Pedestrian Level of Traffic Stress (PLTS) Validation for Pedestrians with a range of Ages and Abilities

Project Description

Pedestrian Level of Traffic Stress (PLTS) is a safety tool that can be used to map the most and least pedestrian-friendly parts of an entire roadway network, recommend comfortable walking routes, help prioritize locations for infrastructure improvements, and evaluate project- and system-level changes in pedestrian accommodations over time. However, existing methods of evaluating pedestrian traffic stress (Landis et al. 2001, Chu & Baltes 2001, Raad & Burke 2018) are not standardized and often require many inputs that are impractical for agencies to apply. During the first two years of CPBS grants, our UW-Milwaukee research team attempted to address these issues by creating and testing a new Pedestrian Level of Traffic Stress (PLTS) method. Our PLTS provides ratings from 1 to 4 (lowest to highest stress) to assess how pedestrians are likely to feel around vehicular traffic when crossing or traveling along specific roadway segments. The PLTS ratings are based on look-up tables with a relatively small number of inputs (e.g., number of lanes, traffic volume, speed limit, sidewalks and buffers, pedestrian crossing facilities, curb ramps), many of which are readily available in agency data.

Our PLTS builds on other recent table-based PLTS methods (Oregon DOT 2020, Washington State DOT 2020, Montgomery County 2020, Richardson 2023), but it is the first PLTS that we are aware of to undergo rigorous validation testing. During our Year 2 project, applied the PLTS method to different types of roadway corridors in three case study communities and compared our PLTS ratings with stress levels reported by online survey respondents. Still, online survey videos and pictures do not fully reproduce conditions that pedestrians experience on actual roadways. Further, the online format with videos and pictures was not accessible to people with visual disabilities, and our sample only captured a small number of older adults and people with other types of disabilities. Therefore, our Year 3 research will build on our current work by comparing our PLTS ratings with PLTS ratings gathered from pedestrians who are older adults or who have sensory or mobility limitations at a series of real-time PLTS data collection events in three communities. This feedback will also inform whether (and if so, which) additional variables should be incorporated into PLTS ratings to better account for suitability among these groups.

Our goal is to establish a validated, practical PLTS method that agencies across the country can use to estimate roadway segment and crossing suitability for pedestrians in various contexts, ultimately leading to safer and more enjoyable walking and rolling conditions. This Year 3 CPBS project will help improve our understanding of PLTS for pedestrians with a wider range of ages and abilities.