Civil and Environmental Engineering 1 Who is the Most Pleased Pedestrian ? Liv Øvstedal SINTEF Civil and Environmental Engineering Roads and Transport Eirin Olaussen Ryeng NTNU The Norwegian University of Science and Technology Department of Transport Engineering

Civil and Environmental Engineering 2 PROMPT New means to PROMote Pedestrian Traffic in cities VTT, Finland Universita degli Studi Roma Tre, Italy IBV, Switzerland SINTEF, Norway Universite de Liege, Belgium Certu, France New means Dissemination Implementation Safety Comfort Attractiveness Accessibility Intermodality

Civil and Environmental Engineering on-street Interviews European Pedestrians aged interview sites in 16 cities City centres and suburban areas

Civil and Environmental Engineering 4 The European Pedestrian Regards Safety & security as most important Comfort & Air quality also as important Presence of other people as least important 88% appreciate walking (82% Switzerland -94% Finland) 17% went for a walk (11% France -21% Italy) 42% walked all the way (8% Switzerland -59% Italy)

Civil and Environmental Engineering 5 Comfort interviews        On a scale from 1 to 7: How comfortable do you think it is to walk here just now? Is the pavement surface plain and nice to walk on? Do you find today’s weather comfortable for walking? On a scale from 1 to 3: How important is this for you?    Very uncomfortable Very comfortable Not important Very important Dimensions thermal visual acoustic tactile air quality ease to move security

Civil and Environmental Engineering 6 European Pedestrians All pedestrians: 2 types, pedestrians seeking ease & social pleasure security Male pedestrians: 4 types, pedestrians seeking ease & comfort social pleasure security nice traffic & street environment

Civil and Environmental Engineering 7 Norwegian Pedestrian Typology 1 Pedestrian seeking air, space and light An elderly lady on an evening walk Important whether surroundings are open or narrow Give highest mean comfort score Found in Norway, Belgium, France, Italy and Switzerland.

Civil and Environmental Engineering 8 Norwegian Pedestrian Typology 2 Pedestrian seeking security A busy, middle-aged woman on a shopping trip She likes to walk Safety, noise, comfort and traffic conditions are important factors Found in Norway, Belgium and France.

Civil and Environmental Engineering 9 Norwegian Pedestrian Typology 3 Pedestrian seeking social pleasure An elderly person shopping in the downtown area during daytime Others, services, seating & street surface are regarded important Found in Norway, France and Italy.

Civil and Environmental Engineering 10 Norwegian Pedestrian Typology 4 Easy going Pedestrian A younger person The weather and to find the way easily are important Give lowest mean comfort score Found in Norway and Switzerland.

Civil and Environmental Engineering 11 Main factors influencing comfort feeling Individual Environment Comfort Assessing weather Safe & secure Appealing surroundings Traffic conditions Pavement conditions

Civil and Environmental Engineering 12 The Pleased Pedestrian enjoys walking is not in a hurry is going for a walk, walking a dog or bringing children in residential areas Minor differences between age groups gender countries Highest mean comfort score given in Parco in L’Aquila, Italy.

Civil and Environmental Engineering 13 Pedestrian feeling lower degree of comfort enjoys walking, but find it bothersome uses cane, rullator or wheelchair is not familiar with the area is in a hurry is on a trip to or from work or work-related trip Lowest mean comfort score given in Uptown Central Square, Eupen, Belgium. All factors affecting comfort were regarded as more important among elderly people

Civil and Environmental Engineering 14 Safe and secure most important ! highest correlation with comfort street lighting is important Gender: Men are less worried about walking when dark less confident in getting help when needed Pedestrian streets  streets with car traffic presence of others more important in pedestrian streets when dark, pedestrians feel safer in streets with car traffic

Civil and Environmental Engineering 15 Conclusion When planning for pedestrians we need to take into consideration the different pedestrian types by providing universal design parallel solutions and pedestrian routes But above all: A pleased pedestrian is a pedestrian feeling safe and secure !

Civil and Environmental Engineering 16 Dimensions describing the pedestrian environment Safety and security Feeling safe when walking at the site, confident in walking alone at the site both in daylight and darkness, not afraid of whom to meet Attractiveness Not too easy to get an overview, appealing surroundings, not unpleasant odours Traffic conditions Pleasant sound level, pleasant and exiting sounds, no bothersome car traffic, fresh air Social meeting places and pleasantness Easy to meet requirements for rest, food and toilet, enough places to sit down, protected from weather, smooth and nice pavement surface Move efficiently Minimal differences in altitude, not too windy, feel free to choose your own speed, not too much presence of vegetation, nature and water Physiological factors Not too high temperatures, not too hard/exhausting trip, not too dry air, not being blended of light Dressing Not too little clothing, not too thin shoes Space and light Not too narrow surroundings, not too dark Comfort Comfortable weather for walking, comfort feeling

Civil and Environmental Engineering 17 The importance of comfort factors Scale 1 – 3 (not important – very important) BelgiumFinlandFranceItalyNorwaySwitzerland Safety/security Air Places to sit Meet requirements Comfort Light Orientation Pavement surface Traffic Safety/security Air Safety/security Air Orientation Traffic Light Places to sit Meet requirements Comfort Pavement surface Safety/security Comfort Air Light Pavement surface Orientation Meet requirements Safety/security Comfort Air Safety/security Air Narrow/open Sounds Weather Other people Comfort Orientation Narrow/open Light Sound Pavement surface Meet requirements Weather Traffic Narrow/open Weather Sounds Other people Traffic Places to sit Weather Narrow/open Sounds Other people Orientation Traffic Weather Pavement surface Meet requirements Places to sit Sounds Light Traffic Light Orientation Comfort Weather Meet requirements Places to sit Sounds Pavement surface Places to sit Other people Narrow/open Other people Narrow/open Other people 2,50 - 2,92 2,00 - 2,49 1,76 – 1,99

Civil and Environmental Engineering 18 What is comfort? Comfort is a positive emotional reaction to external surroundings, both physiological, physical, social and psychological Comfort is a cognitive comparison between actual objects or incidents and some point of reference The feeling and degree of comfort is dependent of the surroundings, the situations and the individual The feeling and degree of comfort is affected by the present emotional state, the expectations based on previous experience and the object of comparison

Civil and Environmental Engineering 19 Children say (6 and 11 years) This makes a walk pleasant other people no bothersome traffic nice smooth and dry surface nice weather and the benefits of fresh air and exercise when walking. They prefer none or little car traffic, wide sidewalks and walkways, safe pedestrian crossings sufficient street lighting Some children say that: Not having to look out for cars make them comfortable when walking