Analysis of pedestrians at intersections

The problem area discussed in this paper is related to the level of service provided to pedestrians at signalised intersections with pedestrian signals. The paper is based on field surveys conducted in 1996 in New South Wales and the Northern Territory at seven signalised intersections. The objective is to investigate whether pedestrian movement has been dealt with at an adequate level of technical professionalism. Pedestrian behaviour and related historical aspects are documented in the paper. The incentive for adoption of more effective management of. the pedestrian phases is the presence of soft violations where certain pedestrians try to outguess the length of the remaining flashing red period. It is seen that signal violators reduce the average delay below the design amount but this is associated with safety implications. Field survey findings here show that an ambiguity in design guidelines has lead to a generally poor level of service in terms of average delays experienced by pedestrians at intersections with pedestrian signals.