The safety of pedestrian crossing mid-block crosswalks depends on the availability of adequate gaps in the traffic streams. Pedestrian gap studies are conducted to measure the predominant pedestrian group size, determine the length of the minimum adequate gap, measure the available gap sizes in the traffic stream and determine the sufficiency of available gaps. A case study at two school cross walks bounded by two traffic signals on a major street following these steps was conducted. It was found that available gaps were not enough. The Traffic Network Simulation Software (TRAF-NETSIM) was used to evaluate scenarios suggested for the increase of the available gaps. The scenarios included change of the cycle timings, cycle length and the type of control. It was found that the number of adequate gaps could be increased at most, by making the two signals at the boundaries of the street fully actuated. (A)
Abstract