Location-Allocation Model for the Design of Guidance Signage Systems for Pedestrian Wayfinding in Public Spaces

This paper investigates a design method for guidance signage systems in public spaces. A guidance graph method is proposed based on a combination of the shortest path algorithm and the proposed limited penetrable MAKLINK graph (LPMG) to determine the sets of guidance demand points and potential sign locations. The memory duration of pedestrians is measured in a cognitive experiment to determine the expected distance between guidance points. To reasonably estimate the coverage of guidance signs, a multifeature fusion-based interaction (MFI) model is proposed. Then, a binary linear programming formulation of a location-allocation model is proposed based on the MFI model. The proposed model can suggest the optimal orientations of signs in addition to their optimal number and locations. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is illustrated through a real-world case study. The case study shows that the proposed model can produce a much more economical and pedestrian-friendly location-allocation plan than previous methods. A sensitivity analysis shows that the number of signs is a piecewise decreasing function with respect to the letter height and the expected distance between guidance points.