Pedestrian Perception of the Built Environment and Walkability in Joinville, SC

Abstract

Objective - To identify locations with the highest probability of pedestrian accidents (hot spots) and the correlation between walkability and accident rates.

Methodology - The methodology applied used traffic accident records (2015-2019) and the Getis-Ord Gi* statistical tool and GIS tools provided by Esri ArcGis 10.3 software.

Originality/relevance - The relevance lies in the quantitative and qualitative approach to analyzing a pedestrian accident hot spot.

Results - The method identified that the central region is the area with the highest concentration of hot spots. To verify the variables of the built environment, the Active Design walkability indicator was applied to six sections within a hot spot, allowing for quantitative and qualitative analysis of the space from the pedestrian's perspective.

The results demonstrate the influence of land use; traffic light timing on pedestrian crossing behavior; vehicle flow and vehicle speeds, which are incompatible with the number of pedestrians present in the hot spot. When experiencing the study site, one senses the anxiety and insecurity of pedestrians during their travel and stay.

Social and environmental contributions – The contribution of this research lies in the sum of the quantitative and qualitative analyses, which proved important for understanding the built environment at the hot spot for pedestrian accidents, where the quantitative analysis points to the location and the qualitative analysis experiences the environment from the user's perspective.