TY - JOUR
T1 - Understanding the impact of the walking environment on pedestrian perception and comprehension of the situation
AU - Lee, Meesung
AU - Lee, Heerim
AU - Hwang, Sungjoo
AU - Choi, Minji
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government ( NRF-2020R1F1A1073178 ). This study was carried out with the support of ‘R&D Program for Forest Science Technology (Project No. 2021355B10-2123-AC03 )’ provided by Korea Forest Service (Korea Forestry Promotion Institute). The authors also would like to acknowledge the anonymous participants who participated in the survey.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2021/12
Y1 - 2021/12
N2 - Purpose: Erroneous pedestrian perception and comprehension of the walking environment have been recognized as the culprit in unsafe walking. There have been many studies to understand how pedestrian perception and comprehension of the surrounding situation are affected in laboratory settings. However, the real walking environment is characterized as a complex combination of various dynamic and static objects, all of which are important for pedestrian safety and diversely affect pedestrians. Therefore, this study aims to understand how pedestrian perception and comprehension of a pedestrian's surroundings are affected by the types and states (i.e., dynamic or static) of the perceived objects as well as the complexity of the walking environment using real-world experiments. Methods: In this study, the pedestrians’ level of perception and comprehension of various static (e.g., traffic lights, signs) and dynamic (e.g., other pedestrians, cars) objects were measured using the Situational Awareness Global Assessment Technique while they walked through different walking zones. Results and contributions: The results indicated that the pedestrians' awareness was more affected by the type of information that the objects delivered (e.g., safety-related information) and the complexity of the walking environment than the objects’ state. This study demonstrates the differences in pedestrian perception and comprehension based on the characteristics of the walking environment to help determine ways that can enhance the awareness of pedestrians to improve walking safety.
AB - Purpose: Erroneous pedestrian perception and comprehension of the walking environment have been recognized as the culprit in unsafe walking. There have been many studies to understand how pedestrian perception and comprehension of the surrounding situation are affected in laboratory settings. However, the real walking environment is characterized as a complex combination of various dynamic and static objects, all of which are important for pedestrian safety and diversely affect pedestrians. Therefore, this study aims to understand how pedestrian perception and comprehension of a pedestrian's surroundings are affected by the types and states (i.e., dynamic or static) of the perceived objects as well as the complexity of the walking environment using real-world experiments. Methods: In this study, the pedestrians’ level of perception and comprehension of various static (e.g., traffic lights, signs) and dynamic (e.g., other pedestrians, cars) objects were measured using the Situational Awareness Global Assessment Technique while they walked through different walking zones. Results and contributions: The results indicated that the pedestrians' awareness was more affected by the type of information that the objects delivered (e.g., safety-related information) and the complexity of the walking environment than the objects’ state. This study demonstrates the differences in pedestrian perception and comprehension based on the characteristics of the walking environment to help determine ways that can enhance the awareness of pedestrians to improve walking safety.
KW - Pedestrian
KW - Perception and comprehension
KW - Situation awareness
KW - Walking environment
KW - Walking safety
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85115754455&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jth.2021.101267
DO - 10.1016/j.jth.2021.101267
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85115754455
SN - 2214-1405
VL - 23
JO - Journal of Transport and Health
JF - Journal of Transport and Health
M1 - 101267
ER -