Pedestrian Serviceability Index Including Pedestrians on Vehicle-Path

Abstract

Abstract:In Indian mixed traffic, a common scenario is when motorized vehicles, non-motorized vehicles including pedestrians use the same road space. In such conditions, if PLOS (pedestrian level of service) is measured using conventional methods, i.e., considering pedestrians walking on footpath only; leads to unrealistic results as most of the time pedestrians are seen walking on the path dedicated for vehicles, i.e., vehicle-path. The decision making behavior of pedestrians regarding walking on footpath or on vehicle-path is influenced by the quality of footpath as well as the characteristics of traffic on vehicle-path and the presence of vendors in the street. Hardly any research carried out on measuring pedestrians' serviceability on road considering pedestrians walking on vehicle-path. This study attempts to estimate the effect of various parameters such as intensity of vehicular traffic on the vehicle-path, presence of street vendors on the vehicle-path, etc., on pedestrians' decision of walking on footpath or on vehicle-path based on data collected at two locations in New Delhi, India, by using various statistical methods, especially binary logistic regression. One of the locations is an urban two-lane undivided road with footpath on both sides, a part of National Highway-2, another one is a four-lane divided road with footpath on both sides which is a typical arterial road. It has been found that vendors play a significant role in pedestrians' decision making regarding walking on footpath or on vehicle-path. Study proposes a model to measure pedestrians' serviceability on a road where pedestrians may be walking on the vehicle-path even in the presence of footpath.