Assessment of Pedestrian Flow Characteristics on Selected Urban Walkways in Khulna Metropolitan Area, Bangladesh

Abstract

Walking is the most fundamental and proficient method of transportation for reaching a concise destination directly or after using other means at no cost. Hence, the significance of pedestrian movement is recognized worldwide and cannot be overlooked. The walking speed of pedestrians is noteworthy in an analysis of the function, layout, and provision of pedestrian facilities. Therefore, it is crucial to assess the pace of pedestrians using walkways as well as to review and authenticate the established link between their speeds, flow, densities, and area modules. Six strategically major locations in the Khulna metropolitan area, Bangladesh were selected. Data was gathered from these locations using a photographic approach and were analyzed using the statistical software IBM SPSS Statistics 32.0. The pedestrian walking statistics were examined for characteristics of flow under differing traffic circumstances and were illustrated through the development of mathematical and statistical relationships between speed-density, flow-density, speed-volume, and flow-area modules. According to the data, the typical pedestrian walking speed in Khulna City is 68.07 m/min on walkways. The walking speeds of children (69.68 m/min), adults (72.72 m/min), and elderly pedestrians (61.82 m/min) differ substantially from each other. The male pedestrian walking speed (71.23 m/min) is relatively faster than the female walking speed (61.8 m/min). Finally, when the space area per pedestrian is 1.70 m², the maximum flow of pedestrians on walkways is estimated to be 36 ped/min. This refers to the level of service (LOS) “C”. The findings are expected to be beneficial in the design and planning of pedestrian infrastructure to ensure the continuous flow of pedestrians.