Development of Pedestrian Level of Service (PLOS) for Foot Over Bridges and Skywalks

The performance evaluation and expansion/redesigning of a pedestrian facility depend on the Pedestrian Level of Service (PLOS). Indo-HCM (2017) has recently developed LOS for foot over bridges (FOBs) considering five locations across different Indian cities. However, no study has been conducted over elevated walkways such as skywalks. Hence, the current study tries to develop PLOS standards for overpass facilities (FOBs and skywalks). To achieve the above objective, videography data was collected over seventeen FOB and seven skywalk locations across six different Indian cities. Subsequently, the collected data was processed in the lab to extract the most significant parameters (flow rate, speed, density, and area module) along with microscopic factors (age, gender, luggage condition, use of hand-held devices, and group size). The t-test confirmed that the data for both the facilities should be kept segregated. Microscopic analysis revealed that majority of the users were male and young adults (21–40 years). The walking speed over skywalks was 6.5 m/min greater than that over FOBs. To develop the LOS ranges, equal data binning technique was applied. Thereafter, actual ground conditions were considered to define the LOS ranges. Finally, two separate LOS standards were developed which could replicate the actual condition of the existing overpass facilities. The outcome of the study would be beneficial to planners and government authorities in developing standards for grade-separated facilities such as FOBs and skywalks. This would help in developing improved and comfortable facilities for pedestrians.