International Journal of Transportation Engineering

International Journal of Transportation Engineering

Evaluation of Factors Affecting Pedestrian Walking Speed in Pedestrianized Areas (Case Study: Tehran City)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Amirarfa Shirani 1
Gholam Reza Shiran 2
Ali Naderan 3
1 Ms.c, Department of Civil Engineering, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2 Department of Civil Engineering and Transportation, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
3 Department of Civil Engineering, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
10.22119/ijte.2024.469042.1670
Abstract
The behavior and reaction of pedestrians play a special role in the development and management of pedestrian facilities, especially in the central business district of cities. Pedestrianized areas increase the welfare and safety of pedestrians and help improve economic viability and environmental criteria. Through a comprehensive review of relevant studies, it is shown that no study has been conducted so far to evaluate the effect of different parameters such as age, gender, weight, rainfall, and umbrella carrying on the walking speed on crowded and walkable streets in Tehran, Iran. Additionally, to the best of our knowledge, no study has been conducted to determine the average speed of pedestrians under normal and rainy conditions. Therefore, the present study applies the walking speed of 5805 pedestrians through the crowded pedestrianized areas of Tehran in the year 2019 to compare the walking speed of the pedestrians between normal and rainy conditions. Further, factors such as gender, weight, and rainfall on the walking speed of pedestrians are analyzed using the t-test. According to the obtained results, it can be found that based on a 95% confidence level, the difference in speed between men and women is statistically significant for all age and weight groups except teenagers and elderly pedestrians, and males walk faster than females in all conditions. Rainfall has shown to have an effect on the walking speed of male pedestrians, and females tend to walk slower than males. The values of 0.79 and 0.99 m/s for the 15th percentile speed and the mean speed of 1.09 and 1.12 through the walkable facilities are recommended for normal and rainy weather, respectively. Based on increasing the 15th percentile and the mean speed of pedestrians under rainy conditions, it is suggested that implementing safety measures such as weather-appropriate signage to control walking speed in order to reduce potential hazards and accidents in pedestrianized areas. The results of the present study can also lead to safer and more user-centric urban spaces that prioritize pedestrian comfort, convenience, and inclusivity under various weather conditions.
Keywords
Walkable street
pedestrian
walking speed
rain condition
age
-Amato, J. (2004). On foot: A history of walking. NYU Press.
 
-Banerjee, A., Das, S., & Maurya, A. K. (2024). Behavioural characteristics influencing walking speed of pedestrians over elevated facilities: A case study of India. Transport policy, 147, 169-182.
 
-Banerjee, A., Maurya, A. K., & Lämmel, G. (2018). A review of pedestrian flow characteristics and level of service over different pedestrian facilities. Collective Dynamics, 3, 1-52.
 
-Bargegol, I., Gilani, V. N. M., & Farghedayn, S. (2014). Analysis of the effect of vehicles conflict on pedestrian's crossing speed in signalized and un-signalized intersection. Advances in Environmental Biology, 502-510.
 
-Bargegol, I., Najafi Moghaddam Gilani, V., Hosseinian, S. M., & Habibzadeh, M. (2022). Pedestrians crossing and walking speeds analysis in urban areas under the influence of rain and personality characteristics. Mathematical Problems in Engineering, 2022(1), 7768160.
 
-Bargegol, I., Taghizadeh, N., & Gilani, V. N. M. (2015). Evaluation of pedestrians speed with investigation of un-marked crossing. Comput Sci, 12, 150-5.
 
-Behbahani, H., Gilani, V. N. M., Samet, M. J., & Salehfard, R. (2017, October). Analysis of crossing speed of the pedestrians in marked and unmarked crosswalks in the signalized and un-signalized intersections (case study: Rasht city). In IOP conference series: materials science and engineering (Vol. 245, No. 4, p. 042014). IOP Publishing.
-Coffin, A., & Morrall, J. (1995). Walking speeds of ederly pedestrians at crosswalks. Transportation Research Record, 1487, 63.
 
-Erturan, A., & Aksel, B. (2022). Multidimensional analyses of walkability in city centres by using mobile methodologies: Beşiktaş and Delft experiences. Urban Design International, 28(1), 52.
 
-Fonseca, F., Papageorgiou, G., Conticelli, E., Jabbari, M., Ribeiro, P. J., Tondelli, S., & Ramos, R. (2024). Evaluating Attitudes and Preferences towards Walking in Two European Cities. Future Transportation, 4(2), 475-490.
 
-Franěk, M., & Režný, L. (2021). Environmental features influence walking speed: The effect of urban greenery. Land, 10(5), 459.
 
-Galiza, R., & Ferreira, L. (2013). A methodology for determining equivalent factors in heterogeneous pedestrian flows. Computers, environment and urban systems, 39, 162-171.
 
-Gates, T. J., Noyce, D. A., Bill, A. R., Van Ee, N., & Gates, T. J. (2006, January). Recommended walking speeds for pedestrian clearance timing based on pedestrian characteristics. In Proceeding of TRB 2006 Annual Meeting.
 
-Ghani, F., Rachele, J. N., Washington, S., & Turrell, G. (2016). Gender and age differences in walking for transport and recreation: Are the relationships the same in all neighborhoods?. Preventive medicine reports, 4, 75-80.
 
