Influencing Pedestrians' Route Choice Using Route Shape Simplification

Pedestrians' route choice is critical for several purposes, while deliberately changing map representations can influence map users' route choice. Simplifying routes' geometric shapes is one way to achieve this. However, the other geometric characteristics of routes (e.g., the relative distance of different routes, differences in initial orientation, the number of intersections, and the direction changes) also influence pedestrians' route choice, per relevant research. Hence, this study conducted an experimental investigation to examine the influence of route shape simplification on pedestrians' route choice, under various geometric characteristics conditions. The results of the statistical tests and correlation analyses showed that (1) route shape simplification has a significant influence on route choice; (2) larger relative distance and direction changes reduce shape simplification's influence, while the number of intersections and differences in initial orientation have weak effects; (3) 1.3 times the relative distance may be the threshold for the selection of recommended routes, and the improvement of visual continuity at route nodes may prove more influential. The results of this study can support the applicability of shape simplification to influence route choice.