Pedestrian Comfort Guidance for London

A number of factors should be taken into account when conducting a pedestrian activity survey for
a crossing:
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Pedestrian Crossings
Performing the counts: The counts should be taken using the “stationary gate method”, described
on page 34, whereby all pedestrians who cross an imaginary line parallel to the crossing arm are
counted. It is advisable to use tally counters to record this information, particularly on busy sites.
Weather conditions and unusual activity should be recorded throughout the survey hours. E.g.
short spell of rain at 16:00, large tourist group passed at 13:30 etc.
The best location to stand to record activity on the crossing will depend on the layout of the
area, however beside the signal post is good for recording counts, as long as it is safe to do so.
Samples should begin on the green man signal time and end when the next green man time
begins. They should distinguish between people crossing on the green man and those crossing
when the signal is red for pedestrians. It is not always possible to immediately record the next
sample. If this is the case, the observer should wait until the next green man phase.
Informal crossing: If there are a high number of people crossing adjacent to the crossing but not
using the facility these should be included in the total demand for crossing the road.
This can be counted either by defining a zone in which all informal crossings will be recorded or
by using the stationary gate method.
Queues on the Crossing Island (if present): If possible, it is useful to note how many people are
queuing on the island to cross the road. The aim is to understand, for each direction, what the
maximum number of people waiting are. This allows the results of the assessment to be checked
against what is happening in practice. In particularly busy areas you may want to record the size
and composition of the queues on the footway, although this is integrated into the minimum
width recommendations on page 25.
Sample length and hours of survey: This will depend on the purpose of the study. Suggested
sample periods and survey hours suitable for Pedestrian Comfort Level assessments, are found
on page 37 to page 41, described by area type.
To calculate Pedestrians Per Hour
3,600 ÷ (length of sample in seconds X no of samples)
36
X
total number of people recorded
crossing the road in all samples