This paper summarizes an evaluation of the effectiveness of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) based countermeasures installed in Las Vegas, Nevada as part of a Federal Highway Administration sponsored pedestrian safety project. ITS related countermeasures considered for evaluation include ITS No Turn on Red sign, automatic pedestrian detection devices and smart lighting, and portable speed trailer. The evaluations are based on field observations of pedestrian and driver behaviors before and after installation of countermeasures at selected locations in Las Vegas, Nevada. The effectiveness of No Turn on Red sign at intersections was evaluated using percent of signal cycles in which call button has been pushed, percent of drivers making right turn on red (RTOR) that come to a complete stop, percent of drivers violating the no RTOR (when pedestrians present), percent of drivers violating the no RTOR (when pedestrians NOT present), average pedestrian delay and average vehicle delay. On the other hand, the effectiveness of automatic pedestrian detection device and smart lighting at midblock locations was evaluated using pedestrians who looked for vehiclesbefore beginning to cross, pedestrians who looked for vehicles before crossing 2nd half of the street, drivers yielding to pedestrians, distance driver stops/yields before the crosswalk, pedestrian delay and vehicle speedas measures of effectiveness. Results show statistically significant reduction in vehicle speeds due to installation of speed trailer. Also, driveryielding behavior improved due to installation of the above countermeasure. The findings from this study could be used to enhance pedestrian safetyby influencing driver behavior on arterial roads in other cities with similar demographic characteristics and traffic conditions.
Abstract