Urban centers often have public transportation stations near busy streets, in locations wherepotential users may have to cross a street to board the train. Depending on the station location,the traffic and pedestrian density, and frequency of service, pedestrian street crossing behaviormay be problematic. Over the course of a typical day, depending on the frequency of transitservice, pedestrians may ignore the walks signal, run to “catch the train”, and compromise theirsafety.A study was performed in Boston, MA, near a major university and at-grade publictransportation stop to objectively evaluate pedestrian street crossing behavior. When trains werepresent, and the pedestrians wanted to make sure to board the waiting train, their crossingbehavior changed. Not only did their crossing speed increase, their propensity to accept smallergaps increased as well, compromising their safety as well as the road user. This researchidentifies and analyzes pedestrian’s street crossing behavior when a transit vehicle isapproaching the intersection and compares it to pedestrians crossing when a train is not waiting.
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