Developing a Pedestrian Route Network Service (PRNS)

Abstract

Route network service is becoming increasingly popular. However, although there are significant amount of route network services there are still limitations especially to pedestrian network services. Pedestrians daily make decision about their navigation choices. Developing a pedestrian route network service (PRNS) involves several factors.
During this study the analysis of several routing network services have demonstrated that the geographical data is one of the most important factors in order to develop an own PRNS. Considering the idea of estimation two different datasets for the PRNS were evaluated OpenStreetMap (OSM) and Swedish national road database (NVDB). The use of the OSM dataset for developing the PRNS was made after the comparison between both the dataset. OSM has shown more advantages in terms of completeness of route for pedestrian navigation than NVDB. The OSM dataset was created and stored in the PostGIS database.
The implementation of own pedestrian network service is intended to facilitate the developments of new PRNS and analysis and comparison of others existing PRNS. The calculation and collection of the routes to be displayed for the user are performed by extended tools within PostGIS such as pgRouting and PostgreSQL respectively. The dataset’s network topology is related to the distance and determination of route choice by the pedestrian. Thus, Geographical Information System (GIS) is also one fundamental factor used in this study to evaluate and create results. The application was implemented in the city of Lund.
One of the limitations developing the PRNS is the lack of documentation for new functions which are released by pgRouting developers. Although OSM provides an essential network for developing the PRNS, some closed residential areas, parks, and open areas are not include on the network limiting the PRNS application.
In conclusion the PRNS is a useful application in order to assist pedestrians on their wayfinding in the city of Lund. It is also intended to help further development of new PRNS such as mobile PRNS applications. However, the PRNS must be improved and the dataset network requires updating and expansion for successful operations of the PRNS applications.

Abstract (Swedish)

Navigeringstjänster blir allt mer populära, men även om det finns en betydande mängd tjänster, finns det fortfarande begränsningar, speciellt för fotgängare. Fotgängare gör dagligen flera val om hur de ska hitta den bästa vägen i sin närmiljö. Att utveckla en navigeringstjänst för gående (PRNS) involverar flera viktiga faktorer.
I denna studie analyseras flera befintliga nättjänster och studien visar att geografiska data är en av de viktigaste faktorerna för att utveckla egna PRNS. Två olika datamängder för PRNS utvärderades: OpenStreetMap (OSM) och svenska nationella vägdatabasen (NVDB). Efter en första utvärdering av de två datamängderna valdes OSM som visade sig ha flera fördelar för en fotgängares navigering.
Implementeringen av en egen navigeringstjänst för gående är avsedd att underlätta utvecklingen av nya PRNS och analysering och jämförelsen av andra befintliga PRNS. pqRouting och PostgreSQL beräknar och samlar in de rutter som ska användas, med hjälp av datamängden som finns i databasen PostGIS. Topologin för nätverket i datamängden är relaterat till avstånden och fotgängaren bestämmer vägvalet. Geografiska informationssystem (GIS) är också en grundläggande faktor som används i den här studien för att analysera resultatet. PRNS implementerades i staden Lund och syftet är att underlätta för fotgängare att navigera i staden. En av begränsningarna vid utvecklandet av PRNS är bristen på dokumentation av vissa nya funktionaliteter i pgRouting. Även om OSM tillhandahåller ett grundläggande nätverk av vägar för utvecklingen av PRNS, så saknas information om vissa bostadsområden, parker och allmänna utrymmen, vilket begränsar PRNS.
Sammanfattningsvis så är PRNS ett användbart program för att hjälpa fotgängare att välja väg i staden Lund. Vidare utveckling av PRNS kan exempelvis vara en mobilapplikation. Då måste dock PRNS förbättras och datamängden kräver uppdatering och utveckling för att bli framgångsrik.

Popular Abstract

Internet based applications for finding shortest ways to travel are becoming increasingly popular. However, although there are significant amount of these applications there are still limitations especially for pedestrian. Developing an internet based application service for pedestrian involves several steps.
During this study the analysis of several internet based applications service for pedestrian have demonstrated that the geographical data is one of the most important components in order to develop the PRNS. Two different dataset were evaluated OpenStreetMap (OSM) and Swedish national road database (NVDB). The use of the OSM dataset for developing the PRNS was made after the comparison between both the dataset. OSM has shown more advantages in terms of completeness of roads network and ways for pedestrian than NVDB. The OSM dataset was created and stored in a database called PostGIS.
The calculation of distances and collection of the shortest ways to be displayed for the user are performed by extended tools and programs within PostGIS such as pgRouting and PostgreSQL respectively. The distance and determination of the shortest ways to walk is based on the structure of the dataset and the user choice. Thus, application such as Geographical Information System (GIS) is also one fundamental component used in this study, for example, to evaluate and create maps for visual analysis.
One of the limitations developing the PRNS is the lack of documentation for new functions which are released by developers. Some closed residential areas, parks, and open areas are not included on the network limiting the PRNS application.
In conclusion the PRNS is a useful application in order to assist pedestrians on their wayfinding in the city of Lund. It is also intended to help further development of new PRNS such as mobile PRNS applications. However, the PRNS must be improved and the dataset network requires updating and expansion for successful operations of the PRNS applications.

• author: Arruda, Cleber
• supervisor: Lars Harrie; Britta Duve Hansen
• organization: Dept of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science
• alternative title: Att utveckla en navigeringstjänst för gående (PRNS)
• alternative title: Developing an internet based application service for pedestrian (PRNS) for finding the shortest ways to walk in the municipality of Lund. Internet based applications for finding shortest ways to travel are becoming increasingly popular. However, although there are significant amount of these applications there are still limitations especially for pedestrian. Developing an internet based application service for pedestrian involves several steps. During this study the analysis of several internet based applications service for pedestrian have demonstrated that the geographical data is one of the most important components in order to develop the PRNS. Two different dataset were evaluated OpenStreetMap (OSM) and Swedish national road database (NVDB). The use of the OSM dataset for developing the PRNS was made after the comparison between both the dataset. OSM has shown more advantages in terms of completeness of roads network and ways for pedestrian than NVDB. The OSM dataset was created and stored in a database called PostGIS. The calculation of distances and collection of the shortest ways to be displayed for the user are performed by extended tools and programs within PostGIS such as pgRouting and PostgreSQL respectively. The distance and determination of the shortest ways to walk is based on the structure of the dataset and the user choice. Thus, application such as Geographical Information System (GIS) is also one fundamental component used in this study, for example, to evaluate and create maps for visual analysis. One of the limitations developing the PRNS is the lack of documentation for new functions which are released by developers. Some closed residential areas, parks, and open areas are not included on the network limiting the PRNS application. In conclusion the PRNS is a useful application in order to assist pedestrians on their wayfinding in the city of Lund. It is also intended to help further development of new PRNS such as mobile PRNS applications. However, the PRNS must be improved and the dataset network requires updating and expansion for successful operations of the PRNS applications
• course: NGEM01 20102
• year: 2011
• type: H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
• subject: Earth and Environmental Sciences
• keywords: geography, physical geography, pedestrian route network service, PRNS, OpenStreetMap, OSM, Swedish national road database, NVDB, geographic information system, GIS, PostGIS, pgRouting, dataset, geomatics
• publication/series: Student thesis series INES
• report number: 230
• language: English
• additional info: External supervisor Britta Duve Hansen,; Technical Surveyor, Department of City Planning, Lund
• id: 4685946
• date added to LUP: 2014-09-25 15:31:51
• date last changed: 2014-09-25 15:31:51