Are We Getting Slower? Updated Recommended Walking Speeds for Pedestrian Signal Timing

Data from 1,947 pedestrian crossing events measured at eleven intersections in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin were analyzed in this paper in order to determine the characteristics that influence pedestrian walking speeds. The characteristics that were observed included subject age and disability, intersection traffic control condition, group size, and sex. The specific findings were as follows: (1) pedestrians over the age of 65 (n = 326) were the slowest among all age groups with a mean and 15th percentile walking speed of 3.81 and 3.02 ft/s, respectively; (2) children hand-assisted by adults and physically disabled persons showed crossing speeds similar to those of persons over the age of 65; (3) groups of two or more pedestrians crossed 0.4 to 0.6 ft/s slower than individual crossers; (4) pedestrians crossed fastest during the DON’T WALK and FLASHING DON’T WALK signal conditions and slowest during the WALK condition and at stop controlled intersections; and (5) sex of the pedestrian did not affect walking speed. The paper concludes that the commonly used 4.0 ft/s walking speed was found to not provide ample clearance time for the majority of pedestrians over the age of 65, children assisted by adults, physically disabled persons, and large groups of pedestrians.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/1933452161
• Corporate Authors:

  Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE)

  Washington, DC  United States 
• Authors:
  • Gates, Tim J
  • Noyce, David A
  • Bill, Andrea R
• Conference:
  • 2006 ITE Annual Meeting and Exhibit Compendium of Technical Papers
  • Location: Milwaukee WI, United States
  • Date: 2006-8-6 to 2006-8-9
• Publication Date: 2006

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: CD-ROM
• Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 20p
• Monograph Title: 2006 ITE Annual Meeting and Exhibit Compendium of Technical Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crosswalks; Flashing traffic signals; Intersections; Pedestrian areas; Pedestrian movement; Pedestrian safety; Traffic control; Walking; Walking distance
• Uncontrolled Terms: Flashing lights; Flashing messages; Walking speed
• Geographic Terms: Milwaukee (Wisconsin)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors; I73: Traffic Control; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01036831
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 1933452161
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 15 2006 4:21PM