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ROAD CROSSING BEHAVIOR OF PEDESTRIANS AT UNSIGNALIZED

INTERSECTION UNDER MIXED TRAFFIC CONDITION

Conference Paper · January 2020

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 Paper ID: 123

ROAD CROSSING BEHAVIOR OF PEDESTRIANS AT UNSIGNALIZED

INTERSECTION UNDER MIXED TRAFFIC CONDITION

Towhidul Islam1*, Shishir Kumar Sikder Amit2, S M Rahat Rahman3, Sudipta Bhowmick4
1
Department of Civil Engineering, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Labrador, Canada,
< [email protected]>
2
Department of Civil Engineering, Military Institute of Science and Technology, Chittagong,
Bangladesh, <[email protected]>
3
Department of Civil Engineering, Port City International University, Chittagong, Bangladesh,
<[email protected]@gmail.com>
4
Department of Civil Engineering, Port City International University, Chittagong, Bangladesh,
<[email protected]>
*Corresponding Author

ABSTRACT
At the intersection, pedestrian crossing behavior is more complex since the vehicle has very little
response time to control the vehicles in urban areas. A clear understanding of pedestrian crossing
behavior under mixed traffic conditions is needed for providing the necessary infrastructure and also
for enhancing pedestrian safety at signalized intersections. This paper attempts to analyze the general
crossing behavior of pedestrians and find out the pedestrians’ perception of using road crossing
facilities at the un-signalized intersection in Chittagong City under mixed traffic conditions. A Field
survey was completed at Tiger-pass intersection in Chittagong city which has four approaches. All
approaches are two way four lanes. A video observation and a questionnaire survey were conducted
among the pedestrians who cross the studied area. 1516 pedestrians at Tiger pass intersection have been
observed through the video graphic method. A questionnaire survey has been done on 1000 pedestrians
at Tiger pass intersection. Different parameters like gender, age, crossing patterns, educational status,
and income of the pedestrian were excreted from the video graphic method and Questionnaire survey.
Lack of awareness, unsuitable locations, time-consuming, etc. has been found as the reason for
pedestrians not to use road crossing facilities. This study can help researchers and practitioners to
understand pedestrian crossing behavior at both signalized and un-signalized intersections and develop
pedestrian delay models under mixed traffic conditions.

Keywords: Un-signalized intersections; Crossing behavior; Mixed traffic conditions.

INTRODUCTION
Traffic accidents involving pedestrians have become a major safety problem all over the world,
particularly in developing countries, due to high population density, rapid urbanization, and lack of
adherence to traffic regulations by both drivers and pedestrians. Lack of adherence to traffic regulations
at pedestrian crossings particularly by drivers creates a paradigm in which pedestrians may become
bold and force approaching vehicles in the traffic stream to break in order to gain priority at the
pedestrian crossing. On the other hand, pedestrian crossings with heavy pedestrian flow are likely to
cause an unacceptable vehicular delay.
There has been extensive research on pedestrian behavior including estimation of accident risks in
various environments (Lassarre et al., 2007), the effects of land use on pedestrian safety (Wedagama et
al., 2006), the differences between the behaviors of young and old pedestrians (Oxley et al., 1997), and
the resulting injury outcomes associated with accidents (Derlet et al., 1990). The World Health
Organization estimates that nearly half of global fatalities are vulnerable road users (WHO, 2009). In an
investigation, results show that pedestrians are found at fault in 59% of the crashes, drivers in 32%, and
both are found at fault in 9% (Hoque, 2004). Pedestrians who spend more time waiting to cross from
one side of the street to the median are likely to have a higher risk of ending the waiting time than when
they cross from central refuge to the other side of the street (Bangladesh bureau of statistics, 2011). The
location of pedestrian crossing facilities also plays an important role in crash occurrences and
crash-related injuries. In Israel a detailed analysis of pedestrians’ accidents in 2006-2007, with an
emphasis on the infrastructure characteristics involved, was performed; it was found that 75% of the
fatalities and 95% of the injuries occurred in urban areas, the majorities of cases occurring on-road
sections (not at the junction). About 80% of the accidents took place when a pedestrian crossed the
road, the majority of them at non-crosswalk locations or at non-signalized crosswalks (Bangladesh
Road Transport Authority, 2008). It has also been found approximately 38.2% of the crashes occur at
non-crosswalk locations, while proportionately more 61.8% of the pedestrian accidents occur at
non-crosswalk locations (Kim et al., 2008).
In view of different studies, it has been found that many studies have been done for other countries, but
few studies have been done for Bangladesh. No study has been done in the context of crossing behavior
of the pedestrian in Chittagong city. In this research, the general crossing behavior of pedestrians and
the perception of using road crossing facilities have been studied at the un-signalized intersection.
Further, some measures have been suggested to improve the road crossing behavior of pedestrians in
Chittagong city mostly at Tiger Pass intersection.

