Pedestrian Behavior at Signalized Intersection Crosswalks: Observational Study of Factors Associated with Distracted Walking, Pedestrian Violations, and Walking Speed

Abstract

In the past two decades, cell phone and smartphone use in the United States has increased substantially. Although mobile phones provide a convenient way for people to communicate, the distraction caused by the use of these devices has led to unintended traffic safety and operational consequences. Although it is well recognized that distracted driving is extremely dangerous for all road users (including pedestrians), the potential impacts of distracted walking have not been as comprehensively studied. Although practitioners should design facilities with the safety, efficiency, and comfort of pedestrians in mind, it is still important to investigate certain pedestrian behaviors at existing facilities to minimize the risk of pedestrian–vehicle crashes, and to reduce behaviors that may unnecessarily increase delay at signalized intersections. To gain new insights into factors associated with distracted walking, pedestrian violations, and walking speed, 3,038 pedestrians were observed across four signalized intersections in New York and Arizona using high-definition video cameras. The video data were reduced and summarized, and an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model was estimated to analyze factors affecting walking speeds. In addition, binary logit models were estimated to analyze both pedestrian distraction and pedestrian violations. Ultimately, several site- and pedestrian-specific variables were found to be significantly associated with pedestrian distraction, violation behavior, and walking speeds. The results provide important information for researchers, practitioners, and legislators, and may be useful in planning strategies to reduce or mitigate the impacts of pedestrian behavior that may be considered unsafe or potentially inefficient.

Environmental Features Influence Walking Speed: The Effect of Urban Greenery

“…Previous research has shown that urban walking speed may be influenced by cultural, economic, and social factors (e.g., [29][30][31]) or atmospheric conditions [32][33][34]. Another line of research investigated capacity and pedestrian density [35][36][37] and modeled pedestrian traffic (e.g., [38][39][40]). Bosina and Weidmann's [41] review of existing literature investigating pedestrian walking speed summarized variables that influence walking speed: physical pedestrian properties (e.g., age, gender, body height), cultural differences (e.g., size of the settlement areas, cultural environment), emotional influences (e.g., mood, time pressure, trip purpose), and environmental influences (e.g., time of day, temperature pedestrian density, attractiveness of the environment).…”

Phone-Related Distracted Walking Injuries as a Function of Age and Walking Environment

“…Researchers have found that roughly 20 -25 % of pedestrians were distracted by technology products (Barkley and Lepp, 2016;Basch et al, 2014;Thompson et al, 2013). Distracted pedestrians are more likely to have reduced situational awareness (Nasar, Hecht, & Wener, 2008), exhibit decrement in gait performance (Lamberg and Muratori, 2012;Russo et al, 2018), and have more near collisions with others (Hyman et al, 2010) compared to the individuals who are not distracted. Furthermore, as suggested by Smith et al (2013) and Nasar et al (2013), walking injuries caused by phone distractions have been increasing since 2000, and this trend is expected to continue in the future.…”

Plight of the distracted pedestrian: a research synthesis and meta-analysis of mobile phone use on crossing behaviour

“…Observations of pedestrians crossing streets in cities around the world indicate that pedestrian distraction from mobile phones is an immediate and common problem. The percentage of observed distracted pedestrians crossing streets ranges from about 12% to 45% and tends to vary by country, city, traffic controls, observation date and time, and pedestrian age and sex 7–15. Pedestrian injuries resulting from using cell phones and wearing headphones to listen to music appear to be rising 16–20.…”

“…The literature on this issue is mixed. For example, some studies report that pedestrians slow their walking speed when distracted,11 but others do not 13. Traditional literature reviews6 28 and research synthesis14 do not resolve conflicting results, which may be due to methodological, contextual or measurement differences.…”