Estimating pedestrian speed using aggregated literature data

Since about 80 years, human walking speed has been measured for different purposes. The comparability of the results of these measurements is low, as the walking speed is influenced by a vast amount of parameters and no standardised measurement conditions exist. This work describes the most important factors influencing walking speed based on existing literature and estimates their impact. For this purpose, all walking speed measurements available in the literature were collected and reviewed. Using this data, the parameter values for different influences were computed and grouped according to their strength, which enables to determine the most important measurement parameters in future walking speed experiments. In addition, standardised measurement conditions are proposed which would provide a baseline for future studies and thus enhance their scientific value. For each of these conditions average walking speeds are calculated and the significance of the walking speed differences was determined.