METHODOLOGY
Research Instruments
Instrumentations refer to the tools that are used for data collection as well as interpretation. The
instruments are used in the research according to the purpose of the research. The data was collected
through questionnaires and videos. Mobile phones as a tape recorder, computer, internet, calculator,
reference books were used to gather and interpret information.

Data Collection Procedures

This thesis data was collected through videos and a questionnaire survey. Recordings were made by
interviewing pedestrians. The interviews were taken in formal and informal settings. The objectives of
the research and the importance of data collection were explained to them so that they give their
consent. The researcher instructed the pedestrians to provide a true and authentic answer. In case of any
difficulty in understanding the questionnaire, the researcher was there to help them out. To collect the
information that crosses the road at the selected area, a camera was sat up at an elevated place. Then
determine the number of pedestrians who are used existing road crossing facilities and who are not.

Data Analysis Procedures

Data analysis refers to the fact of analyzing data obtained from the pedestrians. After collecting data,
they were checked, verified, cleaned and finally edited. Respective tables and graphs were prepared as
required. And pedestrian responses were cross-checked. In this way, the researcher tried to find out
whether they had given the true answer because if they didn’t, their responses would contradict. Data
from different videos were also analyzed and compared in the same way. The tabulated and transcribed
data were analyzed carefully and critically and then interpretation was made accurately. All the data
were analyzed in terms of the central research questions and objectives. Both qualitative and
quantitative methods were used for analyzing them.

Study Area and Period

The City of Chittagong making is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Chittagong has a population of
more than 2.5 million, by gender; the population was 54.36% male and 45.64% female. In this study,
data collection was carried out at the Tiger pass un-signalized intersection as shown in the following
figure. A video graphic survey data was recorded for one hour from each approach and 1516 pedestrians
have been observed at Tiger pass intersection. A questionnaire survey was done randomly selected
respondent pedestrians during the period of August 15-25, 2018. The questionnaire data were collected
from 1000 nos. pedestrians at Tiger pass intersection. The sample has been collected in two categories-
(i) pedestrians who obey the rules and (ii) pedestrians who violate the rules.
 [ Fig. 1: Tiger pass Intersections (a) Google Earth (left); (b) Real Image (right) ]

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Data analysis and interpretation is the most important task of the research. The success of this research
totally depends on the accuracy of the data analysis and interpretation. In this study, to analyze the
collected data, graphical representations are used.

Video Graphic Data at Tiger pass intersection

Initially, 1516 pedestrians are followed by the video graphic survey, for gathering knowledge about
their road crossing behavior. Pedestrians and their behavior are represented in Table 1.

Table 1: Total Pedestrian and Their Behaviour at Tiger-pass intersection.

Type Tiger pass Intersection
Total Results (%)
Gender Male 1191 78.56
Female 325 21.46
Total Follow Rules 470 31.01
Do not follow Rules 1046 68.99
Male Follow Rules 340 39.08
Do not follow Rules 851 60.92
Follow Rules 130 40.05
Female
Do not Follow Rules 195 59.95

Questionnaire Survey at Tiger- pass intersection

In the Tiger pass intersection, a questionnaire survey has been done among the 1000 pedestrians.
Among them, 600 pedestrians were taken from road crossing rules violated group and 400 pedestrians
were taken from road crossing rules obeyed group. From the questionnaire survey, the following
demographic characteristics in pedestrian behavior are observed.

[Fig. 2: (a) Violation of existing rules in road crossing due to age group; (b) Violation of existing rules
in road crossing due to education.]

Fig. 2- (a) shows that most of the rules violated group is 18-24 years old people. 72.41% of pedestrians
do not obey the road crossing rules whose age is 18-24 years. 66.67% pedestrians obey the road
crossing rules whose age below 15 years and 57.14% pedestrians obey the road crossing rules whose
age above 60 years. Fig. 2- (b) shows that the group above graduation pedestrians obey the traffic rules
more, 61.54% of pedestrians have followed road crossing rules. Most of the rules violated group is the
pedestrians who are studying below the secondary school certificate (S.S.C) and 56.25% violate the
rules who are studying at higher secondary certificate (H.S.C).

