thesis of the pedestrian

A Summary and Analysis of Ray Bradbury’s ‘The Pedestrian’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘The Pedestrian’ is a 1951 short story by Ray Bradbury (1920-2012), which is included in his 1953 collection The Golden Apples of the Sun . In some ways a precursor to Bradbury’s more famous novel Fahrenheit 451 , ‘The Pedestrian’ is set in a future world in which people sit mindlessly and passively in front of their television sets every evening.

The ‘pedestrian’ of the story’s title is the one man in the city who refuses to do so, and doesn’t even own a television.

‘The Pedestrian’: plot summary

The story takes place on one night in November 2053. A man named Leonard Mead, who later identifies himself as a writer, is walking the deserted streets of a city. He is the only person out on the street at night, because everyone else is indoors, watching their television sets all night. We learn that it is his habit to do this every night, sometimes staying out until midnight before he returns home.

As the story progresses, it emerges that this sort of behaviour – staying in all night, every night, and consuming hours of television without ever venturing out – has become not only common, or normalised, but, in effect, the law . A police car stops to ask Leonard who he is and what he does for a living.

We are told that this is one of only two police cars in the whole city of three million people; there had been three police cars until an election the year before, when it had been decided that there was no need for so many as three. Crime, it turns out, has been largely eradicated, because everyone remains indoors all night, glued to their television sets.

After a brief interview with him by the side of the road, in which we learn that Leonard is unmarried and is a writer, the police car tells him to get in the back.

Leonard learns that the car is empty: the voice speaking to him was automated, presumably some sort of robotic machine programmed to detect suspicious persons at large on the streets at night and stop and interrogate them about what their business was being out.

Once Leonard is inside the back of the police car, he is told he is to be taken to a psychiatric centre which researches ‘Regressive Tendencies’. As the car drives him to this place, he notices he is being driven past his home, but the police car refuses to stop.

‘The Pedestrian’: analysis

Reading and studying ‘The Pedestrian’ more than seventy years after Bradbury first wrote the story, especially in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and the implementation of lockdowns throughout many countries, we are likely to be struck by how prophetic Bradbury was.

Certainly many western countries have stories of police stopping people who were simply out walking when they had been instructed to be at home, with ‘the law’ and ‘guidance’ becoming confused so that nobody was quite sure when a law had technically been broken.

This is the case in Bradbury’s story, where Mead doesn’t appear to have committed a crime, but his unusual behaviour leads the police to take him off for what is, we assume, a course of psychological reprogramming, to turn him into a mindless drone like the city’s three million other inhabitants.

But every prophetic work of science fiction (or speculative fiction) tends to reflect the present as much as the future, and clearly Bradbury is reflecting the time at which he was writing as much as he is projecting a world from a century hence. His 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451 is often misread as a book about censorship, because books are burned in the dystopian world Bradbury describes.

But all books are burned in the novel, rather than just the ‘wrong’ books, because the police state of Fahrenheit 451 wishes to keep the populace docile and passive, and the best way to do this is to discourage original or critical thinking and instead get everyone addicted to television, which they would then passively consume (including any government propaganda).

This is the world of both ‘The Pedestrian’ and Fahrenheit 451 : a police state in which governments wish to keep everyone pliant as well as compliant by using television (the ‘idiot box’ of common parlance) to turn people into unthinking zombies.

The more cynical commentator might observe that this is the world born at the beginning of the 2020s, if we broaden out ‘television’ to include other media such as ‘the internet’ in the pantheon of ways-of-keeping-a-population-passive-and-easy-to-control. (Of course, the internet can be a way to encourage critical thinking by being a two-way medium, so it’s not quite this simple.)

Leonard Mead is a danger not because he might commit a crime while he is out on one of his evening walks, but because he is a reminder of the free-thinking (and free-moving) spirit which others have lost: a spirit he might reawaken in them if others see him outside. His only ‘crime’ is in refusing to plug himself into the electronic brain-drainer that has done for his fellow citizens.

Of course, even before he is arrested, it is clear that everyone else in the city has willingly embraced their chains.

