Experimentation with countdown pedestrian signal timing and the effect on intersection safety
Date
2014
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Sixteen intersections in Newark, Delaware were studied to see if changes in countdown pedestrian signal timing effected intersection safety. Variations to signal timing were made at the point at which the zero indication on a countdown pedestrian signal synchronizes with the vehicular signal. A 'before and after' study was conducted using five years of crash records from the study intersections. A statistical analysis was performed on the data to study change in crash frequency, pedestrian crash frequency, and crash severity between three variations of signal timing. Results varied by intersection and between phases of the study. The results of this analysis confirm that no additional hazard was introduced by changing the synchronization of the countdown pedestrian signal from the start of yellow to the start of red. Additionally, changing the synchronization of the countdown pedestrian signal from the start of yellow to the start of red reduced crash severity.