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Pedestrian Flow Characteristics Under Heterogeneous Traffic Conditions

Received: 3 July 2017    Accepted: 16 August 2017    Published: 28 August 2017
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Abstract

Pedestrians are an important element of the traffic stream especially in a country like Bangladesh. Dhaka is the biggest metropolitan city of Bangladesh and thus people from different parts of the country are relocating to Dhaka. This has rendered Dhaka one of the most densely populated cities in the World. With the resource restraint and crumbling infrastructure, the transportation facilities can’t cope up with the ever growing population. A major proportion of the population are the urban slum dwellers and low income people who are left with the only option of walking. Pedestrians are the most vulnerable roadway users. Ironically they are not given due consideration in the design of roadway features. However, the alarming growths of pedestrians, inadequate sidewalks and their haphazard movement have forced them to share the carriageway with the vehicles. This has led to a shocking number of accidents in the past as well as contributed to further increasing the congestion on the carriageway. This study has attempted to present flow characteristics of pedestrians on exclusive sidewalks in three important urban areas of Dhaka namely Farmgate, Shahbag and Shukrabad. Pedestrian flow, density and walking speed are considered as the three primary parameters on which the flow characteristics depend. These are essential tools for determining the sidewalk capacity which will help in sidewalk design improvements required. The relationships between the three parameters were expressed in terms of three equations which makes it easy to comprehend the situations in these three locations. The level of service (LOS) has been determined at each location also. On the basis of flow rate, Farmgate has a LOS C and Shukrabad and Shahbag both have a LOS B. The average free-flow speed from three locations is about 1.18 m/s. This might help create an idea about the rate at which pedestrians might clear out from facilities.

Published in American Journal of Civil Engineering (Volume 5, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajce.20170505.13
Page(s) 282-292
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Speed, Flow, Density, Pedestrian Trap, Level of Service

References
[1] Al-Masaeid, H. R., Al-Suleiman, T. I. and Nelson, D. C (1993) “Pedestrian Speed Flow Relationship for Central Business Areas in Developing Countries”, Transportation Research Record 1396, National Research Council, Washington, 69-74.
[2] BBS (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics).: Bangladesh Population Sensus-2001: PlanningDivision, Ministry of Planning, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, 2007.
[3] WHO Report, (2001) “Statistical annex Geneva world health organization, 2001”, http://www.who.int/whr/2001/annex/en/index.html.
[4] Fruin, John J (1971) “Pedestrian planning and design”, Elevator World Inc., Ala.
[5] Fruin, J. J (1971a): Pedestrian and Planning Design, Metropolitan Association of Urban Designers and Environmental Planners Inc., New York.
[6] Fruin, JJ., (1970) “Designing for pedestrians: A level of service concept” Ph.D. Thesis, Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, pp: 151.
[7] Gerilla, G. P. (1995) “Proposed Level of Service Standards for Walkways in Metro Manila,” Journal of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, 1(3), Autumn 1995.
[8] Hoogendoorn, S. P, and Daamen, W., (2005a) “Pedestrian Behavior at Bottlenecks,” Transportation Science, Informs, 39(2), 147-159.
[9] Hoque M. M. & Mahmud S. M. S. (2010), “Promoting vulnerable road users’ safety towards safe and equitable communities in Bangladesh”, InjPrev 2010; 16: A152 doi: 10.1136/ip.2010. 029215.545. British Medical Journal (BMJ Journals).
[10] Hughes, R. L. (2002) “A Continuum Theory for the Flow of Pedestrians.” Transportation Research Part-B, 36(6), 507–535.
[11] Lam, W. H. K. and Cheung, C., (2000) “Pedestrian Speed/Flow Relationships for Walking Facilities in Hong Kong, Journal of Transportation Engineering, ASCE, 126 (4), 343–349.
[12] Lam, W. H. K., Morrall, J. F., and Ho, H., (1995), “Pedestrian Flow Characteristics in Hong Kong’, Transportation Research Record 1487, TRB, National Research Council, 56-62.
[13] Laxman, K. Rastogi, R., and Chandra, S. (2010) “PedestrianFlow Characteristics in Mixed Traffic Conditions." J. Urban Plann. Dev., 10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9488(2010)136: 1(23), 23-33. 72.
[14] Navin, F. P. D., and Wheeler R. J. (1969), “Pedestrian flow characteristics”, Traffic Engineering and Control, 39(9), 30-36.
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  • APA Style

    A. M. Tahsin Emtenan, Showkat Ibne Shahid. (2017). Pedestrian Flow Characteristics Under Heterogeneous Traffic Conditions. American Journal of Civil Engineering, 5(5), 282-292. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajce.20170505.13