When he reveals himself to be a writer (again, aligning himself with the creative, imaginative, and independently minded), we also learn that he hasn’t sold anything for years because nobody buys books or magazines any more. Mead must be sent away to be ‘cured’ of his unorthodox thinking so he can fall in line with the rest of the population.

Of course, crime has all but disappeared, so we can see how this new world would appear to be some sort of utopia. But like most utopias it is only achieved by destroying the natural instincts of humans, both the bad and the good together.

Mead himself is depicted as something of a romantic type: his very surname suggests the open spaces of the ‘meads’ (i.e., meadows) of the countryside rather than the modern city, while his habit of walking around the city at night recalls the French idea of the flaneur: a writer or artist who would wander around the city, garnering inspiration for his writing and engaging in people-watching.

The irony is that, for Mead, there are no people to watch, apart from the phantom or ghostly shapes he sees moving inside the houses of the city.

As in many Ray Bradbury stories, technology has tried to recreate nature at home: the police car which arrests him makes it clear that, if he wants to take the air, he can do so at home by having some air-conditioning system installed. Fear of technology and the ways in which it robs us of what it is that makes us human is a recurring theme of Bradbury’s fiction.

Indeed, if we had to identify the main theme of Ray Bradbury’s writing, it would be the threat that technological advancements pose to human life. And by ‘life’ here we should include not only survival (as in, for instance, ‘There Will Come Soft Rains’, where everyone is wiped out by nuclear war) but living : the quality of life which gives our existence meaning.

Observe how Bradbury repeatedly highlights not only the ghostly qualities to the shadowy figures in their homes, but also the ‘tomblike’ aspect of those houses: these people, Bradbury is implying, are already dead, and now merely waiting for their bodies to catch up with their minds.

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The Definitive Guide to Analysing ‘The Pedestrian’ by Ray Bradbury for English: Summary, Context, Themes & Characters

So you’ve been assigned Ray Bradbury’s The Pedestrian as one of the texts you need to conduct an analysis for in Module C: The Craft of Writing . Fear not!

This will be a comprehensive guide to the text — whether you need help wrapping your head around the meaning of the short story or are looking for additional resources for your writing, we have you covered.

Let’s get right into it! 

The Pedestrian Summary Key Characters in The Pedestrian Context Themes Explored in The Pedestrian Analysis of The Pedestrian Studying this Text for the HSC

Summary of The Pedestrian

Written in 1951 , The Pedestrian is set more than 100 years later in the year of A.D 2053.

It is a dystopian setting as we follow Mr Leonard Mead as he takes his solitary walk through the deserted city. While Leonard takes his walks every evening, he has never encountered another walker.

Instead, most citizens are in their homes, fixated to their televisions — Mead is an anomaly in his city, with different values and continues to appreciate the small traces of nature he can find in his surroundings. 

On this night, Leonard is confronted by an automated police car that questions his reasons for going on an evening stroll. Through this interaction, we realise the lack of agency and self-determination citizens in this dystopian have.

Despite engaging in the harmless activity of taking an evening walk, Leonard is immediately placed under suspicion due to his departure from the social norms of his society.

As his interrogation continues, the police car discovers that he does not have a wife, does not own a television and instead is a writer. Leonard’s departure from social norms has him arrested and brought to the “Psychiatric Centre for Research on Regressive Tendencies”. 

Access The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury Downloadable Sample Paragraph and Examples of Analysis here!

Key Characters in The Pedestrian

For Bradbury’s short story there are only two key characters who are portrayed in opposition to each other: Mr Leonard Mead and the Police Car.

Leonard is portrayed as a simple man with simple pleasures . The opening of the short story depicts him stepping out into a “misty evening in November” doing an activity he “most dearly loved to do”.

He greets each house as he walks past, and observes the overgrown paths as the “cement was vanishing under flowers and grass”. While we may be tempted to think of Leonard’s physical world as cold, grey and sterile, Bradbury makes sure to remind us that nature is overtaking the city’s infrastructure and reclaiming its spot within the land. 

In contrast, the police car serves as a representation of the people in the dystopian world Leonard is in. With a “metallic voice” and incessant interrogation, the police car represents the automation, industrialisation, and surveillance that Americans were subject to during the Cold War.

