Pedestrian Route Choice and Traffic Exposures: A Case Study in Downtown Atlanta

Walkable neighborhoods and active mobility provide human health benefits through exercise, stress relief, and local sustainability, but concerns over near-roadway traffic-related air pollution remain significant (Luo, 2018). Exposure to pollutant concentration exposure assessments downwind from roadway sources not only undermines the health advantages of walking, but also poses economic burdens, as indicated by the substantial costs associated with air pollution-related mortality (World Bank, 2020). Recent studies are increasingly focused on understanding how pedestrian route choice influences exposure to traffic related air pollutants (Khreis, 2020), and integrating these exposure metrics into pedestrian route planning may improve health outcomes. Shortest path, impedance-based routing tools, such as SidewalkSim, can be used to predict pedestrian paths through the sidewalk network. Route selection can account for pedestrian asset design and condition, and even route wheelchair users around crossings that are missing a curb ramp (which imposes a significant impedance on the crossing link). When second-by-second pedestrian route data are combined with spatiotemporal predictions of pollutant concentrations downwind from roadways, analysts can assess how exposure accumulates over the course of each walking trip. Because the routing tools are impedance-based, pollutant concentrations can be converted to link impedance and potentially used to route pedestrians on slightly longer routes that result in much lower pollutant exposure. This project will apply impedance methods in the context of pedestrian travel in downtown Atlanta, testing a variety of impedance functions from the assessments to evaluate the tradeoffs between route circuity and pollutant exposure across these functions. The project will develop a framework that supports healthier, lower-exposure pedestrian pathways (while maintaining reasonable routes and convenience for all users).

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $50,000.00
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3552348329

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Center for Efficient Mobility

  1111 Rellis Parkway
  Bryan, Texas  United States  77807
• Project Managers:

  Ocon, Monica

• Performing Organizations:

  Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta

  790 Atlantic Drive
  Atlanta, GA  United States  30332-0355
• Principal Investigators:

  Hunsaker, Daniel

• Start Date: 20250301
• Expected Completion Date: 20260531
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers
• Source Data: 02-07-GT

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air quality; Pedestrians; Research projects; Route choice; Walking
• Subject Areas: Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Research;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01976235
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Center for Advancing Research in Transportation Emissions, Energy, and Health (CARTEEH)
• Contract Numbers: 69A3552348329
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Jan 13 2026 3:38PM