[Fig. 3: (a) Violation of existing rules in crossing according to occupation; (b) Violation of existing
rules in crossing due to income (in BDT)]

Fig. 3-(a) shows that 54.55% of employees obey the road crossing rules, but 72.22% of workers and
69.23% businessmen do not follow the road crossing rules. The students come from various educational
institutions to see the Tiger Pass at this time the maximum students do not use the zebra crossing. From
research, it is found that 56.76% of students do not use existing road crossing facilities at this
intersection. Temporary workers who work beside the road, fully violence to the traffic rules and
maximum time they cross the road for any purposes. Fig. 3-(b) shows that 80% of pedestrians obey the
road crossing rules whose income is around 40,000 to 60,000 BDT per month. 66.67% of pedestrians
are not using the road crossing facilities whose income rage is 30000 to 40000 BDT per month.

[Fig.4: Causes for not using existing facilities during crossing the road (Field survey)]

From the video graphics survey, we have known that most of the pedestrians (68.99%) of the selected
area are not use the road crossing facilities. The possible reasons for not using the pedestrian’s road
crossing facilities identified from the field investigation. Based on a questionnaire survey it has been
found that lack of awareness has been identified as the top reason for not using pedestrian’s road
crossing facilities. Fig. 4 shows that lacking awareness 39.25% of pedestrians are not using road
crossing facilities during the crossing time. Time-consuming (T.C.) is another important factor which
discourages the pedestrians to use the road crossing facilities; 35% pedestrians assumed that obeying
the road crossing facilities is time-consuming but only 10% pedestrians assume that the crossing
facilities are not properly placed and they violate the road crossing rules due to unsuitable location
(U.L.) of crosswalk. The lighting problem is not found due to the survey.
A zebra crossing is a type of pedestrian crossing used in many places around the world. The minimum
width for a Zebra pedestrian crossing is 2.4 meters (Hamed, 2001). There are no zebra crossings in all
approaches of the intersection. And, no pedestrian guardrails and pedestrians’ barriers observed in all
approaches of the intersections. Drivers must be able to see the sign from at least 75 meters away so that
they have time to read the message and act on it (Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, 2008).
 Unfortunately, these are not properly placed. Illegal parking in front of pedestrians crossing is
interrupted to use crosswalk has also been observed.
It is very interesting that 100% of pedestrians make-believe violating the road crossing system is risk
although they do not use the existing road crossing facilities. 76.67% of pedestrians know road crossing
rules, only 23.33% of pedestrians are uneducated about road crossing systems. It is very interesting that
85% of pedestrians faced difficulties due to not using existing road crossing facilities at Tiger Pass
intersection shown by Fig. 5.
.

[Fig.5: Pedestrians Opinions (Field survey)]

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

From this research, some conclusions can be made out based on some parameters. At first, the studied
area has shown that 39.25% of pedestrians violate the rules due to lacking awareness whereas 76.67%
of pedestrians know the road crossing rules. Again, male pedestrians (39.08%) more violate the rules
comparatively female pedestrians (40.5%). Besides, only 27.59% of young people obey the rules whose
age limit 18 years to 24 years. Further, educated and rich people more conform to the rules (61.54%)
those have at least a graduation degree. On the other hand, below the S.S.C level, people only follow
50.00 % rules. 10% of pedestrians assume that the crossing facilities are not properly placed, and they
violate the road crossing rules due to the unsuitable location of the crosswalk. Moreover, 80.00% of
pedestrians use facilities whose salary about 40000 BDT to 60000 BDT.
Inspecting different observations and analyzing the data of pedestrian crossing behavior some solutions
can be proposed. Such as (1) Zebra crossing have to be provided in all approaches at the inspected
section roadside barriers, the median barrier should be constructed to separate pedestrian movements
from vehicular traffic. (2) The construction of foot over bridges in north & south approaches and
improving the surrounding environment of the crosswalk along with pedestrian awareness can make a
positive solution to the respective problems.

REFERENCES
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Thesis, Department of Civil Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology.
Bangladesh bureau of statistics, 2011.Bangladesh Population & Housing census.
Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, 2008. RTA Annual Report 2008.
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Research 21 (4), 165–166.
Kim, K., Brunner, I. M., & Yamashita, E. (2008). Modeling fault among accident—Involved
pedestrians and motorists in Hawaii. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 40(6), 2043-2049.
Hamed, M. M. (2001). Analysis of pedestrians’ behavior at pedestrian crossings. Safety science, 38(1):
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Hoque, M. M. 2004. The Road to Road Safety: Issues and Initiatives in Bangladesh. Regional Health
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