Furthermore, the reveal at the end that the police car is empty leaves the reader with the question of whether there is a human behind the voice.

If so, they are as empty and uncaring as the automated police car. If not, it alludes to the industrialisation and lack of humanity in society. 

Written during the Cold War era , Bradbury explores several key themes within this short story. Despite the technological advances of the early 20th Century, humanity had witnessed two world wars and the devastation of atomic bombs. 

While technology is often paraded as progress for humanity, Bradbury highlights a pessimistic view of technological advances in the 1950s through the television, automobiles and computers that removes people from their humanity. In the 1950s, the television was just becoming a common technology in households and Bradbury expresses anxiety about the television converting people into mindless, zombie-like masses. 

Bradbury’s short story depicts the lack of trust in institutions . By depicting the police car as an entity that is able to decide Leonard’s fate and place him into a psychiatric institution stripped of dignity and freedom.

Additionally, the institution’s name being the “Psychiatric Centre for Research on Regressive Tendencies” suggests that modernisations and progress requires people to detach themselves from their humanity and separate themselves from nature in order to progress. 

Themes Explored in The Pedestrian

Despite its short story form, The Pedestrian explores several themes within the text, which can be used to help guide your writing:

• Dehumanisation 
• Nature VS Technology 
• Conformity VS Individualism 
• Surveillance and Control

The juxtaposition of conformity and individualism is evident throughout the text. Despite Leonard’s seemingly mundane activity of taking a walk in the evening, the empty streets and scrutiny he faces for doing so demonstrate that what he is doing is unusual in his society.

While everyone is at home, captivated by their televisions, Leonard finds fulfilment by doing what he enjoys instead of caving into societal expectations. While he is punished for his non-conformity at the end of the story, readers are left with the impression that he has a richer inner life and sense of self, compared to many others in this lifeless society. 

Another particularly interesting theme is technology and dehumanisation. Written in 1951 when the world had just witnessed the destruction of two atomic bombs, Bradbury’s short story reflect society’s anxiety about the detrimental effects of new technology.

The Pedestrian portrays how the television, automobiles and computers will rob individuals of their humanity as all the power is transferred to these machines. Through a portrayal of soulless masses and authoritarian technology , Bradbury reflects many of the anxieties of his time and the issues we continue to face with technology today. 

How to Analyse The Pedestrian in 3 Steps

Step 1: choose your example.

When picking an example ensure that you are able to identify a technique in the text.

For this example, we have chosen to look at Leonard’s pondering as he walks the empty streets:

“What’s up tonight on Channel 4, Channel 7, Channel 9? Where are the cowboys rushing, and do I see the United States Cavalry over the next hill to the rescue?”

Step 2: Identify your technique(s)

Ensure that the technique you choose for your quote supports your analysis or helps to build your argument.

For the quote above, rhetorical questions are used to demonstrate Leonard’s desire to connect with others but also his isolation from the rest of society. 

Step 3: Write the analysis

When writing the analysis, focus on the effect of the technique and how it supports your argument.

Through Leonard’s rhetorical questions of “What’s up tonight on Channel 4, Channel 7, Channel 9? Where are the cowboys rushing, and do I see the United States Cavalry over the next hill to the rescue?”, Bradbury simultaneously demonstrates his isolation from the rest of society despite his innate curiosity and strong desire to connect with others. 

Studying this Text for HSC English Module C: The Craft of Writing

Module C’s requirement when analysing a text is slightly different as you are observing how a writer constructs their text and why they construct it in that way to gain a better understanding of how you can make your own writing more effective. Like other units, you will follow a TEE structure in analysing the text but your application of it will be different. 

While reading a text for Module C, you should pay attention to the author’s use of a range of language forms and features like imagery, rhetoric, voice, characterisation , point of view, dialogue and tone . You should consider the purpose of the text and its audience, to observe how the author carefully shapes meanings through their writing. 

Unlike the other modules, Module C can require you to write imaginatively , discursively , persuasively , informatively and/or reflectively. In the HSC, this will consist of a question that has either one or two parts.

