Pedestrian Delays at Signalized Intersections

Abstract

This research aimed at developing a comprehensive methodology for estimating pedestrian delays with various pedestrian signal controls. Analytical models were proposed based on actuated one-stage crossings and pre-timed two-stage crossings to enhance the current HCM procedure. The models were developed by analyzing the pedestrian arriving patterns and signal timing designs. Microscopic simulation model techniques were applied to validate the analytical models. The validation results indicated that the proposed models are able to generate delays that closely matched the actual pedestrian delays generated from the simulations. In addition, signal timing optimization was performed from a multi-modal perspective to improve the level of services for both pedestrians and vehicles at intersections with signalized two-stage pedestrian crossings. A case study was conducted to demonstrate how the analytical models were applied, and how the signal timing optimization was performed. The results from the case study showed that the two-stage crossing with optimized signal timing produced the best results regarding the average pedestrian delays when compared with other signal timing plans.