Pedestrian Signal Safety - AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety

DATA COLLECTION METHODOLOGY
Pedestrian Behavior Data
Data were collected in Broward County during the week of January 17, 2005. At each intersection,
Portable Archival Traffic History (PATH) cameras were deployed for one full day of recording for
one minor leg and one major leg. PATH systems record pedestrian activity at an intersection
without interfering with pedestrians. The pedestrian behavior data were collected without any major
difficulties.
Surveys
The project team developed a brief survey to be administered to pedestrians at the study
intersections. The purpose of the survey was to gauge pedestrian understanding and preference for
PCD signals and TPS.
Survey administration took approximately 1 minute. Surveys were administered at the two PCD study
intersections to pedestrians who had completed their crossing at the intersections. The targets of the
survey were pedestrians over 18 years of age.
Almost 50 percent (49 out of 100) of the people approached regarding the survey agreed to
participate. Older pedestrians were much more willing to participate than younger pedestrians. The
survey administrator noted that this was because many of the older pedestrians were long-time
residents of the area and were happy to share their input because they felt they had a stake in the
area.
RESULTS
Walking Speeds
The walking speeds of 702 pedestrians were observed at the four intersections. This included 261
pedestrians estimated to be 65 or older based on visual observations. Pedestrian walking speeds
were measured from when they left the curb to when they returned to the curb on the other side
of the street. Pedestrians who left the influence area of the crosswalk (within 2 to 3 ft. of the edge
of the crosswalk) during their crossing were not included in the analysis. The mean (average),
50th-percentile (median), and 15th-percentile walking speeds were calculated for both groups of
pedestrians. These values are presented in Table C-2 individually for each intersection’s minor and
major approach. The mean, median, and 15th percentile also are represented collectively for all four
traditional crossings and all four countdown crossings.
121