Sponsor
The authors thank the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for funding this research.
Document Type
Report
Publication Date
12-2016
Subjects
Pedestrian crosswalks, Roads -- Safety measures, Traffic lanes -- Safety measures, Pedestrian facilities design, Traffic signs and signals
Abstract
Over the last decade, the Oregon DOT and other agencies have systematically implemented many pedestrian crossing enhancements (PCEs) across the state. This study explored the safety performance of these enhanced crossing in Oregon. Detailed data were collected on 191 crossings. Supplemental data items included crossing location information, route characteristics, surrounding land use and crossing enhancement descriptions. Pedestrian volume at the crossing locations was a highly desirable but unavailable data element. To characterize pedestrian activity, a method was developed to estimate ranges for pedestrian crosswalk activity levels based on the land use classification at the census block level and the presence of pedestrian traffic generators such as bus stops, schools, shopping centers and hospitals within a 0.25-mile radius. Each crosswalk was categorized into one of six levels of activity – very low, low, medium-low, medium, medium-high and high. Crash data for the 2007-2014 period were assembled for the safety analysis. After filtering, 62 pedestrian crashes and 746 rear-end crashes were retained for further analysis. The crash data were merged and analyzed. Crash patterns and risk ratios were explored. The most important trend observed was a shift (reduction) in the pedestrian crash severity after the installation of the crosswalk treatments. This shift was from fatal and injury A crash type to lower severity crashes of injury B and injury C. For pedestrian crashes, increases in the risk ratio were observed for increases in the number of lanes, the posted speed, and estimated pedestrian activity level. Similar trends were observed for rear-end crashes. Due to data limitations, subsequent safety analysis focused on installations of RRFB crossing enhancements. A CMF for RRFB installations was estimated. The CMFS for pedestrian crashes are 0.64 +/- 0.26 using a simple before-after analysis; for rear-end crashes: 0.93 +/- 0.22 using an empirical Bayes analysis approach.
DOI
10.15760/trec.168
Persistent Identifier
http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/16920
Citation Details
Monsere, C. and Figliozzi, M. (2016). Safety Effectiveness of Pedestrian Crossing Enhancements. SPR 778. Portland, OR: Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC). https://doi.org/10.15760/trec.168
Research Project Work Plan
Description
The Research Project Work Plan is available in the Additional Files below.
This is a final report, SPR 778, from the NITC program of TREC at Portland State University, and may be found online at: http://trec.pdx.edu/research/project/968/Safety_Effectiveness_of_Pedestrian_Crossing_Enhancements