INVESTIGATION OF THE CAPACITY OF THE WHITE HOUSE SIDEWALK FOR ORDERLY DEMONSTRATIONS

THE DIMENSIONS OF THE SIDEWALK IN FRONT OF THE WHITE HOUSE ARE APPROXIMATELY 775 FT BY 37.5 FT. THE SIDEWALK AREA AVAILABLE FOR PEDESTRIANS AND DEMONSTRATORS IS APPROXIMATELY 730 FT BY 35 FT AND ENCOMPASSES A TOTAL AREA OF 25,550 SQ FT. A STUDY WAS UNDERTAKEN TO DETERMINE, FIRST, HOW MUCH SIDEWALK SPACE WAS REQUIRED BY THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF PEDESTRIANS THAT NOW, OR IN THE FUTURE, ARE LIKELY TO USE THE WHITE HOUSE SIDEWALK, AND, SECOND, HOW MANY ORDERLY DEMONSTRATORS CAN REASONABLY BE ACCOMMODATED IN THE REMAINING SIDEWALK SPACE. BASED ON ACTUAL PEDESTRIAN COUNTS CONDUCTED AT THE WHITE HOUSE SIDEWALK AND ON OTHER RELEVANT TRAFFIC ENGINEERING STUDIES, IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE MAXIMUM PROJECTED NUMBER OF PEDESTRIANS THAT MIGHT USE THE SIDEWALK DURING THE PEAK SUMMER PERIODS WAS 3,260 PER HOUR. IT WAS THEN DETERMINED THAT 3,260 PEDESTRIANS PER HOUR COULD BE ACCOMMODATED WITHIN A TRAFFIC LANE 5 FT IN WIDTH IN WHICH THE PEDESTRIANS COULD GROUP THEMSELVES NTO CONCENTRATION OF 0.0 PEDESTRIAN PER SQ FT, OR 1 PEDESTRIAN EVERY 20 SQ FT. THE REMAINING SIDEWALK SPACE WAS THEN STUDIED TO DETERMINE HOW MANY CIRCULATING, STATIONARY, AND WALK-BY DEMONSTRATORS COULD REASONABLY BE ACCOMMODATED IN THAT SPACE AT VARYING DEGREES OF CONCENTRATION. IT WAS FOUND THAT WHEN DEMONSTRATORS CIRCULATED AT THE RATE OF 1.0 FPS AND AT A CONCENTRATION OF 0.2 DEMONSTRATOR PER SQ FT, THE ENTIRE 35 FT OF SIDEWALK WIDTH COULD ACCOMMODATE 5,110 DEMONSTRATORS, 30 FT OF SIDEWALK WIDTH COULD ACCOMMODATE 4,380, AND 25 FT OF SIDEWALK WIDTH COULD ACCOMMODATE 3,650. THE NUMBER OF STATIONARY DEMONSTRATORS THAT COULD STAND IN VARIOUS AMOUNTS OF SIDEWALK SPACE WAS EVEN LARGER. AT THE OPTIMUM CONCENTRATION OF 2.5 SQ FT FOR EVERY DEMONSTRATOR, 10,220 DEMONSTRATORS COULD OCCUPY THE ENTIRE 35 FT OF SIDEWALK WIDTH, 8,760 COULD OCCUPY 30 FT OF SIDEWALK WIDTH, 8,030 COULD OCCUPY 27.5 FT OF SIDEWALK WIDTH, AND 7,300 COULD OCCUPY 25 FT OF SIDEWALK WIDTH. FINALLY, THE NUMBER OF DEMONSTRATORS THAT COULD WALK BY THE WHITE HOUSE AT VARIOUS RATES OF SPEED OVER VARIOUS WIDTHS OF SIDEWALK SPACE WAS DETERMINED. AT BETWEEN 3.7 AND 4.3 FPS, 56,700 DEMONSTRATORS PER HOUR COULD PASS BY THE WHITE HOUSE OVER 35 FT OF SIDEWALK WIDTH, 48,600 COULD PASS OVER 30 FT OF SIDEWALK WIDTH, 44,550 COULD PASS OVER 27.5 FT, AND 40,500 COULD PASS OVER 25 FT. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1971/355/355-002.pdf
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309019680
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Sponsored by Committee on Pedestrians and presented at the 50th Annual Meeting. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
• Authors:
  • Surti, Vasant H
  • Burke, Thomas J
• Conference:
  • 50th Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board
  • Location: Washington District of Columbia, United States
  • Date: 1971-1-18 to 1971-1-22
• Publication Date: 1971

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 16-25
• Monograph Title: Pedestrians
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 355
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Pedestrians; Sidewalks
• Identifier Terms: White House
• Uncontrolled Terms: Capacity
• Subject Areas: Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00223631
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309019680
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-011 999
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Mar 7 1972 12:00AM