Pelican crossings: myth or miracle

The potential for Australian use of the pelican (pedestrian light controlled) crossing, is reviewed. The effect of installing similar crossings in Perth, Western Australia is discussed. It has not been reliably demonstrated that the provision of a pelican crossing has increased pedestrian safety but the additional measures, ie, anti skid surfacing, guard rails, relocation and speed sensitive actuation devices produced a safety benefit where applied. A doubling of the steady 'green man' phase of the pelican crossing is suggested. At low to medium flow rates a reduction in the minimum 'green' signal time for vehicles appears justified. Pelican crossings should be fitted with vehicle actuation equipment which searches for gaps in traffic or which detects queue length in order to improve flow rates. Increase of the 'green' signal time to 60 seconds may be justified in heavy vehicle flows but this is unlikely to be acceptable to pedestrians. The probability that pelican crossings reduce vehicle delay should be investigated further.

• Record URL:
  http://arrbknowledge.com
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/086910408X
• Authors:
  • Williams, M
• Conference:
  • Joint ARRB / DOT Pedestrian Conference, 1978, Sydney, Australia
• Publication Date: 1978

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 22P

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Behavior; Crosswalks; Highway traffic control; Pedestrians; Safety; Traffic delays; Traffic flow; Traffic signals; Vehicles
• Geographic Terms: Australia; Perth (Australia)
• ATRI Terms: Behaviour; Delay; Pedestrian; Pedestrian crossing; Safety; Traffic control; Traffic flow; Traffic signal; Vehicle
• Subject Areas: Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01440485
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: ARRB
• ISBN: 086910408X
• Files: ATRI
• Created Date: Aug 24 2012 10:59PM