Pedestrian Road Crossing Behavior and Optimal Selection of Pedestrian Facilities at Mid-Block Crossings

Pedestrians are considered the most vulnerable of all road users, particularly in developing counties. Therefore, the safety of pedestrians plays a significant role during road crossing. The pedestrian gap acceptance and level of service (LOS) can be used to evaluate pedestrian crossing behavior. The existing statistical models are failed to predict the accurate level of pedestrian safety due to various assumptions. Thus, the objectives of this study are to develop pedestrian crossing behavior models, level of service model, and systematic methodology to select optimal pedestrian crossing facilities at midblock under mixed traffic conditions. The required data were collected from selected six midblock locations in Tiruchirappalli, India, by conducting videographic and questionnaire surveys simultaneously. Various influencing parameters on pedestrian crossing behavior were identified by conducting statistical correlation analysis. First, the pedestrian field critical gap was estimated and compared with various methods such as Raff, Greenshield, Ashworth, and Highway Capacity Manual 2010. The pedestrian gap acceptance model was developed by adopting stepwise multiple linear regression and non-linear artificial neural network methods. The developed models were validated and compared using the field data. The pedestrian LOS model was developed by utilizing the conventional regression method by using qualitative and quantitative data. Pedestrian LOS model was validated using another set of field data. Finally, the approximate solution to find the best crossing facility was found by performing weighting by a ranking method and analytical hierarchy process in all six locations. This study helps in identifying the most significant factors influencing road crossing behavior of pedestrians for the selected locations. The study results help design pedestrian facility and thereby improve pedestrian safety at uncontrolled intersections.