Design Implications of Walking Speed for Pedestrian Facilities

Abstract

Pedestrians walk differently on different types of facilities. Walking speeds are governed not only by the width of the facility but also by age and gender, land uses, temporal variations, cell phone usage, carrying baggage while walking, and movement in groups. This paper discusses development of adjustment factors for effective design of pedestrian facilities on the basis of pedestrian walking speeds under such influences on three types of facilities, e.g., sidewalks, wide-sidewalks, and precincts. Eighteen locations are selected in five cities in India, and data are analyzed considering the influencing parameters. Pedestrians walk faster than the population mean walking speed on sidewalks at