Analysis of pedestrian behavior and planning guidelines with mixed traffic for narrow urban streets

The aim of this study was to examine pedestrian behavior and suggest guidelines for analyzing pedestrian traffic flow in narrow urban streets with mixed traffic. For the analysis of pedestrian behavior, 15 streets around an urban railway station in Tokyo were surveyed, and several parameters were obtained, such as pedestrian paths around stationary obstacles; share of pedestrians using the sidewalk as a factor of street environment and traffic conditions; and influence distance of and for bicycles and cars. With respect to planning guidelines, the authors have simultaneously defined a new index of time-space occupancy (Q(r-si)) of traffic modes in mixed-traffic conditions that considers the occupancy of time and space in the time-space diagram. Also, a new concept for level-of-service standards has been suggested for mixed-traffic conditions that employs the concept of time-space occupancy of each mode and hindrance/conflict between modes.