Empirical Study on Pedestrian Signal Design and Compliance in the State of Qatar

Abstract

To ensure safe crossing manoeuvres at signalized crosswalks, the pedestrian delays and allocation of sufficient pedestrian green and flashing green times should be considered at design stage. The pedestrian signal settings in the State of Qatar were analyzed through empirical observations of eight crosswalks. Video recording technique was used to record the pedestrian movements and signal settings at selected crosswalks. The results indicated that excessive delays resulted in low compliance rates at all crosswalks and the signal phasing affected compliance rate. Moreover, the analysis of crossing speed indicated that the speed (1.2 m/s) currently specified by the Qatar Traffic Control Manual, 2015 for determining clearance time is sufficient for safe crossing. In addition, the results of speed analysis indicated that the gender, type of pedestrian signal display, and crosswalk length affect the crossing speed of pedestrians. A comparison of crossing times with the provided signal timings indicated that a lower pedestrian flashing green is provided at all sites, and excessively large buffer intervals are available. These results demonstrate the urgent need to modify signal settings to enable more opportunities for walking and legal crossings. It is recommended that pedestrian signals should be always activated based on the applied phasing plan without the need for pressing the push buttons. These push buttons can be used to recall early pedestrian green to reduce their waiting time. Furthermore, at major crossings, countdown timers showing time remaining for PG should be installed to improve compliance rates.