436 / 2019-02-27 18:23:25

WALKABILITY CONDITION FOR PEDESTRIANS’ ROUTE CHOICE: A STUDY BASED ON THE QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY OF CHOICE BEHAVIORS AND PREFERENCES TO TRANSIT STATION

route choice,rwalkability,logit model

全体主题 > Urban Planning & Modeling

The walkable city that people can easily and safely visit many facilities on foot, is one of the most important topics on current urban planning because motorization depending on cars causes many problems such as air pollution or unhealthy condition. Within this context, we need to reveal how to enhance the walking environment people feel like walking and choose walking rather than cars. In this study, we aim to reveal the factors of walkable environment by investigating the route choice behaviors and route choice preferences.
We conducted questionnaire survey inquiring the route choice from his/her home to the nearest station, and obtained the answers from 90 people. The questionnaire is comprised of two parts. Firstly, as a behavioral survey of route choice, we asked the subjects to draw the top three walking routes they choose from his/ her house to the nearest station using online map and asked the frequency of each route he/she choose. Besides, we asked the features of the routes which he/she drew and asked to evaluate each route. Secondly, as a preference survey of route choice, we conducted choice experiments. In the experiment, we asked the subjects to choose the most desirable walking route from the three options that includes the route he/she chooses most frequently and the two other routes with different attributes and its levels that were made by experimental design method.
Based on the data obtained by the questionnaire, we estimated the utility function of walking route by the logit model. The utility was modeled by the linear conjoint function of time length, width of streets, sidewalk, greenery and etc. We investigated the relationship of route choice and route attributes, by estimating the model parameters and the MWTP (Marginal Willingness to Pay). In addition, we analyzed the difference of MWTP among pedestrians and walking routes.
The estimated results by choice experiments indicate that pedestrians prefer shorter, wider, fewer pedestrians, richer in greenery, and more separated from roadway, and the influences on route choice are larger in this order. Also, the estimated results by walking behaviors indicate that pedestrians choose short, few corners, many shops, flat, wide, small traffic, rich in greenery, and uneven route, and the influences on route choices is larger in this order, too.
Furthermore, the comparison of the results suggests that pedestrians prefer more comfortable routes, but in actual walking behaviors, pedestrians tend to choose more convenient and safer routes. The differences of walking characteristics are confirmed with the difference of sex, walking region, and walking distance. In particular, the longer people walk, the more they are influenced by road attributes on route choices, and the more convenient routes they tend to choose.