guest ::
| Home > Publications database > The Relationship between Pedestrian Density, Walking Speed and Psychological Stress: Examining Physiological Arousal in Crowded Situations |
| Home > Publications database > The Relationship between Pedestrian Density, Walking Speed and Psychological Stress: Examining Physiological Arousal in Crowded Situations |
| Book/Dissertation / PhD Thesis | FZJ-2024-04895 |
2024
Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH Zentralbibliothek, Verlag
Jülich
ISBN: 978-3-95806-764-6
This record in other databases:
Please use a persistent id in citations: doi:10.34734/FZJ-2024-04895
Abstract: Due to the steadily growing world population and mobility shift, more and more people are moving around in public spaces, such as in train stations or shopping arcades. This increased volume of people has led to restrictions on the functionality of traffic infrastructures. At the same time, it is assumed that the increased pedestrian traffic creates a higher stress load on environmental structures. The Pedestrian Level of Service (PLOS) is an engineering concept and measure that evaluates the functionality and quality of transport infrastructures in relation to density and comfort of movement. Based on a fundamental diagram, this concept assumes reduced quality for pedestrians when there are higher pedestrian traffic densities and associated reduced walking speeds. However, the state of research shows, that researchers have not comprehensively explored the effects of density and reduced speed on pedestrians’ stress levels. This work used psychological theories and methods to advance knowledge about the experience of density and speed and how they are related, using measurements of electrodermal activity and subjective ratings to assess stress levels. This research consisted of four studies that examined different states (walking and standing/waiting) of pedestrians in traffic infrastructures. Studies 1 and 2 explored standing and waiting in dense situations. Study 3 explored walking at different preset and freely chosen walking speeds. Study 4 extended the previous studies to examine the relationship between density and walking speed. It shows that both density and walking speed, when considered separately, do not directly affect physiological stress levels but they do affect participants’ subjective ratings. However, the combination of these two parameters showed that walking speed reduced by density leads to increased physiological arousal. These results provide empirical evidence for the PLOS assumption that the stress of pedestrians increases with increasing density—but only when pedestrians are moving. When considering density while standing/waiting, however, the findings indicate that other factors also influence the stress experience
; 
|
The record appears in these collections: |
PDF