Pedestrians Crossing and Walking Speeds Analysis in Urban Areas under the Influence of Rain and Personality Characteristics

Abstract

Pedestrians’ behavior plays an important role in designing pedestrian facilities, especially in urban areas. One of these behavioral characteristics is their moving speed on sidewalks, pedestrian streets, crosswalks at signalized intersections, and midblock crosswalks. The moving speed is strongly affected by personality traits such as age, weight, gender as well as environmental and geometric conditions. In this regard, the moving speed of 14,490 pedestrians was measured in urban area pedestrian-related facilities, including signalized intersections, midblock crosswalks, sidewalks, and pedestrian street in Rasht city, Iran. Then, using the t-test, the effect of gender characteristics, rainfall, and umbrella carrying on pedestrian moving speed was investigated. The results showed that with a 95% confidence level, the moving speed difference between male and female pedestrians was statistically significant for all the age and weight groups, except for the age group of adolescents. Also, hijab cover affects the moving speed of pedestrians, so that females with the hijab cover meet the lowest moving speed values compared with those with ordinary dress type (i.e., without hijab). However, for elderly females, weight and age are more effective parameters than the dress type. In other words, as the age and weight increase, the moving speed of females would reduce.