A methodology to evaluate the quality of flow along a pedestrian route is described. A route is an identifiable pedestrian path (eg several city blocks long) which carries significant volume between major traffic generators. A route might contain a variety of discrete walkways, stairs, escalators, and queueing locations. Level of service along a route is determined by average travel speed, including delay at queueing locations. The procedure complements present LOS standards for walkways, stairs, and queueing areas, which are described. The procedure requires analysis of flow characteristics along links and queueing characteristics at nodes, using known pedestrian flow parameters and standard queueing analysis. It is shown that the quality of flow along the walkways of a route and the level of service within the route's queueing areas may differ markedly from the quality of flow along the route as a whole. This tool will allow traffic engineers to more accurately describe the effects on pedestrians resulting from changes in the transportation system. (A)
Abstract