Evaluation of Pedestrian Countdown Signals in Montgomery County, Maryland

Abstract

Pedestrian countdown signals installed at five intersections in Montgomery County, Maryland, were evaluated with a before-and-after study. The effect of the countdown signals on pedestrian and motorist behavior was determined by observing the signal indication when pedestrians entered the intersection, the number of pedestrians remaining in the intersection at the release of conflicting traffic, conflicts between pedestrians and motor vehicles, and vehicle approach speeds to the intersections. On the basis of the observational study, the pedestrian countdown signals did not have a negative effect on pedestrian behavior. The vehicle speed observations found that pedestrian countdown signals had no effect on vehicle approach speeds during the pedestrian clearance interval (i.e., flashing "Don't Walk" indication). Pedestrian behavior observations found that although 2 of the 20 crosswalks experienced a statistically significant decrease in the number of pedestrians who entered on "Walk," 6 crosswalks experienced a significant increase. Additionally, none of the intersections had a significant increase in the number of phases with pedestrians remaining in the intersection at the release of conflicting traffic. The observational study of conflicts found a significant decrease in pedestrian-motor vehicle conflicts after the installation of the pedestrian countdown signals at four of the intersections at which conflicts were observed. A survey of pedestrians was also conducted. Results of the survey indicated that, generally, pedestrians are aware of the countdown signal and understand the countdown indication.

Impacts of Countdown Timers on Pedestrian Behavior - Case Study in UAE

“…However, this may not be a significant decrease if one was to consider the change in the number of crashes at the control intersections. Similar results also found in [20]- [23], [15]. Furthermore, in some studies, there were no pedestrianvehicle conflicts with the countdown display i.e.…”

“…In some studies, a significant decrease in the proportion of violators (pedestrians who cross during the SDW or FDW sign) were found irrespective of location and traffic flow [4], [7], [10], [14], [15] While this is true, many other authors seem to disagree. They found little evidence of safety enhancement and found it sometimes even lead to possible pedestrian safety issues [16], [17].…”

Safety Effectiveness of Pedestrian Crossing Enhancements

“…Some studies showed positive safety benefits such as a statistically significant reduction in pedestrian-vehicle conflicts (Markowitz et al, 2006;Van Houten et al, 2014); safer speed decisions when approaching intersections (Schrock et al, 2008); a statistically significant increase in successful crossings (Reddy et al, 2008); improved pedestrian crossing behavior (Vasudevan et al, 2011); and faster walking speeds and an increase in pedestrian compliance (Sharma et al, 2012). Other studies showed mixed results (Eccles et al, 2004;Levasseur et al, 2011;Camden et al, 2011). Schrock et al (2008) found that drivers used countdown timers to drive less aggressively and make better decisions about their ability to reach the intersection prior to the red indication.…”

Effect of Electronic Device Use on Pedestrian Safety: A Literature Review1

“…A similar definition of conflicts was used in a study by Eccles, Tao, and Mangum (2004), stating that "conflict was an interaction between a vehicle and a pedestrian in which either a pedestrian or a vehicle takes evasive action, such as weaving, braking, or running, to avoid a collision" (p. 38). They also emphasized that a collision had to be imminent to be considered a conflict.…”