Evaluation of Pedestrian Walking Speed Change Patterns at Crosswalks in Palestine

Abstract

Background: Pedestrians and vehicles are the two most important elements in designing roads and highways. However, for a long time, the designer focused on vehicle issues and did not give sufficient attention to pedestrian safety. Recently though, pedestrians have become the subject of much research and many studies. Moreover, most transportation codes include specific considerations and standards for pedestrians. One of the main pedestrian issues considered in facilities and traffic signal design is pedestrian walking speed. It is, therefore, necessary to evaluate the walking speed change patterns at crosswalks and the appropriate design walking speed for pedestrians, which can then be used to design pedestrian facilities and traffic signals. Methods: In this study, the crossing speeds of 4,301 pedestrians were collected from six different locations in Nablus, the second-most populous city in Palestine. Three of these locations were at unsignalized crosswalks, and the other three locations were at signalized crosswalks. Results: The collected data considered the factors of pedestrians’ age, gender and the type of traffic control at the crosswalk. After analyzing the collected data and performing the Z-test and ANOVA Test for each of the factors, the results showed that male pedestrians walk faster than female pedestrians. Conclusion: The study also concluded that age significantly influenced pedestrian crossing speed. Moreover, the values of pedestrian crossing speed at unsignalized crosswalks were insignificantly higher than those at signalized crosswalks. Finally, the average and 15th percentile crossing speeds were determined, since these values are critical to design pedestrian facilities and traffic signals. © 2020 Fady M. A Hassouna.