01588670

Component

The improvement of walking space has become important for preserving the idea of a compact city and for revitalization of city centers. However, evaluation methods for walking spaces have not been well established. This study focused on the concept of pedestrian smiles recorded by security cameras, aimed to develop an evaluation index of walking spaces using pedestrian smiles. The authors developed a pedestrian smile calculating system using facial expression sensors by detecting pedestrians’ faces in a video file, calculating the degree of the individual’s smile level at an approximate rate of twice a second. The system had a utility to detect a pedestrian’s face and calculate the level of their smile. The authors analyzed the video files recorded at various railway stations using the pedestrian smile calculating system. In addition, the authors analyzed the road configurations and other factors that could impact the degree of pedestrians’ smiles. As a result, it was found that as the number of vehicles increased, the degree of smiles decreased on the streets without sidewalks. On the streets with sidewalks where the width of the sidewalk was more than 3 m, the degree of pedestrians’ smile increased. The degree of smile became lower where pedestrians and bicycles crossed each other. In conclusion, the results suggest that the pedestrian smile calculating system could become a new index for evaluating the quality of walking spaces.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ANF10 Standing Committee on Pedestrians.

01584066

16-4629

English

13p

2016

Transportation Research Board 95th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Figures; Photos; References; Tables

Behavior; Central business districts; Emotions; Evaluation and assessment; Face; Image analysis; Pedestrians; Sensors; Walkways

Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2016 Paper #16-4629

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 12 2016 6:02PM