Evaluation of pedestrian critical gap and crossing speed at midblock crossing using image processing

Area of Science:

• Traffic Safety
• Human Factors Engineering
• Urban Planning

Background:

• Midblock pedestrian crossings present significant safety challenges due to driver behavior.
• Pedestrians often face delays waiting for safe crossing opportunities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate pedestrian gap acceptance and crossing speeds at midblock locations.
• To analyze factors influencing pedestrian crossing behavior using advanced imaging techniques.

Main Methods:

• Utilized image processing with three synchronized cameras to track 498 pedestrians at two midblock sites.
• Employed YOLOv3 and YOLACT models for pedestrian and item detection.
• Applied Raff's method to estimate critical gaps based on accepted and rejected crossing intervals.

Main Results:

• Critical gaps for midblock crossings ranged from 4.1 to 6.2 seconds.
• The 15th percentile pedestrian crossing speeds were consistently between 0.78 m/s and 0.80 m/s.
• Data included pedestrian gender, group size, and whether items were carried.

Conclusions:

• Findings provide crucial data for designing safer midblock pedestrian crossing infrastructure.
• Understanding gap acceptance and crossing speeds is vital for mitigating pedestrian risks.