Exploring the relationship between pedestrian preferences and revealed route choices: a case study of Trondheim’s city center

Abstract

GPS tracking data offer new opportunities for pedestrian infrastructure planning, but their ability to reflect underlying preferences remains unclear. This study examines the gap between stated preferences during weekend trips and observed utilitarian pedestrian route choices. We collect route preferences, translate them into built environment variables, assess inter-rater agreement, and estimate conditional logit models using GPS tracks. Survey responses indicate strong preferences for green views and pedestrianized areas. Agreement between stated preferences and built environment variables is moderate. The final model identifies distance, sidewalk width, low vehicle volume, shopping facilities and crosswalks as significant predictors, while stated experiential preferences are not retained. A temporal interaction model reveals weekend shifts that partly explain differences between data sources. These findings highlight the need to combine stated and revealed data for pedestrian planning.