Title: Should I stay or should I go? [pedestrian operated signals]
Abstract: This paper investigates pedestrian behaviour and willingness to wait at signalised pedestrian crossings. Twelve signalised pedestrian crossings were selected around Melbourne, Australia. The authors surveyed the actual waiting times experienced by 1,510 pedestrians and whether they crossed before the pedestrian walk signal was displayed. The video record enabled the existence of gaps in the vehicular traffic to be monitored during the time each pedestrian was waiting. Interviews were conducted with 300 of these pedestrians immediately after crossing. This paper describes a range of behaviours that pedestrians displayed that indicated impatience e.g. checking their watches together with their perceptions of the experience of waiting. Pedestrians often overestimated the time that they actually waited. The paper provides substantial evidence that the longer that the pedestrian has been waiting the less likely that the person will cross against the red signal if a gap in traffic appears. This is contrary to expectations. One implication of this finding is that high pedestrian compliance rates can only be achieved if signal operation is changed to display green to pedestrians when there is a gap in traffic. This would require a fundamental change in signal philosophy towards systems that have real time detection of approaching vehicles. The current practice of setting a maximum wait time does not have much effect on pedestrian compliance rates. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E217330.
Publication Year: 2008
Publication Date: 2008-08-01
Language: en
Type: article
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