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    ACS Style

    A. M. Tahsin Emtenan; Showkat Ibne Shahid. Pedestrian Flow Characteristics Under Heterogeneous Traffic Conditions. Am. J. Civ. Eng. 2017, 5(5), 282-292. doi: 10.11648/j.ajce.20170505.13

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    AMA Style

    A. M. Tahsin Emtenan, Showkat Ibne Shahid. Pedestrian Flow Characteristics Under Heterogeneous Traffic Conditions. Am J Civ Eng. 2017;5(5):282-292. doi: 10.11648/j.ajce.20170505.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajce.20170505.13,
      author = {A. M. Tahsin Emtenan and Showkat Ibne Shahid},
      title = {Pedestrian Flow Characteristics Under Heterogeneous Traffic Conditions},
      journal = {American Journal of Civil Engineering},
      volume = {5},
      number = {5},
      pages = {282-292},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajce.20170505.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajce.20170505.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajce.20170505.13},
      abstract = {Pedestrians are an important element of the traffic stream especially in a country like Bangladesh. Dhaka is the biggest metropolitan city of Bangladesh and thus people from different parts of the country are relocating to Dhaka. This has rendered Dhaka one of the most densely populated cities in the World. With the resource restraint and crumbling infrastructure, the transportation facilities can’t cope up with the ever growing population. A major proportion of the population are the urban slum dwellers and low income people who are left with the only option of walking. Pedestrians are the most vulnerable roadway users. Ironically they are not given due consideration in the design of roadway features. However, the alarming growths of pedestrians, inadequate sidewalks and their haphazard movement have forced them to share the carriageway with the vehicles. This has led to a shocking number of accidents in the past as well as contributed to further increasing the congestion on the carriageway. This study has attempted to present flow characteristics of pedestrians on exclusive sidewalks in three important urban areas of Dhaka namely Farmgate, Shahbag and Shukrabad. Pedestrian flow, density and walking speed are considered as the three primary parameters on which the flow characteristics depend. These are essential tools for determining the sidewalk capacity which will help in sidewalk design improvements required. The relationships between the three parameters were expressed in terms of three equations which makes it easy to comprehend the situations in these three locations. The level of service (LOS) has been determined at each location also. On the basis of flow rate, Farmgate has a LOS C and Shukrabad and Shahbag both have a LOS B. The average free-flow speed from three locations is about 1.18 m/s. This might help create an idea about the rate at which pedestrians might clear out from facilities.},
     year = {2017}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
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    AU  - A. M. Tahsin Emtenan
    AU  - Showkat Ibne Shahid
    Y1  - 2017/08/28
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajce.20170505.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajce.20170505.13
    T2  - American Journal of Civil Engineering
    JF  - American Journal of Civil Engineering
    JO  - American Journal of Civil Engineering
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    EP  - 292
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-8737
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajce.20170505.13
    AB  - Pedestrians are an important element of the traffic stream especially in a country like Bangladesh. Dhaka is the biggest metropolitan city of Bangladesh and thus people from different parts of the country are relocating to Dhaka. This has rendered Dhaka one of the most densely populated cities in the World. With the resource restraint and crumbling infrastructure, the transportation facilities can’t cope up with the ever growing population. A major proportion of the population are the urban slum dwellers and low income people who are left with the only option of walking. Pedestrians are the most vulnerable roadway users. Ironically they are not given due consideration in the design of roadway features. However, the alarming growths of pedestrians, inadequate sidewalks and their haphazard movement have forced them to share the carriageway with the vehicles. This has led to a shocking number of accidents in the past as well as contributed to further increasing the congestion on the carriageway. This study has attempted to present flow characteristics of pedestrians on exclusive sidewalks in three important urban areas of Dhaka namely Farmgate, Shahbag and Shukrabad. Pedestrian flow, density and walking speed are considered as the three primary parameters on which the flow characteristics depend. These are essential tools for determining the sidewalk capacity which will help in sidewalk design improvements required. The relationships between the three parameters were expressed in terms of three equations which makes it easy to comprehend the situations in these three locations. The level of service (LOS) has been determined at each location also. On the basis of flow rate, Farmgate has a LOS C and Shukrabad and Shahbag both have a LOS B. The average free-flow speed from three locations is about 1.18 m/s. This might help create an idea about the rate at which pedestrians might clear out from facilities.
    VL  - 5
    IS  - 5
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Civil Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh

  • Department of Civil Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh

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