Date of Award:

5-2016

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Committee Chair(s)

Anthony Chen

Committee

Anthony Chen

Committee

Ziqi Song

Committee

Gilberto E. Urroz

Committee

Keith M. Christensen

Committee

Yong Seog Kim

Abstract

Walking facilities like walkways and stairs are important infrastructures which must be designed to effectively accommodate the behavior of pedestrians. Heterogeneity in pedestrian composition is one important factor generally overlooked in walking facility design guidelines and handbooks. While individuals with disabilities constitute a significant portion of the population in the United States, they are often overlooked due to lack of available data. To remedy this, large scale controlled walking experiments were performed at Utah State University (USU) to study the walking behavior of various types of individuals with disabilities (including vision and mobility impairments) in different walking environments. These environments included passageways with different types of angles (right and oblique) and bottlenecks. 202 participants (180 without disabilities and 42 with disabilities) were recruited for the circuit experiments and 100 participants (80 without disabilities and 20 with disabilities) were recruited for the stair experiments. Automated video identification, tracking technology, and survey methods were used to record reveled and stated data. The objective of this dissertation is to use the collected data to:

(1) Analyze the walking speeds of different individuals with various disability types in a variety of walking environments,

(2) Explore behavioral interactions of heterogeneous pedestrian streams in the queuing area behind a doorway

(3) Develop a framework to analyze the capacity of a queuing area involving individuals with disabilities,

(4) Propose a framework to describe pedestrian group perceptions on walkway quality of service, and

(5) Assess proposed Level of Service (LOS) thresholds provided in HCM guidelines. The findings will contribute to the improved design of built environments by measuring and disseminating empirical data concerning the pedestrian behavior of individuals with mobility related conditions and disabilities. By improving society's understanding of the behavior of vulnerable populations, this research can help public policy professionals develop sound public policy concerning the built environment for the elderly and individuals with mobility related conditions and disabilities. Public policy professionals can make better informed decisions based on more effective, evidence-based planning and environmental design methods.

Checksum

d729150f22583b3c18ed26df373853ba

Download

Share

COinS

Copyright for this work is retained by the student. If you have any questions regarding the inclusion of this work in the Digital Commons, please email us at .