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Pedestrians in a crosswalk near South Station in Boston.A woman in a wheelchair and her service dog traveling on a city sidewalk.Cars traveling around a rotary/roundabout.People sitting at an outdoor café on Newbury Street in Boston.A wheelchair user boarding a trolley in Portland, Oregon.A woman and her service dog at a crosswalk with detectable warnings in San Francisco.

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Modeling the Roadside Walking Envrionment: A Pedestrian Level of Service

Author(s):

Landi, Bruce W. et al.

Organization:

Transportation Research Board

Publisher/Date:

Transportation Research Board, 2001

Rating:

Limited Usefulness

Abstract:

Modeling the Roadside Walking Envrionment: A Pedestrian Level of Service is a study by the Florida DOT towards establishing a model methodology for establishing a pedestrian LOS measure along roadway segments between intersections. Intersections, crossings, and mid-block crossings were not studied. (The Florida DOT looked at mid-block crossings in Measuring Pedestrian Quality of Service for Midblock Street Crossings, reviewed herein.) The study concluded that five factors within the pedestrian right-of-way significantly influenced the pedestrians sense of safety and/or comfort: lateral separation elements between pedestrians and motor vehicle traffic, motor vehicle traffic volume, effect of motor vehicle speed, motor vehicle mix, and driveway access frequency and volume. These factors were identified as the primary factors from a long list of factors tested (not enumerated in the paper), and then given various weights in a formula that resulted in a numerical score which could be converted to an A through E LOS rating.

Planners and designers can use an LOS formula to predict the LOS of a proposed design that is based on empirically derived numbers. By changing the variables, particularly the 7 components of the “lateral separation elements” variable, the designers will be able to maximize the LOS.

Absent from this study are any human-centered values such as are found in the Assessing the Environmental Quality of Walking Study (reviewed herein). Whether these parameters were included as factors in this study and found to be not important is not revealed in the study.

Number of Pages:

27

Table of Contents?

No

Index?

No

Illustrations?

No

Material Type:

Study

Key Document?

No

Categories:

Guidelines, Research; Planning, Schematic Design; Rationale (functional needs, behavioral characteristics, safey, & health)

Keywords:

Pedestrian Facilities, Walkability, Performance Measures

Suggestions for Future Editions:

  • Scoring method to test variables on how they affect pedestrian LOS.
  • Performance based evaluations.

Record Last Updated:

July 2006

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