An exploratory analysis on how built environment impacts the pedestrian route choice: a case study using Expo GPS data
Xiaoxia (Shia) Shi
Abstract:
One prior belief is that walking trips have different route choice mechanisms than other transportation modes. In many occasions, walkers may care more about greenery, safety and joyfulness along their route, rather than the travel time or distance. However, most of the popular walking route recommendation systems, such as Google Maps, are built upon the assumption of shortest distance or shortest travel time. We wonder if other routes are more preferable to pedestrians with some extra time cost. With this question in mind, the GPS data collected for Expo project is analyzed with the aim of gaining a better understanding of pedestrian route choice. We are particularly interested in how the built environment, such as greenery, neighborhood stores and street traffic volume, would impact the pedestrian path choice. In brief, the shortest paths for all walking trips in the GPS data set are modeled and flagged as chosen or not chosen. Then, statistical methods are applied to examine if there is significant difference between the shortest paths that are chosen and those that are not chosen by walkers. Some preliminary analysis results will be presented and discussed as well.