Evaluating Driver and Pedestrian Behaviors at Enhanced Multilane Midblock Pedestrian Crossings

摘要

Case Study in Portland, Oregon This study examines driver and pedestrian behaviors at two enhanced midblock pedestrian crossings in Portland, Oregon. One crossing is on a five-lane arterial with a posted speed of 35/45 miles-per-hour (MPH) and features six rectangular rapid flash beacon (RRFB) assemblies and a narrow median refuge. The other crossing is on a suburban arterial with four travel lanes and a two-way left-turn lane. The crossing is enhanced with four RRFB assemblies and a median island with a “Z” crossing, or Danish offset, designed to encourage pedestrians to face oncoming traffic before completing the second stage of their crossing. Approximately 62 hours of video have been collected at the two locations. A total of 351 pedestrian crossings are analyzed for driver compliance (yielding) rates, pedestrian activation rates, pedestrian delay, and conflict avoidance maneuvers. The suburban arterial crossing is also evaluated to determine its effectiveness at diverting pedestrians to cross at it instead of away from a crosswalk, as well as pedestrian compliance with the Z-crossing. This study finds that average driver yield rates at both sites are just over 90% when the RRFB is activated, which is consistent with previous studies. RRFB actuation rates range from 83% to over 90%. The results also show that approximately 52% of all crossings at the marked crosswalk at the second location are from diverted pedestrians and that the enhanced crossing captures about 82% of all crossings near the crosswalk. Finally, approximately 52%, of the pedestrians using the crosswalk follow the Z-crossing pattern through the median.