Usually, students are required to provide a creative response followed by an analytical or reflective response to the ideas in the first part.

Due to the nature of this module, it is highly useful to know techniques — not only in identifying them but also in weaving them into your own writing naturally and seamlessly! 

Need some help with your analysis of other texts aside from The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury?

Check out other texts we’ve created guides for below:

• Never Let Me Go
• Wild Grapes by Kenneth Slessor
• Blade Runner
• Frank Hurley
• The 7 Stages of Grieving

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Tiffany Fong  is currently completing a double degree in Media and Communications with Law at Macquarie University. She currently contributes to the university zine, Grapeshot where she enjoys writing feature articles, commentary on current affairs or whatever weird interest that has taken over her mind during that month. During her spare time, Tiffany enjoys reading, writing, taking care of her plants or cuddling with her two dogs.

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The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury Analysis

This essay will analyze Ray Bradbury’s short story “The Pedestrian.” It will explore the themes of conformity, isolation, and the impact of technology on society as depicted in the story. The piece will discuss the character of Leonard Mead and his solitary walks as a form of resistance in a dystopian world dominated by television and a lack of human interaction. The analysis will also consider Bradbury’s commentary on the potential future of society. More free essay examples are accessible at PapersOwl about American Literature.

How it works

In 2016, technology will become a part of our daily life, but in the future technology will become much more advanced and powerful, and not always beneficial. Ray Bradbury’s story “The Pedestrian” refers to the year 2053 AD. E., And technology is taking over the world. The main character, Mr. Leonard Mead, has a daily routine that includes walking through the quiet city for hours and miles until he returns to his home at midnight. Throughout the story, Bradbury shows through symbolism, setting and dialogue that technology can rob nature and the beauty of life itself.

Mr. Leonard Mead would like to walk for a long time through the streets of the “abandoned” city. Powerful symbolism helps the reader understand how strongly the author relates to this topic. The first glimpse of human life, apart from Mr. Mead, is that “Now everything took place in tomb-like houses at night. The graves, poorly lit by television light, where people sat as if they were dead, gray or colored lights touched their faces, but never touched them ”(58). The reader explores the author’s point of view when houses are described as resembling tombs, where people sit motionless like the dead. It is also implied that residents living in houses rarely have contact with other people, other than people transmitted by television light, which never physically touches them. Another example is how Mr. Mead “put his hand on the door and looked into the back seat, which was a small cell, a small black prison with bars. It smelled of riveted steel. It smelled like a harsh antiseptic; smelled too clean, hard and metallic. There was nothing soft there ”(59). The use of the word “prison” symbolizes the close connection between technology and the dark, sad life of a prisoner. The use of words such as “harsh,” “antiseptic,” and “metallic,” which do not refer to smell or touch, also indicates a disillusionment with technology.

A detailed description of the setting in Bradbury helps the reader to imagine a dark and gloomy world, bombarded with technology. Through the eyes of Mr. Leonard Mead, we see that: “On the way he saw cottages with their dark windows, and it was not uncommon to walk through the cemetery, where only the faintest glimpses of fireflies appeared in the flickering outside the windows.” Sudden gray ghosts seemed to manifest on the interior walls of a room where the curtain had not yet been removed at night, or there were whispers and noises when the window in the tomb-like building was still open (56). This description of the city helps the reader to imagine the eerie and dark environment of the “abandoned” city, although it is inhabited. It also points to a bustling life inside eerie houses, as opposed to empty streets where only whispers and eerie shadows are used to show signs of any life at all. As Mr. Mead kept walking, he indicated that “The cement had disappeared under the flowers and grass. In ten years of walking at night or during the day for thousands of miles, he never met another walking person, not one in all this time ”(57). No cement means no people who actually walk and use the sidewalk. The quote also states that for ten years, Mr. Mead has never met a single soul going outside that leaves unnecessary pavement to disappear under the grass and mud.

