The Impact of Traffic Lights on Dangerous Pedestrian Crossings and Violations: a Case Study in Montreal

Pedestrian violations of signals and dangerous crossing situations at intersections are commonly observed. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of pedestrian waiting time at an intersection, due to phasing, time of arrival and the presence of a pedestrian signal on the proportion and type of pedestrian violations and dangerous crossing situations. Seven intersections with similar geometry and traffic conditions but different maximum waiting times, four of which had a pedestrian signal, were observed over at least two hours to collect crossing information. Data was collected manually for the main analysis and with a video camera for the validation of results. Many factors were identified as having an impact on the proportion of violations. Some confirmed the literature, such as age, sex, group size, conflicting vehicle flow and pedestrian signals. New factors were identified in this research such as maximum waiting time (red phase). It was also determined that an intersection’s clearing time had an impact on violations and on the proportion of dangerous crossings committed. Also, pedestrians’ speeds depended on the type of crossing. The results underline the importance of providing pedestrian signals and paying particular attention to pedestrian maximum waiting time as well as clearing time.

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• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ANF10 Pedestrians
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Brosseau, Marilyne
  • Saunier, Nicolas
  • Le Mouel, Kevin
  • Miranda-Moreno, Luis
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 91st Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2012-1-22 to 2012-1-26
• Date: 2012

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 16p
• Monograph Title: TRB 91st Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers DVD

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Behavior; Case studies; Crosswalks; Pedestrian clearance interval (Traffic signals); Pedestrian safety; Signalized intersections
• Candidate Terms: Pedestrian violations
• Geographic Terms: Montreal (Canada)
• Subject Areas: Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor; I85: Safety Devices used in Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01366233
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 12-0941
• Files: PRP, TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Mar 29 2012 7:14AM