Studying the Pedestrian Level-of-Service (PLoS)

Abstract

Crowding is often analyzed using crowd dynamics variables. Yet, it is questionable whether quantitative variables fully describe the perception of crowdedness. This paper presents four case studies into the Pedestrian Level-of-Service (PLoS), featuring a 1) mass event, 2) shopping environment, 3) festival, and 4) touristic hotspot. The relation between the PLoS and the crowds' movement dynamics is studied using a combination of survey and monitoring data. This study establishes that the perception of LoS is partly related to the crowds' dynamics, and that the combination of in-situ surveys and monitoring data provides more comprehensive insights w.r.t. pedestrians' perceptions of space.