Browsing by Subject "Crosswalks"

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
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    Assessing the Impact of Pedestrian-Activated Crossing Systems
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2020-05) Hourdos, John; Dirks, Peter; Lehrke, Derek; Parikh, Gordon; Davis, Gary; Cheong, Christopher
    Pedestrian-Activated Crossing (PAC) systems have been shown to have a generally positive impact on driver yield rates. However, there has been insufficient research on the effect PAC treatments have on pedestrian crash rates, and there is little guidance as to when and where each treatment should be used. This study estimates the effects of PACs on pedestrian crash rates using Monte Carlo simulation and examines the relationships between driver yield rates and a variety of treatments and site designs by conducting an observational study using video data from 34 locations. The simulation outcomes suggests that while the percentage of yielding drivers might be a useful indicator of pedestrian level of service, it is less helpful as safety surrogate. This could be because a driver?s yielding to a pedestrian, as observed in field studies, might not be the same behavior as a driver attempting to stop during a vehicle/pedestrian conflict. The observational study shows that the number of lanes to cross at a crossing is positively correlated with the rate at which pedestrians activate the system, but it is not correlated with the delay. Additionally, the study showed that the effect of PAC systems is most pronounced at sites with a higher number of movements conflicting with the crossing or poor visibility from upstream without signs warning drivers of an upcoming crosswalk.
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    Development of Mobile Accessible Pedestrian Signals (MAPS) for Blind Pedestrians at Signalized Intersections
    (Center for Transportation Studies, 2011-06) Liao, Chen-fu; Rakauskas, Michael; Rayankula, Avanish
    People with vision impairment have different perception and spatial cognition as compared to the sighted people. Blind pedestrians primarily rely on auditory, olfactory, or tactile feedback to determine spatial location and find their way. They generally have difficulty crossing intersections due to lack of traffic information at intersections. Among the intersection crossing sub-tasks, locating crosswalk, determining when to cross and maintaining alignment to crosswalk while crossing are the most difficult tasks for the blind and visually impaired. To understand how the blind pedestrians make safe crossing decisions, ten blind and low-vision individuals were interviewed. The purpose of these interviews was to understand the types of information they use while making safe intersection crossings and identify new information types that could assist them. A Mobile Accessible Pedestrian Signals (MAPS) prototype was developed to support decision making at signalized intersections. The MAPS integrates sensors on a Smartphone, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth technologies, and traffic signal controllers were developed to provide intersection geometry information and Signal Phasing and Timing (SPaT) to pedestrians who are blind at signalized intersections. A single-tap command on the Smartphone screen allows users to request for intersection geometry information, such as street name, direction and number of lanes at a corner of an intersection. A double-tap input while pointing toward desired direction of crossing will confirm the crossing direction, request for pedestrian phase, and the Smartphone application will then wirelessly request for signal timing and phasing information from traffic signal controller.
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    Evaluation of R1-6 Gateway Treatment Alternatives for Pedestrian Crossings: Follow Up Report
    (Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2017-06) Van Houten, Ron; Hochmuth, Jonathan
    Monthly follow-up data confirmed that permanent in roadway installations of the R1-6 gateway treatment led to an increase in the percentage of drivers yielding to pedestrians at midblock and multilane urban and suburban locations from 15% to 70% and that these increases endured without any decrement over the spring, summer and fall of 2016. Speed data collected at each site showed 4 to 5 mph reduction in mean when motorists traversed the crosswalk when pedestrians were absent. These speed changes persisted over time. An additional study showed that placing the signs between 5, 10, 20, 30, and 50 ft in advance of the crosswalk were equally effective and they enticed drivers to yield further ahead of the crosswalk. Data on sign survival showed that signs mounted on a curb type mount with a flexible rubber attachment all survived while only 58% of the flush mounted signs with a pivoting base survived. Data showed that none of the signs mounted on top of the edge of a curb on a refuge island or median island, curb extension, or the curb on the edge of the roadway under FHWA permission to experiment were destroyed or damaged.
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    Evaluation of Sustained Enforcement, Education, and Engineering Measures on Pedestrian Crossings
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation., 2019-07) Morris, Nichole L.; Craig, Curtis M.; Van Houten, Ron
    Pedestrian fatalities and injuries represent a growing percentage of all traffic fatalities and injuries. This project used a multifaceted approach to improving compliance to the Minnesota crosswalk law in Saint Paul, Minnesota, including: (1) education, (2) measurement, (3) enforcement efforts, (4) social norming, and (5) engineering treatment. The multifaceted activities were planned and implemented in Saint Paul with city traffic engineers and enforcement officers. The study initially observed 32% yielding and frequent multiple threat passing at 16 unsignalized, marked crosswalks throughout Saint Paul, measured through staged pedestrian crossings by the research team. A program was implemented that used a phased treatment approach of disseminating educational materials, conducting four waves of high visibility enforcement (HVE), displaying yielding averages on feedback signs across the city, and introducing low-cost engineering solutions through in-street signs. The results demonstrated a significant impact from education, HVE, and engineering to increase yielding to as high as 78% at enforcement sites and 61% at untreated sites. Multiple threat passing was also reduced. Overall, the study demonstrated that the HVE program and combined low-cost engineering were effective at improving compliance to the crosswalk law.
