Temporal trends and the effect of weather on pedestrian volumes: A case study of Montreal, Canada

This study examines the impact of weather on pedestrian activity, as well as the temporal trends of pedestrian flows in the city of Montreal, Canada. The direct and lagged effects of weather variables on hourly volumes are determined for the temperate and cold months, as well as for weekdays and weekends. Pedestrian hourly volumes are found to decrease in the winter. In downtown locations, there are three weekday pedestrian hourly peaks; a pattern distinctive from those observed in other surveys. Also, temperature, humidity, wind speed as well as direct and lagged effects of precipitation are the main factors affecting pedestrian activity. In winter, pedestrian flows are more sensitive to wind speeds and precipitation, and also during weekends than weekdays. Built environment plays a role not only in the magnitude but also in the temporal profile of pedestrian sidewalk activity. In comparison to bicycle ridership, pedestrian flows seem to be much less sensitive to weather.