ABSTRACT
A zebra crossing is a form of pedestrian crossing provision point on roads that have significant volumes of traffic. It is one of the safety measures employed to reduce avoidable pedestrian-motorist conflicts and accidents on such roads. In the past several studies have been conducted on the behaviours of road users (pedestrians and motorists) especially on non-signal intersections. Although, various recommendations and solutions have been proffered to the many road-crossing challenges. But there has been little to no change in pedestrians' perceptions and preferences of zebra crossing. Contemporary researches have tried to rectify this by applying several models to rate the use of pedestrian zebra crossing. This study uses a Regression Model Techniques to analyse factors influencing utilization rate of pedestrian zebra crossing. In this study, 450 samples were collected from 12 locations, covering school, public building, residential and business areas to examine the utilization rate of the zebra crossing by pedestrians. To examine the significance level on the crossing utilization rates by pedestrian at 95% confidence interval, a pedestrian utilization rate (PUR) was acting as the dependent variable and the remaining variables served as the independent variables. The Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) model was also used to determine the utilization rate needed to develop the zebra crossing utilization model. From the findings, the calibrated R2 value was discovered to be at 0.937 and the descriptive statistics of MLR test, t and p-values, were also found within an acceptable range. The result also showed that, out of all the variables which were used, only three have a significant effect on the utilization rates of pedestrian zebra crossing while the remaining variables have an insignificant effect. The study concluded that among the different variables, Guardrail, number of lanes and Width of zebra crossing were the most influential variables. It is believed that the conclusions drawn from this research are expected to be useful to improve the state of pedestrian facilities in Malaysia.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: There are a variety of challenges faced by pedestrians when they walk along and attempt to cross a road, as the most recorded accidents occur during this time. Pedestrians of all types, including both sexes with numerous aging groups, are always subjected to risk and are characterized as the most exposed road users. The increased demand for better traffic management strategies to reduce the risks at intersections, improve quality traffic management, traffic volume, and longer cycle time has further increased concerns over the past decade. METHOD: This paper aims to develop a sustainable pedestrian gap crossing index model based on traffic flow density. It focusses on the gaps accepted by pedestrians and their decision for street crossing, where (Log-Gap) logarithm of accepted gaps was used to optimize the result of a model for gap crossing behavior. Through a review of extant literature, 15 influential variables were extracted for further empirical analysis. Subsequently, data from the observation at an uncontrolled mid-block in Jalan Ampang in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia was gathered and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) and Binary Logit Model (BLM) techniques were employed to analyze the results. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: From the results, different pedestrian behavioral characteristics were considered for a minimum gap size model, out of which only a few (four) variables could explain the pedestrian road crossing behavior while the remaining variables have an insignificant effect. Among the different variables, age, rolling gap, vehicle type, and crossing were the most influential variables. The study concludes that pedestrians' decision to cross the street depends on the pedestrian age, rolling gap, vehicle type, and size of traffic gap before crossing. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: The inferences from these models will be useful to increase pedestrian safety and performance evaluation of uncontrolled midblock road crossings in developing countries.