Personalizing walkability: A concept for pedestrian needs profiling based on movement trajectories

Abstract

Recently, location-based navigation systems have evolved from purely car-centered services to incorporate route planning for other means of transportation, such as walking or cycling. In this context, a particular challenge lies in the computation of optimal routes for pedestrians, who expect a high walkability of their urban environment. In particular, route computation should explicitly incorporate such specific infrastructural needs but also acknowledge the heterogeneity of pedestrians. Thus, this research proposes a concept to create individual pedestrian user profiles based on their pre-recorded movement trajectories. This information is then used for the evaluation of the expected personalized walkability of urban areas. By exemplarily applying the method to a real-world scenario, its usefulness is demonstrated.