Applicability of single and double phase mid-block crossings

Abstract

With the goal of improving pedestrians' convenience and safety, signalised mid-block crossings are commonly installed in highly-populated areas lacking convenient intersection crossings. However, few studies have sought to provide standards for the application of single- and double-phase crossings in highly-populated areas. Moreover, previous studies have not addressed the design capacities of single- or double-phase crossings with their associated vehicle lanes. This paper proposes an approach to determining the applicability of single- and double-phase crossings based on the relationships between control cycles, green time and clearance time at mid-block crossings. Single- and double-phase crossing efficiency along with several key crossing design parameters, such as crossing width, crossing length, traffic demand, are discussed in this paper. The research findings show that double-phase crossings provide superior flexibility for highly populated areas. Findings also show that the design crossing capacity is affected more by the crossing width than by length, while the design lane capacity is affected more by the crossing length than width. Finally, the paper provides a guideline for determining the applicability of single- and double-phase crossings in highly-populated areas.