Critical factors influenced pedestrian walking speed: A meta-analysis

Active transport plays a vital role in sustainable transport and urban planning and is beneficial for people's health. Since improving active transport facilities improves safety and convenience for users, it is important to measure the performance of active transport facilities. Walking speed has been recognised as the main design factor for pedestrian facilities. The purpose of this study is to identify key factors that affect walking speed. Therefore, this study reviews 41 papers with 191 samples and collects external data of quality of life indexes to control the built environment and economic status of each case. A two-step modeling process is developed. First, DBSCAN was used to identify the similarities among the samples. The three clusters (i.e., developed countries, developing countries with higher population density, and developing countries with lower population density) identified are one of the inputs into the second stage where a meta-analysis regression model was used to find critical factors influencing walking speed. Factors with significant positive impacts on walking speed are young pedestrians, cold weather, and two of the DBSCAN clusters (i.e., developed countries, and developing countries with lower population density). Factors that have significant negative impacts on walking speed are elderly pedestrians, female pedestrians, wearing specific clothing, commercial land use, and measuring speed as mean speed (compared to free flow speed). Being in a developed country is found to have the greatest negative impact on walking speed. This study further compares the worldwide Global Street Design Guide indicators with the meta-analysis model results. Findings provide policymakers and planners with a clear guide on the design of facilities for pedestrians to improve walking speed.