Perceptions of pedestrians for interventions at the urban environment

Περίληψη

In the framework of the present paper, two pedestrian streets which are located in the central area of the Municipality of Kalamaria, Greece, were selected and their LOS is calculated through the use of HCM 2010. The data collected for the calculation of LOS include the geometric characteristics of the pedestrian streets, pedestrian flows and pedestrian speed. The survey period was November - December 2013. The objective of the research is to identify (if any) possible observed differences between the two pedestrians streets, as they are perceived by the users (pedestrians). For that purpose, 300 questionnaires were collected, equally distributed between the two pedestrian streets during the period October-November 2013. The perceived level of service was estimated by the users through the selection amongst six (6) different cards; each card represented difference walking conditions in terms of pedestrian flow, available free surface per pedestrian, obstacles and conflicts etc. The paper presents a descriptive and inferential statistical analysis in order to identify possible differences on the perceptions of the pedestrians between the two pedestrian streets. Depending on the measurement scale of the variables, various statistical bi-variable tests have been performed. The inferential analysis, identify differences on the perceptions of the pedestrians between the two pedestrian streets for most of the issues examined (e.g. the attractiveness of the existing land uses, safety and the security feelings, cycling attractiveness etc.). Finally, the analysis showed that the responder are perceiving the provided level of service in a different manner compare to the level of service as it is calculated by the Highway Capacity Manual 2010.