Estimation and modeling of pedestrian dilemma zone at uncontrolled intersections under mixed traffic conditions

Pedestrian gap acceptance (PGA) theory is the basic concept for pedestrian dilemma zone (PDZ) analysis and modeling and their gap acceptance behavior depends on dilemma behavior also. Uncontrolled intersections are one of the major locations where pedestrians have more dilemma and there is a possibility of an interaction between the pedestrian and vehicle due to the incorrect decision taken by the pedestrian when the vehicle lies within the limits of PDZ. Elimination and modeling of spatial boundaries of pedestrian dilemma stage improve the PGA.

The present study is intended to quantify and model the pedestrian dilemma zone (PDZ) boundaries at uncontrolled X-intersections under mixed traffic conditions. Video data were collected from four four-legged uncontrolled intersections in India. Pedestrian and vehicle information was extracted using DataFromSky software and manually from video. The Cumulative Gap Distribution (GCD) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) methods were used to estimate the boundaries of PDZ and developed a binary logistic regression model to estimate the PDZ boundary limits.

The lower boundary limits of PDZ using GCD and SVM methods are 9.0 m and 6.0, respectively, and the upper boundary limits of PDZ using GCD and SVM methods are 16.5 and 18.5 m, respectively. The GCD method overestimated the lower limit and underestimated the upper limit compared with the SVM method. The binary logistic regression model results confirmed that pedestrian age, gender and crossing speed have a negative correlation and location of pedestrian crossing, vehicle type, and approaching speed have a positive correlation with the boundary limits of PDZ.

From the present study, it is concluded that SVM better estimated the PDZ boundary limits with the largest margin compared to the GCD method. It is concluded that the boundary limits shift away from the intersection in the case of female and old-age pedestrians compared to male and young-age pedestrians, respectively. The size benefit in the case of 2Ws is the reason for shifting the PDZ boundary limits close to the crosswalk. The lower approaching speeds of the vehicles at uncontrolled intersections are the reason for pedestrians accept the gap at shorter distances.