-Giannoulaki, M., & Christoforou, Z. (2024). Pedestrian Walking Speed Analysis: A Systematic Review. Sustainability, 16(11), 4813.
 
-Han, X., Li, Z., Cao, Y., Zhou, Z., & Zhao, H. (2024). Correlation of unobserved factors of old town street walkability using SEM: Case study of old southern area, Nanjing. Heliyon, 10(17).
 
-Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) (2016) Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washingon D.C.
 
-Hillnhütter, H. (2016). Pedestrian access to public transport" PhD Thesis UiS no. 314, Faculty of Science and Technology Department of Industrial Economics, Risk Management, and Planning, University of Stavanger, Norway.
 
-Iran Statistical Center (ISC), (2019). Official Results of Census of Populations and Houses of Iran.
 
-Jabbari, M., Fonseca, F., & Ramos, R. (2021). Accessibility and connectivity criteria for assessing walkability: an application in Qazvin, Iran. Sustainability, 13(7), 3648.
 
-Jiao, D., & Fei, T. (2023). Pedestrian walking speed monitoring at street scale by an in-flight drone. PeerJ Computer Science, 9, e1226.
 
-Kamis, A. S., & Ahmad Fuad, A. S. (2022). A comparison study between advance transfer technique and advance transfer mathematical model using bulk carrier ship: cross-track distance validation by percentage change and mann whitney u test. TransNav: International Journal on Marine Navigation and Safety of Sea Transportation, 16(3).
 
-Kim, T. K. (2015). T test as a parametric statistic. Korean journal of anesthesiology, 68(6), 540-546.
 
-Koloushani, M., Ozguven, E. E., Fatemi, A., & Tabibi, M. (2020). Mobile mapping system-based methodology to perform automated road safety audits to improve horizontal curve safety on rural roadways. Computational Research Progress in Applied Science & Engineering (CRPASE), 6(4), 263-275.
-Li, L., Gao, T., Wang, Y., & Jin, Y. (2023). Evaluation of public transportation station area accessibility based on walking perception. International journal of transportation science and technology, 12(2), 640-651.
 
-Liang, S., Leng, H., Yuan, Q., Wang, B., & Yuan, C. (2020). How does weather and climate affect pedestrian walking speed during cool and cold seasons in severely cold areas?. Building and environment, 175, 106811.
 
 
-McKnight, P. E., & Najab, J. (2010). Mann‐Whitney U Test. The Corsini encyclopedia of psychology, 1-1.
 
-Miao, S., Li, T., Zheng, L., Tan, B., & Ma, Q. (2023). Analysis of Factors Affecting Walking Speed Based on Natural Field Data: Considering the Attributes of Travelers and the Travel Environment. Sustainability, 15(14), 11433.
 
-Pinna, F., & Murrau, R. (2018). Age factor and pedestrian speed on sidewalks. Sustainability, 10(11), 4084.
 
-Rahman, M. R. (2022). Network-Wide Pedestrian and Bicycle Crash Analysis with Statistical and Machine Learning Models in Utah (Master's thesis, Utah State University).
 
-Rasoulzadeh Sheikh, S., Haghighi, F., & Azmoodeh, M. (2023). Analysis of Pedestrian Access on Transit-Oriented Development (Case Study: District 6 of Tehran). International Journal of Transportation Engineering, 11(1), 1267-1283.
 
-Rastogi, R., & Chandra, S. (2013). Pedestrian flow characteristics for different pedestrian facilities and situations.
 
-Saeedi, A., & Rassafi, A. A. (2019). A study of pedestrian movement on crosswalks based on chaos theory. International Journal of Transportation Engineering, 6(4), 317-329.
 
-Samet, M. J. (2016). Development of accident modification factors in two-lane highways. Computational Research Progress in Applied Science & Engineering (CRPASE), 2(4).
 
-Sarsam, S. I., & Abdulameer, M. W. (2014). Evaluation of pedestrians walking speeds in Baghdad city. Journal of Engineering, 20(09), 1-9.
 
-Shiran, G., Shirani, A., Naderan, A., & Hadadi, F. (2022). Evaluation and determination of factors affecting the location of urban pedestrian streets (Case study: Qom city). Quarterly Journal of Transportation Engineering, 13(4), 1945-1965.
 
-Shirmohammadi, H., & Hadadi, F. (2019). Optimizing total delay and average queue length based on fuzzy logic controller in urban intersections. International Journal of Supply and Operations Management, 6(2), 142-158.
 
-Shirmohammadi, H., & Hadadi, F. (2020). Controlling and Optimizing Vehicular Emissions and Fuel Consumption in Urban Intersections by Fuzzy Intelligent Controller. Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 50(100), 21-35.
 
-Taghipour, A., Baghi, B. H., & Dehrashid, P. A. (2023). Evaluation of the influencing factors on the quality of pedestrian zones from the perspective of citizens (Case study: Two phases of Pedestrian Zone in Rasht). Geography and Planning, 27(83), 27-38.
 
-Wolnowska, A. E., & Kasyk, L. (2022). Transport preferences of city residents in the context of urban mobility and sustainable development. Energies, 15(15), 5692.
International Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 12, Issue 2 - Serial Number 46
Autumn 2024
Pages 1821-1834