Pedestrians speed up, and street conversations decline

MIT researchers used artificial intelligence to analyze video footage from busy districts of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, dating back to the 1980s. The results are surprising: average pedestrian speed increased by 15% over three decades, and the number of people chatting on the street dropped from 5.5% to 2%.

Why is this happening? Researchers believe it is linked to the growing popularity of coffee shops and other comfortable meeting places. People prefer to spend time in cozy establishments rather than on noisy streets.

Interestingly, the proportion of those walking alone remained the same — about two-thirds of pedestrians. MIT Professor Carlo Ratti notes: "Streets used to be places for socializing and meeting people; today, that can be done online."

The research continues: now AI will analyze video from squares in 40 European cities.

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