Reducing the conflict between pedestrians and vehicles is a continuing problem in most cities. The provision of pedestrian-only streets, while a preferred solution to give priority to people rather than vehicles, is not always feasible. In most cities many roads continue to carry fast moving streams of vehicles. Implicitly, vehicles have priority on the carriageway and pedestrians must either risk crossing in gaps in traffic or rely on pedestrian crossings. This paper considers the provision and operation of pedestrian crossing facilities both at mid block and at junctions. Traditionally, pedestrian crossings have been operated subject to the over-riding requirement to minimise interference with the free flow of vehicles. Data are presented demonstrating that the bias towards optimising vehicle movement persists with vehicle delay often representing about 10% of the delay imposed on pedestrians at signal-controlled crossings. Typically, pedestrian delays are shown to be further increased when UTC systems further constrain pedestrian precedence periods at mid block sign all-controlled crossings. The introduction of new technology such as pedestrian detection does not currently address the major imbalance in the allocation of time to pedestrians and vehicle occupants. The paper proposes changes in the operational strategy and timings of both free-standing and linked signal systems. The proposed changes are consistent with policies designed to improve the urban environment for pedestrians without substantially disbenefitting vehicle occupants. (A)
Abstract