Modeling Pedestrian Delay at Signalized Intersection Crosswalks under Mixed Traffic Condition

Walking is one of the main and sustainable traffic mode in urban transportation, particularly in India because of the flexibility and mobility involved in it. Pedestrians are facing problems during crossing at signalized intersection crosswalks under mixed traffic condition. Of all the problems faced by pedestrians in signalized intersection crosswalks, pedestrian delay is the most important parameter and it is difficult to estimate. Keeping this as the motivation, this research has been undertaken with the aim of developing a pedestrian delay model for signalized intersection crosswalks. The required model parameters were extracted based on the videographic survey conducted at a typical four arm signalized intersection in Mumbai, India. Analysis of the field data yielded some notable observations as follows: pedestrians adjust their crossing speed based on the traffic condition at that particular time, pedestrian non uniform arrival pattern was observed, and some of the pedestrians were crossing the crosswalk during flashing red signal phase and red phase. Considering the above mentioned pedestrian crossing behavioral factors, a new delay model suitable for Indian condition was developed based on three factors such as waiting time delay, crossing time delay and pedestrian - vehicular interaction delay. Waiting time delay is based on signal red timing for pedestrians in waiting area, crossing time delay is based on pedestrian walking speed, and vehicular interaction delay is based on acceptable gap and walking speed. The proposed new delay model was validated with the field data from the Holkar junction, Mumbai, India and compared with existing models. This new pedestrian delay model can also be used to evaluate of pedestrian level of services at signalized intersections. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.