Application of New Pedestrian Level of Service Measures - sacog

Application of New Pedestrian Level of Service Measures
SACOG
2. Terminology
Before discussing the models SACOG selected to use in this analysis, it is important to define
some of the terms being used in this report.
Walking Infrastructure and Pedestrian Level of Service – “walking infrastructure” are physical
elements on a street segment which serve pedestrians, or which affect the feeling of safety,
security, convenience, or comfort of pedestrians using that street segment. Objective
measures which define and quantify these feelings of pedestrians using a roadway segment
are defined as “pedestrian level of service” measures. Level of service measures typically
generate a numeric score that translates into a letter grade (A‐F).
Pedestrian‐Oriented Land Use and Pedestrian Demand – Land uses, both the type and the mix
of uses in a given area, strongly affect the level of demand for walking as a means of travel by
residents of and visitors to an area. Some land uses are known to generate relatively high
levels of walking: schools, civic institutions like museums and libraries, hospitals, and some
shopping districts or malls. Other land uses generate low levels of pedestrian demand:
agricultural uses, industrial uses, etc. Mixing of complementary uses (e.g. housing near to jobs
centers, shopping near residential areas, etc.) in close proximity can increase the possibility of
and demand for walking as a mode of travel. In some areas, where parking is provided offsite,
or where transit stations are located, high levels of walking are generated by residents,
workers or visitors getting to or from their primary mode of travel (e.g. walking from a public
parking lot to a workplace or a restaurant, or from home to a transit station).
Pedestrian Accessibility – Accessibility refers to the ability to access land uses via a specified
mode of travel, accounting for the ease or difficulty of doing so by measures like travel time.
Measures of accessibility must take account simultaneously of the opportunities for engaging
in daily activities (work, school, shopping, personal business, etc.), and the ability to access
these opportunities using the infrastructure and services provided for travel. Pedestrian
accessibility must take account of the pedestrian infrastructure available for walking, as well
as the likelihood of needing to walk generated by the land uses served by the pedestrian
infrastructure. This complex relationship between infrastructure and land use is illustrated in
Exhibit A.
This report focuses on evaluation of the infrastructure for walking and measures of
pedestrian LOS. In the literature review in the next section, staff reviewed many different
pedestrian measures, including pedestrian accessibility and walkability models. However, the
two models we ultimately chose to use for this report are both LOS models. The two
methods were used not to “pick a winner” in terms of evaluation of pedestrian LOS, but to
evaluate which factors and variables were important to both methods, and identify likely
resources to undertake an effort to assemble regional data to support evaluation of
pedestrian LOS in the future.
Issue Date: June 2011
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