Pedestrian network analysis considering crosswalk delay

Abstract

Despite increasing car usage in South Korea’s cities as a result of greater investment in automobile infrastructure, walking remains a vital mode of mobility for citizens who are unable to drive. Pedestrian accessibility can be influenced by factors such as path connectivity, path placement, and the overall diversity of walking activities that are possible within the city. With the development of Geographic Information System (GIS), it is possible to measure pedestrian accessibility through the calculation of walksheds though currently, most urban network analyses have not incorporated waiting times at signalized crosswalks, which effectively shrink walksheds. While overall land-use policy and resultant built environment features such as street pattern, building density, and building usage are noted to have an effect on a city’s walkability, previous studies have not fully examined the nuanced relationship between land-use designation and the change in pedestrian accessibility caused by crosswalks. This thesis focuses on two objectives: 1) To propose a pedestrian network analysis method which takes crosswalk delay time into consideration

2) To identify the relationship between urban land use characteristics and crosswalk delays and the resulting effect on pedestrian accessibility. We develop a computational model to include an estimate of signal delay times at crosswalks within the pedestrian network, and then conduct a spatial regression analysis between urban land use area characteristics and pedestrian walkshed areas. The results revealed that the inclusion of crosswalk signal times significantly reduced walkshed areas, and that the size of these reductions depended on urban land development patterns. Additionally, our results revealed that the land use characteristics themselves were an influencing factor in pedestrian accessibility. The major findings of our study imply that mixed land use with low-density residential development increases and preserves pedestrian accessibility, even when taking into account the walkshed reduction caused by crosswalk signal times. Our study can provide a computational measurement of pedestrian accessibility using the actual pedestrian roads and crosswalk delay, and additionally, can suggest the role of land use planning to improve pedestrian accessibility for urban sustainability and public health.