Pedestrian Signal Safety - AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety

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RESULTS OF PEDESTRIAN SIGNAL SURVEY
Purpose of Survey
The purpose of the survey of governmental organizations was to identify the state of the art and
state of the practice in pedestrian signal timing and the use of pedestrian signals. This Web-based
survey had as its objective the development of a body of knowledge on walking speeds as they relate
to special user populations, including older persons. The project team also requested information
regarding PCD signals, including comprehension, number of countdown signals, advantages,
and challenges.
Survey Methodology
The e-mail survey was conducted between June 17 and June 29, 2004. There were 1,140 invitees.
Invitees comprised members of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) employed in a public
agency either at the local (city, county, or township) or state level. There were 599 visits to the
electronic survey (53 percent of invitees viewed the survey), with an overall response rate of 16
percent (n = 182 responses).
As would be expected, not all responses contained answers to every question. ITE understood the
need for privacy for some organizations and the hesitancy of some respondents to provide data.
Question 1 requested that the respondents indicate the level of privacy desired in exchange for
completing the survey. A total of 43 respondents requested complete anonymity in terms of any
publication or summary information that might contain information related to their jurisdiction.
SURVEY DEMOGRAPHICS
Table A-1 shows the distribution of respondents by agency/organization type. As shown, more
than half (54.2 percent) of the respondents were employed by U.S. city governmental agencies.
Approximately 14 percent of the respondents worked for county or combined city/county
governmental organizations. Combined, almost seven of 10 respondents (115 of
the 168 respondents) worked for local governmental organizations. Almost 20 percent of the
respondents (n = 31) were employed at state departments of transportation. Non-U.S. respondents
included Canadian cities and provinces (17, or 10.2 percent) and international cities and provinces (5,
or 3.0 percent).
Figure A-1 shows the 41 states where survey respondents were employed. The numbers included
in Figure A-1 (1/1) represent the number of jurisdictions or organizations that responded from a
particular state and the number of jurisdictions or organizations that have PCD signals in place.