Development of Level of Service Criteria for Pedestrianized Urban Street: A Quantitative and Qualitative Approach

Abstract

Pedestrianization is a vital sustainable transportation strategy aimed at mitigating the negative impacts of increased motorized traffic in urban centers. Assessing the level of service of pedestrianized streets is essential for ensuring their success by providing high quality service to users. While several methods to determine the pedestrian level of service (PLOS) for sidewalks and crosswalks are established for the Indian context, pedestrianized streets require distinct evaluation due to their unique characteristics such as the absence of vehicular traffic, recreational opportunities, and streetscape providing avenues for social interaction and community activities. This study develops PLOS for quantitative and qualitative assessment of pedestrianized urban streets using video and perception data collected during a four-month pedestrianization project in Bengaluru, India (November 2020 to February 2021). First, a macroscopic pedestrian flow model is developed to understand the relationship between fundamental pedestrian flow parameters: speed, density, flow, and space. Six PLOS categories for speed, flow, and space are defined using the k-means clustering technique. Second, the ordered logit model is developed to understand the relationship between perceived satisfaction with the overall service quality of pedestrianized streets and latent variables such as comfort, maintenance, physical and micro-environment, basic facilities, connectivity, safety, and security. Thresholds for the six PLOS evaluation criteria for qualitative assessment are established using the bell curve performance measure technique. Results from the quantitative assessment of PLOS of the pedestrianized street indicate a decline in the level of service from Category A in November 2020 to Category F by February 2021 concerning speed, flow, and space. Conversely, in the qualitative assessment, the estimated PLOS score remained at Category A, indicating excellent performance. The developed quantitative and qualitative PLOS measures offer valuable insights for policymakers and stakeholders to evaluate and enhance pedestrianized urban streets. This study leverages pedestrian flow characteristics and perceived satisfaction to evaluate the performance of pedestrianized urban streets. The findings provide practitioners with both quantitative and qualitative PLOS metrics for assessing the effectiveness of pedestrianized streets. The established PLOS categories serve as comprehensive guidelines, enabling a detailed and balanced evaluation of pedestrianized streets performance. These insights and recommendations are valuable for policymakers aiming to enhance pedestrian experiences in pedestrianized streets, ensuring both efficient movement and high user satisfaction.