments have been conducted to investigate the impact of corresponding environment parameters, such as pedestrian types and green/red phase length, as well as social parameters such as leadership in group decision making, on the average pedestrian waiting time at the crosswalk. Initial results look quite interesting. An extension on coupling the proposed pedestrian model with a transportation simulation model is also briefly discussed.

Macroscopic Simulation of Pedestrian Flow through a Bottleneck

The paper deals with the macroscopic type modelling of the unidirectional pedestrian flow moving through a corridor with a bottleneck. The macroscopic model of pedestrian flow is the two-dimensional Lighthill-Whitham-Richards model described as a mass conservation equation. The characteristic feature of pedestrian route choice is that pedestrians in the corridor try to minimize the instantaneous travel time and improve the comfort level. The model equation is solved numerically by the discontinuous Galerkin method. Numerical results visualize the ability of the model to predict macroscopic characteristics of pedestrian flow through bottlenecks, i.e. the spatial distribution of the flow speed and density, as well as the formation and dissipation of traffic congestion in the corridor. They also validate that congestion is caused by the limited capacity of the bottleneck.