Level of service of pedestrian facilities: Modelling human comfort perception in the evaluation of pedestrian behaviour patterns

Abstract The paper presents a new methodology for evaluating the quality of operation of pedestrian facilities: the methodology is based on the individual level of comfort perceived by each pedestrian that moves in the area. At each time instant, each pedestrian perceives a comfort level which is a function of the space they feel currently available and of his required space. The required space depends on the subject’s walking direction as well as on physical and psychological factors. The available space depends on the current positions of pedestrians. The proposed methodology quantifies the current discomfort due to pedestrian interactions as a continuous function of the interpersonal distances. The proposed methodology has been applied to empirical data. The experimental data are presented, discussed and compared with widely accepted level of service assessment methods.