Abstract:
User perception plays a critical role in pedestrian infrastructure usage. Indeed, the perceptional
influence varies across individuals, and it is imperative to consider their response heterogeneity in
modelling individual travel intentions. The present study develops a novel framework to understand
the pedestrian perception, and further identify their impact on future travel decisions. In
this framework, the individual pedestrian perception of an area is captured using a Level of
Service (LOS) index, and the overall set of LOS is categorized using a clustering methodology. The
future travel behavior is modelled using a single-step estimation that incorporates the effect of
both response heterogeneity and latent individual correlation. The proposed framework is utilized
in estimating the LOS categorization and the future willingness to walk in the city of Coimbatore,
India. The results found a significant response heterogeneity among respondents in Coimbatore,
and consequently emphasized the need for incorporating these taste variations in the travel
behavior models. An increase in LOS encouraged the respondents to walk, and further, walk
longer. Moreover, females were willing to pursue walking and/or walk more distance compared
with males. The positive ordinal interval for LOS ‘A’ to ‘C’ indicated an acceptability for this LOS
range among pedestrians compared with LOS ‘E’ to ‘F’ having a negative range. In the individual
assessment of LOS variables, almost all study areas were found requiring an improvement with
respect to the management of footpath vendors and footpath cleanliness.