Today newspapers and magazines are still popular and are sold in almost every supermarket, restaurant and pharmacy. Through the dialogue between the police car and Mr. Leonard Mead, the reader is informed about the future and how technology has radically changed the world. Through Mr. Mead, the reader will know that he is a writer, but “he hasn’t written in years. Magazines and books are no longer for sale. Everything happened at night in houses that look like tombs (58). ” The context of the sentence helps to understand that tomb-like houses are televisions. All the information that every person should know is broadcast on television, and books, newspapers or magazines are no longer needed. From the dialogue between the police car, the reader learns that a letter written in 2053 classifies the police car as “Business or profession? I think you could call me a writer. No profession, said the police car, as if talking to itself ”(58). Because technology is so widespread, writing is no longer considered a profession. The police car devalued his profession, as if it no longer mattered. Besides the fact that the letter is insignificant, the police car finds it strange that Mr. Mead “Just walking, Mr. Mead. Yes. But you did not explain for what purpose I explained: for air and in order to see and just walk ”(59). The police car cannot grasp the fact that Mr. Meade walks for air when there is air conditioning, and that he goes to watch when there is TV, that he can watch whatever he wants from the comfort of his home.

Bradbury’s story implies that too much technology can isolate humans from nature and the world. At the end of the story, we learn that Mr. Leonard Mead was taken to a mental health center for issue of regressive tendencies in a police car. The irony is that technology, which should give someone more freedom and opportunity, is robbing what Leonard Mead cherished and is eagerly awaiting every day.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Ray Bradbury — The Pedestrian analysis

The Pedestrian Analysis

• Categories: Ray Bradbury Short Story

About this sample

Words: 338 |

Published: Mar 1, 2019

Words: 338 | Page: 1 | 2 min read

Works Cited

• Bradbury, R. (1951). The Pedestrian. The Reporter, 27(5), 25-27.
• Karunanayake, R. (2019). Dystopian Literature: A Critical Study. International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Research, 7(1), 114-124.
• Taylor, M. J. (2015). The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury: Summary, Analysis & Theme. Study.com. Retrieved from https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-pedestrian-by-ray-bradbury-summary-analysis-theme.html
• Yan, M., & Soltan, M. M. (2020). Technology and dystopia: An analysis of dystopian literature. Social Science Research Network. Retrieved from https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3568605
• Eaton, N. (2019). Ray Bradbury and the Dystopian Novel. Heterotopian Studies, 2(2), 139-147.
• Campbell, R. (2019). Ray Bradbury’s “The Pedestrian”: A Dystopian Vision of the Future. Owlcation.
• Moggach, D. (2020). Why dystopian fiction is so popular in 2020. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jul/24/why-dystopian-fiction-is-so-popular-in-2020
• Mahapatra, S. K. (2020). Ray Bradbury's The Pedestrian: A Critique of the Future Society. Quest: An International Journal of Research in English, 34(1), 65-74.
• Aguirre, J. L. (2019). From utopia to dystopia: A study of the evolution of utopian literature. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Research, 7(2), 1-8.
• McAlister, M. (2021). Dystopian Literature: A Genre Overview. eBookIt.com.

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The Pedestrian

28 pages • 56 minutes read

The Pedestrian: A Fantasy in One Act

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Discussion Questions

Conflict is the problem or opposition that creates drama in a narrative . It is often divided into categories such as internal or external conflict. External conflict is further divided into categories such as person versus person, person versus nature, person versus technology, and person versus society.

In “The Pedestrian,” the protagonist confronts an external conflict that could fit into the person versus technology and person versus society categories.

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The protagonist, Leonard Mead, is enjoying his routine walk when he is stopped by a police car charged with patrolling his futuristic city. The car interrogates Mead, but the reader later learns that there is no one inside, and that the car’s decisions are guided by punch-cards and electric eyes. Based on the unusual nature of Mead’s decision to walk, the car takes him to a psychiatric hospital. This represents a direct conflict with a technological object and contributes to Bradbury’s theme about The Dangers of Technological Advancement .

