The walking speed of pedestrians on various pavement surface conditions during winter

Abstract

This study aims to quantify the relationship between pedestrians’ walking speeds and various surface conditions typically associated with a winter environment. The purpose is to enable assessments of the effects of different winter operation and maintenance regimes on pedestrians’ average travel times. The results show that there is a significant relationship between surface conditions and average walking speeds. When comparing a bare-pavement level of service (LOS) with the practically best obtainable winter-pavement LOS it is expected that the average travel times of an average pedestrian will be approximately 1 min/km longer on the latter than the former when walking on flat ground. On clean ice, compared to a bare pavement, we can expect the average travel times to be approximately 2 min/km longer. Data on average travel times should be implemented in cost-benefit analyses that evaluate the effects of different winter operation and maintenance regimes and measures.