Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety at Signalized Intersections: Does it depend on Level-of-service (LOS) and Surrogate Data within their Proximity?

The focus of this paper is to assess the relationship between transportation infrastructure and surrogate data on pedestrian and bicyclist involved crashes at signalized intersections. The effect of transportation infrastructure is assessed through the use of pedestrian and bicyclist level-of- service (LOS) [could also be referred to as quality-of-service], while the effect of surrogate data is examined by considering data such as population density, per-capita income, and land-use characteristics. The pedestrian and bicycle LOS method for signalized intersections, developed by the staff of the city of Charlotte Department of Transportation (CDoT), considers various transportation infrastructure elements (road characteristics, markings, signs, and signals related data) to compute the LOS for each selected intersection. Data for 578 signalized intersections with pedestrian LOS and 581 signalized intersections with bicyclist LOS in Charlotte, North Carolina were considered for analyses and interpretations. The risk to pedestrians is greater than the average risk for the study area at signalized intersections having LOS A, B, E or F in low or medium population density areas. The pedestrians are also at higher risk when crossing at signalized intersections with LOS C or D in high population density areas. The risk to bicyclists is high at signalized intersections in areas with medium to high population densities irrespective of the bicyclist LOS. Both pedestrians and bicyclists are at higher risk when crossing at signalized intersections in areas with per-capita income less than $50,000 per year. Likewise, pedestrians and bicyclists have a greater chance of getting involved in crashes at signalized intersections with 1) LOS D or worse in commercial areas, and 2) LOS C or better in residential areas.