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Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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DATELINE: 01 JULY 2024, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

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01 JULY 2024, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, press room dais 3. Wide shot, journalists 4. SOUNDBITE (English) Jean Todt, Secretary General's Special Envoy for Road Safety, United Nations: “The road is the number one killer for youth between five to 29. Every year 1.2 million people die on the road; between 40 to 50 million people injured with disability. So, it's a burden for the victims, for the family, but it's also high cost for the countries.” 5. Wide shot, press room dais 6. SOUNDBITE (English) Jean Todt, Secretary General's Special Envoy for Road Safety, United Nations: “Simple things like buckling the safety belt in the front and in the rear; wearing a proper UN standard helmet - incidentally, which can be sold below 20 US dollars - not using your phone while driving, not drinking, or taking drugs while driving, and respecting the speed, will allow to achieve SDG.” 7. Med shot, press room dais 8. SOUNDBITE (English) Edward Mermelstein, Commissioner for International Affairs, New York City: “New York City streets are notably safer and more equitable after 10 years of Vision Zero. As the first American city to undertake such an ambitious safety program, New York City has set a model that other cities, states and countries are now emulating. Since the launch of Vision Zero, overall traffic deaths have declined by more than 12 percent and the pedestrian deaths have decreased by 45 percent, when you compare data from 2023 to 2013.” 9. Med shot, journalists 10. SOUNDBITE (English) Jean-Luc Decaux, President and Co-CEO, JCDecaux, North America” “It is legislation, regulations, and technology combined that could prevent the text and drive for example. I mean, we've all had teenagers driving, and I know that on your cell phone you can have a setting that, you know, when it records, you know, the phone going at a certain speed, you can't receive text messages. So, the technology is already there. So, question after that is about legislations, you know. I know that we're not a society where we want to be told by our government what you can and cannot do. But you know, when lives are at stake, there is a question that needs to be asked.” 11. Wide shot, end of presser

Briefing journalists on a new UN-JCDecaux Global Campaign for Road Safety, today (1 Jul) the Secretary General's Special Envoy for Road Safety, Jean Todt, said the road is the “number one killer for youth,” which, he added, is “a burden for the victims, for the family, but it's also high cost for the countries.”

Todt explained that 1.2 million people die on the road every year, while 40 to 50 million people are “injured with disability.”

The Special Envoy said Sustainable Development Goal 3.6 (SDG 3.6) target of halving the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents could be achieved with “simple things like buckling the safety belt in the front and in the rear; wearing a proper UN standard helmet - incidentally, which can be sold below 20 US dollars - not using your phone while driving, not drinking, or taking drugs while driving, and respecting the speed,”

New York City’s Commissioner for International Affairs, Edward Mermelstein told the briefing that “New York City streets are notably safer and more equitable” after 10 years of implementing Vision Zero, a multi-national road traffic safety project.

Mermelstein said, “as the first American city to undertake such an ambitious safety program, New York City has set a model that other cities, states and countries are now emulating. Since the launch of Vision Zero, overall traffic deaths have declined by more than 12 percent and the pedestrian deaths have decreased by 45 percent, when you compare data from 2023 to 2013.”

The President and Co-CEO of outdoor advertising corporation JCDecaux, North America, Jean-Luc Decaux, said, “it is legislation, regulations, and technology combined that could prevent the text and drive for example. I mean, we've all had teenagers driving, and I know that on your cell phone you can have a setting that, you know, when it records, you know, the phone going at a certain speed, you can't receive text messages. So, the technology is already there. So, question after that is about legislations, you know. I know that we're not a society where we want to be told by our government what you can and cannot do. But you know, when lives are at stake, there is a question that needs to be asked.”

UN-JCDecaux Global Campaign for Road Safety aims to create secure, inclusive and sustainable streets worldwide.

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Evaluating the efficacy of agent-based modeling in analyzing pedestrian dynamics within the built environment: a comprehensive systematic literature review.

