Levels of Service for Stairway in Hong Kong Underground Stations

Abstract

Safe pedestrian movement is essential in all cities, but particularly in such densely populated cities as Hong Kong. This paper aims to investigate the levels of service (LOS) for stairways in Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway (MTR) stations. Space requirements and several qualitative factors were gleaned from the observation of pedestrian preferences and behavior. A pilot study was carried out before the pedestrian preference interview survey was conducted in a Hong Kong MTR station. On the basis of the survey results, six LOS design standards for stairways in Hong Kong MTR stations are proposed. The survey results are also compared with previous research findings. Lighting/clear visibility on the Hong Kong MTR station stairways is found to be the major factor of concern, with interest in the environment being of low priority. The proposed LOS standards can be used as a basis for the design and development of pedestrian stairways both in Hong Kong MTR stations and in stations of other Asian cities with similar environments.