Pedestrians’ Perceptions of Motorized Traffic Variables in Relation to Appraisals of Urban Route Environments

Abstract

It is important to examine how motorized traffic variables affect pedestrians along a gradient from rural to inner urban settings. Relations between pedestrians’ perceptions of four traffic variables and appraisals of route environments as hindering–stimulating for walking as well as unsafe–safe for reasons of traffic, were therefore studied in the inner urban area of Stockholm, Sweden (n = 294). The pedestrians rated their perceptions and appraisals with the Active Commuting Route Environment Scale (ACRES). Correlation, multiple regression, and mediation analyses were used to study the relationships between the traffic variables and the outcome variables. Noise related negatively to both hindering–stimulating for walking, and to unsafety–safety for traffic reasons. Vehicle speed related negatively to unsafety–safety for traffic reasons. Furthermore, vehicle speed protruded as an important origin of the deterring effects of traffic among those who commute by foot. The study shows the value of both partial and simultaneous analyses of the effect of all four traffic variables in relation to outcome variables relevant for walking.