Understanding Pedestrian and Bicyclist Compliance and Safety Impacts of Different Walk Modes at Signalized Intersections for a Livable Community

With increasing energy costs as well as rampant congestion in major U.S. cities, the popularity of walk and bike mode choices have increased in recent years. Thus, the obtainment of a comprehensive knowledge of pedestrian and bicyclist behaviors is of great importance. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 11.1%#37; of pedestrian fatalities and 18.5%#37; of bicyclist fatalities in the U.S. occurred in Florida in 2011, which accounts for just 6.1%#37; of the nation\u27s population. Additionally, intersections are hotspots for vehicle-pedestrian conflicts, which is confirmed by the Federal Highway Administration\u27s estimate that nearly one in five pedestrian fatalities occur at intersections in the U.S. Since both signalized and non-signalized intersections are conflict points for vehicles, pedestrians, and bicyclists, it is essential that traffic control methods ensure that safety is not compromised. To examine the safety effects of different walk modes at signalized intersections, four locations in the Tampa Bay area were chosen. Two of the locations operate with Rest in Walk and Pedestrian Recall and the other two operate without Rest in Walk and Pedestrian Recall. A total of 26 hours of data were collected in early 2013 at the four study sites, which yielded 202 pedestrian and bicyclist observations. Upon modeling behaviors using a multinomial Logit model, the presence of Rest in Walk and Pedestrian Recall on minor street pedestrian phases, which operate concurrently with major street vehicle phases, was found to encourage higher pedestrian and bicyclist compliance rates than their absence. Additionally, the presence or absence of the combination of both Rest in Walk and Pedestrian Recall was found to be the most influential variable examined