Waiting for signalized crossing or walking to footbridge/underpass? Examining the effect of weather using stated choice experiment with panel mixed random regret minimization approach

It is a challenging task for pedestrians to cross a road with multiple traffic lanes and busy traffic. Many footbridges and underpasses have been built in the urban area of metropolitan cities such as Hong Kong to resolve the problem of vehicle-pedestrian conflict. To maximize the utilization and benefit of the installation of such crossing facilities, it is crucial to understand the choice behaviour of pedestrians. Although many studies have examined pedestrian walking behaviour and preference towards crossing facilities, the influence of ratio of perceived values between waiting and walking time on the choice of crossing is not explored. In addition, individual perception and choice may vary with the environmental conditions, which has not been fully accounted for in existing studies. Exposure to extremely hot weather, crowded walkways, and roadside traffic emissions are not favoured. In this study, a stated choice experiment is developed to examine the relationship between possible influencing factors and the crossing choices of pedestrians in Hong Kong. In addition, a regret-based panel mixed multinomial logit approach is adopted to model the choice, accounting for the effects of unobserved heterogeneity and panel data. The results indicate that the choice decision of pedestrians is more sensitive to an increase in waiting time at signalized crossings than to an increase in walking time to access footbridges and underpasses. These findings shed light on future urban and transport planning strategies to improve the walking environment and promote walkability.