Evaluation of Pedestrian Walking Speeds in Airport Terminals

Abstract

Despite the fact that significant investment has been made to install automated pedestrian movement systems within airport terminals, little is known about their effects on airport pedestrian flows. Specifically, while walking speeds of pedestrians have been studied in general, such analysis specific to airport passengers has been lacking. New insight into the walking speeds of airport pedestrians is provided. Corridors with and without moving walkways, the most common of airport automated pedestrian movement systems, are considered. Pedestrian movements in various airport terminal corridors are empirically observed, and observed walking speeds are compared with those of research performed in other transportation terminals. Furthermore, the effects on walking speeds of observable characteristics of pedestrians and the surrounding environment are investigated. The effect of moving walkways on pedestrian walking speeds is examined. A methodology for estimating the travel time of pedestrians on moving walkways under various traffic-flow conditions is derived. Application of the methodology using empirically collected data reveals interesting results about the movement of pedestrians through corridors with moving walkways. The analysis presented may be used to estimate expected travel times in airport corridors, and to examine the effects of potential infrastructure investments on such times. The goal of such an analysis is to improve the quality of service at the airport terminal, particularly for the pedestrians who traverse its corridors.