Publicacións

@article{fernandez-arango_methodology_2024,

title = {Methodology for Identifying Optimal Pedestrian Paths in an Urban Environment: A Case Study of a School Environment in A Coruña, Spain},

author = {David Fernández-Arango and Francisco Alberto Varela-García and Alberto M. Esmorís},

url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2624-6511/7/3/60},

doi = {10.3390/smartcities7030060},

issn = {2624-6511},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-06-01},

urldate = {2026-04-21},

journal = {Smart Cities},

volume = {7},

number = {3},

pages = {1441–1461},

publisher = {Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute},

abstract = {Improving urban mobility, especially pedestrian mobility, is a current challenge in virtually every city worldwide. To calculate the least-cost paths and safer, more efficient routes, it is necessary to understand the geometry of streets and their various elements accurately. In this study, we propose a semi-automatic methodology to assess the capacity of urban spaces to enable adequate pedestrian mobility. We employ various data sources, but primarily point clouds obtained through a mobile laser scanner (MLS), which provide a wealth of highly detailed information about the geometry of street elements. Our method allows us to characterize preferred pedestrian-traffic zones by segmenting crosswalks, delineating sidewalks, and identifying obstacles and impediments to walking in urban routes. Subsequently, we generate different displacement cost surfaces and identify the least-cost origin–destination paths. All these factors enable a detailed pedestrian mobility analysis, yielding results on a raster with a ground sampling distance (GSD) of 10 cm/pix. The method is validated through its application in a case study analyzing pedestrian mobility around an educational center in a purely urban area of A Coruña (Galicia, Spain). The segmentation model successfully identified all pedestrian crossings in the study area without false positives. Additionally, obstacle segmentation effectively identified urban elements and parked vehicles, providing crucial information to generate precise friction surfaces reflecting real environmental conditions. Furthermore, the generation of cumulative displacement cost surfaces allowed for identifying optimal routes for pedestrian movement, considering the presence of obstacles and the availability of traversable spaces. These surfaces provided a detailed representation of pedestrian mobility, highlighting significant variations in travel times, especially in areas with high obstacle density, where differences of up to 15% were observed. These results underscore the importance of considering obstacles’ existence and location when planning pedestrian routes, which can significantly influence travel times and route selection. We consider the capability to generate accurate cumulative cost surfaces to be a significant advantage, as it enables urban planners and local authorities to make informed decisions regarding the improvement of pedestrian infrastructure.},

keywords = {cumulative cost, least-cost path, pedestrian, pedestrian mobility, pedestrian path, school mobility, school route, urban mobility, walkability},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{fernandez-arango_dynamic_2023,

title = {Dynamic Analysis of School Mobility Using Geolocation Web Technologies},

author = {David Fernández-Arango and Francisco Alberto Varela-García and Jorge López-Fernández},

url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/12/1/8},

doi = {10.3390/ijgi12010008},

issn = {2220-9964},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-01-01},

urldate = {2026-08-11},

journal = {ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information},

volume = {12},

number = {1},

pages = {8},

abstract = {Pedestrian travel represents one of the most complex forms of mobility owing to the numerous parameters that influence its analysis and the difficulty of acquiring accurate travel information. In addition, the vulnerability of its protagonists, especially in urban environments, in coexistence with other types of transport, makes its study interesting. This paper proposes a web tool for use in geolocated surveys that allows the acquisition of georeferenced thematic information of interest for mobility studies. The analysis of different school routes from students’ homes to their respective schools has been proposed as a case study. This work covered a sample of 1883 students from 26 schools in Galicia (Spain), where population dispersion generates a particular type of mobility. We obtained relevant mobility data, such as the routes most traveled by students in their daily commute to school, the most efficient routes, the most used means of transport, or the exact location of various elements that hinder and dangerously affect students traveling these routes, such as sidewalks or crosswalks in poor condition, among others.},

note = {Publisher: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute},

keywords = {geolocated surveys, pedestrian, pedestrian mobility, pedestrian paths, school mobility, school routes, urban mobility},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}