Investigation of Pedestrian and Driver Behaviors at Push-Button Crosswalk on Main Arterials of Urban Roads : A Case of Samsun City, Türkiye

Dağlı, Eren; Saraç, Ahmet Göktuğ; Aydın, Metin Mutlu · 2024 · Crossref

DOI: 10.24107/ijeas.1424662

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Summary

This study investigates pedestrian and driver behaviors at push-button signalized crosswalks on main urban arterials, aiming to identify operational inefficiencies and safety risks. The research is motivated by the high vulnerability of pedestrians in traffic accidents and the prevalence of behavioral errors among both drivers and pedestrians. Specifically, the authors address the drawbacks of pedestrian-activated signal systems, where users may ignore buttons due to a lack of understanding or impatience, leading to unnecessary vehicle stops, increased fuel consumption, and potential collision risks. The study was conducted at a pilot crosswalk on Atatürk Boulevard in Samsun, Türkiye, a location characterized by heavy pedestrian and vehicle traffic near commercial areas and universities. Data collection involved video recordings taken during peak hours (3:30 PM to 6:00 PM) over ten days. Researchers manually analyzed the footage to record the behaviors of 227 pedestrians and 791 vehicles. The analysis focused on button usage, waiting times, crossing directions, and compliance with signal phases. The crosswalk features buttons at both sidewalk starting points and a central traffic island, activating a red light for vehicles and a green light for pedestrians upon request. The findings reveal significant behavioral deviations from the intended system operation. While 72.7% of pedestrians used the push-buttons, 27.3% crossed without activating the signal; of these, 21.1% waited for traffic gaps without pressing the button, indicating a lack of knowledge regarding the system’s logic. Among those who used the buttons, 11 out of 67 crossing events involved pedestrians crossing before the green light appeared, creating safety hazards. Furthermore, the study identified inefficiencies in the signal timing: when pedestrians pressed a button on one side, vehicles on both axes stopped, even if pedestrians were only crossing one direction. This resulted in unnecessary delays for vehicles on the non-crossing axis. The average pedestrian waiting time was 10.4 seconds, with a standard deviation of 4.78 seconds. Additionally, 23.9% of pedestrians pressed the button at the central traffic island rather than the starting point, often to cross only one half of the road, further contributing to inefficient vehicle stopping patterns. The study concludes that current push-button crosswalk operations in Samsun suffer from low user compliance and inefficient signal coordination, which compromise safety and increase environmental and economic costs through unnecessary vehicle idling. The authors suggest that these operational problems necessitate improvements such as staggered circuit schemes for different road axes and enhanced user education or system modifications, such as sensor-based activation, to ensure pedestrians wait for the green light. These findings highlight the need for region-specific traffic engineering solutions that account for local pedestrian behaviors to improve crosswalk efficiency and safety.

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• pedestrian behavior perception