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    Investigation of Pedestrian/Bicyclist Risk in Minnesota Roundabout Crossings
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2012-09) Hourdos, John; Richfield, Veronica; Shauer, Melissa
    Many cities in the United States are installing roundabouts instead of traditional intersections, due to evidence that roundabouts dramatically reduce fatal and severe injury crashes compared to traditional signalized intersections. However, the impact on pedestrian safety is not clear. This project was developed to investigate pedestrian accessibility in Minnesota urban roundabouts, addressing complaints from pedestrians regarding difficulties in crossing and safety. The methodology followed in this ongoing research is typical of other observational studies. A sufficiently large number of observations on the interactions between pedestrians or bicycles (peds/bikes) and vehicles at two modern urban roundabouts in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul in Minnesota were collected and reduced. These observations have supported a two phased analysis. Phase 1 involved the extraction of general information describing the crossing event, such as who yielded, the location of the crossing, or the number of subjects involved. Phase 2 looked deeper into these factors by considering the conditions inside the roundabout before the vehicle proceeds to the crossing and meets with the ped/bike. The results presented, although containing no surprises, do highlight and categorize the existence of friction between pedestrians and drivers at roundabout crossings. Also the identification of factors affecting driver yield behavior and pedestrian wait time do offer good background for modeling such interactions.
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    Multi-city study of an engineering and outreach program to increase driver yielding at signalized and unsignalized crosswalks
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2023-03) Morris, Nichole L.; Craig, Curtis M.; Drahos, Bradley; Tian, Disi; Van Houten, Ron; Mabry, Marshall; Kessler, William
    Pedestrian deaths are at a 30-year high nationally, accounting for 16% of total deaths in 2018 and far exceeding the previous decade of 12%, a trend mirrored in Minnesota. Previous research found an increase in local and citywide yielding at unsignalized crosswalks following an engineering and high-visibility enforcement program in Saint Paul, Minnesota. This study examined a modified engineering-focused (i.e., without enforcement) program expanded to both unsignalized and signalized intersections across the Twin Cities. The six-month study found modest improvements in yielding from baseline to treatment end (48.1% to 65.5% in Saint Paul and 19.8% to 38.8% in Minneapolis) at unsignalized engineering treatment sites but no improvements at generalization sites. No significant improvements in left- or right-turning yielding by drivers in Saint Paul were found at treated signalized intersections, but given that yielding was significantly worse at generalization sites over time, there may be some evidence that treatments mitigated performance declines among Saint Paul drivers during the study period. Yielding improvements at signalized treatment sites were more pronounced for only right-turning drivers in Minneapolis, but generalization sites showed no improvement or even worsened over time. Overall, study results suggested no shift in driving culture in either city, as found with the previous study using police enforcement, but found some evidence of local, site-specific changes in driver yielding behavior at treatment locations.
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    Uncontrolled Pedestrian Crossing Evaluation Incorporating Highway Capacity Manual Unsignalized Pedestrian Crossing Analysis Methodology
    (Minnesota Department of Transportation Research Services & Library, 2014-06) Nemeth, Bryan; Tillman, Ross; Melquist, Jeremy; Hudson, Ashley
    This report provides a procedure for the evaluation of uncontrolled pedestrian crossing locations that takes into account accepted practice, safety and delay. Safety considerations have been paramount to the analysis of crossings but delay is often not considered. The Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) provides a methodology for determining delay that can be included in the analysis of a crossing location. The analysis procedure takes into account previous research procedures and adds in delay considerations to develop a methodology appropriate for use by jurisdictional agencies in the evaluation of what is needed for treatments at uncontrolled pedestrian crossings. The evaluation procedure developed runs through a multi-step process from field data review through the consideration of appropriate treatment options. The evaluation procedure takes into account field data collection; safety/crash history; stopping sight distance; HCM Level of Service (LOS); pedestrian sight distance; origins and destinations/alternate routes; access spacing and functional classification; roadway speed and pedestrian use; FHWA guidance for placement based on safety considerations; school crossings; and appropriate treatment options. Treatment options include four different classes: Signing and Marking Treatments; Traffic Calming Treatments; Uncontrolled Crossing Treatments; and High Level Treatments.
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    Video Detection and Classification of Pedestrian Events at Roundabouts and Crosswalks
    (Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute, Center for Transportation Studies, 2013-08) Morris, Ted; Li, Xinyan; Morellas, Vassilios; Papanikolopoulos, Nikos
    A well-established technique for studying pedestrian safety is based on reducing data from video-based in-situ observation. The extraction and cataloging from recorded video of pedestrian crossing events has largely been achieved manually. Although the manual methods are generally reliable, they are extremely time-consuming. As a result, more detailed, encompassing site studies are not practical unless the mining for these events can be automated. The study investigated such a tool based on utilizing a novel image processing algorithm recently developed for the extraction of human activities in complex scenes. No human intervention other than defining regions of interest for approaching vehicles and the pedestrian crossing areas was required. The output quantified general event indicators—such as pedestrian wait time, and crossing time and vehicle-pedestrian yield behaviors. Such data can then be used to guide more detailed analyses of the events to study potential vehicle-pedestrian conflicts and their causal effects. The evaluation was done using an extensive set of multi-camera video recordings collected at roundabouts. The tool can be used to support other pedestrian safety research where extracting potential pedestrian-vehicle conflicts from video are required, for example at crosswalks at urban signalized and uncontrolled intersections.