1. Introduction

• Early Development: The initial ABM focused on modeling simple behaviors and interactions of agents. These models demonstrated ABM’s potential to capture complex dynamics that were challenging to model using traditional methods [ 13 ].
• Advancements in Computational Power: More sophisticated ABM models were created when computational power improved. These models included higher levels of detail and more complex interaction rules, leading to more accurate simulations of PD in urban settings [ 14 ].
• Integration with Urban Planning: Recently, ABM has been integrated with urban planning tools. This integration provides urban design with more efficient and safer urban spaces [ 15 ].
• The distance of vision: How far the pedestrian can see.
• The angle of vision: Determines the angle of vision.
• Noise: Determines the random angle to turn when facing an obstacle.
• Efficiency: Defines a threshold of acceptance between the shortest path and a more indirect alternative.
• Patience: Defines the threshold for waiting.
• Risk-taker: Defines how much utility difference s/he will accept.

2. Research Methodology

2.1. plan review, research questions, 2.2. review protocols, 2.3. search strategy, 2.3.1. searching keywords.

• Extracting the significant distinct terms based on our research questions.
• We used different terms as keywords, such as PD, ABM.
• Updating our search terms with keywords from relevant papers.

2.3.2. Literature Resources

2.4. conduct review, 2.4.1. study selection, 2.4.2. data extraction, 2.5. analysis, 2.5.1. information synthesis, 2.5.2. report review, 4. discussion, 4.1. limitations, 4.2. future recommendations, 5. conclusions, author contributions, data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

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Lakmali, R.G.N.; Genovese, P.V.; Abewardhana, A.A.B.D.P. Evaluating the Efficacy of Agent-Based Modeling in Analyzing Pedestrian Dynamics within the Built Environment: A Comprehensive Systematic Literature Review. Buildings 2024 , 14 , 1945. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14071945

Lakmali RGN, Genovese PV, Abewardhana AABDP. Evaluating the Efficacy of Agent-Based Modeling in Analyzing Pedestrian Dynamics within the Built Environment: A Comprehensive Systematic Literature Review. Buildings . 2024; 14(7):1945. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14071945

Lakmali, Rubasin Gamage Niluka, Paolo Vincenzo Genovese, and Abewardhana Arachchi Bandula Dimuthu Priyadarshana Abewardhana. 2024. "Evaluating the Efficacy of Agent-Based Modeling in Analyzing Pedestrian Dynamics within the Built Environment: A Comprehensive Systematic Literature Review" Buildings 14, no. 7: 1945. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14071945

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Hochul Is Pressed to Resurrect Congestion Pricing With Lower Toll

In conversations, New York legislators have suggested a way to bring back the program, possibly with a toll below $15.

By Dana Rubinstein and Grace Ashford

Weeks after Gov. Kathy Hochul abruptly pulled the plug on New York City’s congestion pricing program, state lawmakers have privately begun an informal campaign to persuade her to move ahead with the tolls, but make them less expensive.

In a series of recent conversations, the legislators suggested to Ms. Hochul that she could bring back a modified form of the initiative, which would have been the nation’s first central business district tolling program.

If the governor agreed to reduce the yearly amount of money that the law requires to be collected from the tolls, she would have some cushion to alter the program — potentially lowering the proposed $15 charge to enter Manhattan below 60th Street.

“I’ve personally urged the governor to mend it, not end it,” said Brad Hoylman-Sigal, a state senator representing a Manhattan district much of which is within the proposed congestion zone. “I think there could be an appetite among my colleagues to adjust the toll and other features of congestion pricing while approving additional revenue to make up the shortfall to the M.T.A., but only if the program is allowed to proceed.”

The ambitious but contentious program had the twin goals of generating billions of dollars for the region’s transit system and cutting congestion in Manhattan.

But on June 5, less than four weeks before it was to go into effect, Ms. Hochul indefinitely paused it, seeming to consign the plan to New York’s trash heap of ambitious, abandoned projects .

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The Pedestrian

Ray bradbury, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Robotic Police Car Quotes in The Pedestrian

“What are you doing out?”

“Walking,” said Leonard Mead. “Walking!”

“Just walking,” he said simply, but his face felt cold.

“Walking, just walking, walking?” “Yes, sir.”

“Walking where? For what?”

“Walking for air. Walking to see.”

“Your address!”

“Where are you taking me?”

The car hesitated, or rather gave a faint whirring click, as if information, somewhere, was dropping card by punch-slotted card under electric eyes. “To the Psychiatric Center for Research on Regressive Tendencies.”