01555511

Component

Pedestrian facilities have been the focus of significant research in the past few years, but additional research on the interaction of pedestrians and motorized traffic at unsignalized crossings is needed. The 2010 Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) provides a methodology to evaluate this interaction, but this methodology has not been calibrated with field observations. The authors developed a series of driver yielding models for unsignalized midblock pedestrian crossings, which are common in downtown areas and college campuses. The models are developed using observational data collected through naturally occurring and staged pedestrian crossings in three states in the southeastern U.S: Alabama, Florida, and North Carolina. The 27 evaluation sites featured varying lane configurations, geometric characteristics, and pedestrian treatments in order to achieve greater heterogeneity in the study. In the assessment, a driver’s decision was assumed to be a discrete choice between yielding and not yielding. Consequently, binary logit models were developed that include several independent variables, such as speed, required deceleration rate, presence of adjacent yields, low-speed compact platoons, the presence of multiple pedestrians, and male vs. female pedestrians. It was also determined that yielding behavior differs between on-campus or off-campus locations, as well as across the three states. Two driver yielding models were created, one with state-specific variables and one without, referred to as the universal model. Both models were validated at three sites not used in model development (one from each state). The models developed as part of this research can be further implemented in simulation software to replicate driver decisions of whether or not to yield to a pedestrian at an unsignalized crosswalk.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ANF10 Pedestrians.

01550057

15-1821

English

18p

2015

Transportation Research Board 94th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Figures; References; Tables

Logits; Midblock crossings; Pedestrian areas; Unsignalized intersections; Yielding

Alabama; Florida; North Carolina

Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; I73: Traffic Control

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2015 Paper #15-1821

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Dec 30 2014 12:39PM