Analysis of pedestrian crossing speed – the case of Istanbul

Abstract

Pedestrians, as the most vulnerable road users, are more severely affected when involved in an accident. For this reason, it is important to reduce the risk of pedestrian accidents to increase the safety of highway traffic. The majority of accidents involving pedestrians occur during street crossings where motor vehicles are present. Hence, pedestrians are encouraged to cross safely at crosswalks that are either controlled by a signal or not. Accidents involving pedestrians can be reduced by analysing pedestrian crossing behaviours and designing crosswalks accordingly. Crosswalk design as well as traffic signal phasing need to give enough time for pedestrians to complete their crossing during the green signal phase. For this reason, pedestrian crossing speed and factors affecting this have been analysed in this study. The outcomes can be used to help decision makers and engineers to design ideal pedestrian facilities.