PEDESTRIAN WALKING SPEED VARIATION WITH GRADIENT OF ROADUNDER MIXED TRAFFIC FLOW CONDITIONS

Abstract

Walking is an important mode of transport. The movement of pedestrians varies with gradient at the locations. While plain topography does not pose difficulty in walking, hilly locations require additional effort in ascending and cautious in descending for pedestrians during walking. The present research work aims to analyze the effect of gradient on pedestrian walking behavior with respect to age, gender and other influencing factors. The pedestrian’s behaviour is observed by conducting a videographic survey during the peak hours. Based on the survey the pedestrian flow characteristics were extracted such as gender, age, baggage, movement and usage of phone. The analysis of data is done by considering various combinations, the relation between walking speed and gradient models are developed by using regression analysis. From the results, it is concluded that the gradient affects the walking speed of pedestrians. Their uphill walking speeds are lesser than the downhill speeds at all study locations for every pedestrian category. In uphill direction, the walking speeds of pedestrians without using phone are 5.40% higher than the pedestrians using phone. In downhill direction, the walking speeds of pedestrians without using phone are 4.38% higher than the pedestrians using phone. From the statistical test, it observed that gradient and sidewalk width significantly affect the walking speed of pedestrians.