The walking speed of pedestrians on various pavement surface conditions during winter

This study aims to quantify the relationship between pedestrians' walking speeds and various surface conditions typically associated with a winter environment. The purpose is to enable assessments of the effects of different winter operation and maintenance regimes on pedestrians' average travel times. The results show that there is a significant relationship between surface conditions and average walking speeds. When comparing a bare-pavement level of service (LOS) with the practically best obtainable winter-pavement LOS it is expected that the average travel times of an average pedestrian will be approximately 1 min/km longer on the latter than the former when walking on flat ground. On clean ice, compared to a bare pavement, we can expect the average travel times to be approximately 2 min/km longer. Data on average travel times should be implemented in cost-benefit analyses that evaluate the effects of different winter operation and maintenance regimes and measures.