Traffic Safety of Disabled Pedestrians at Signalized Crosswalks
S. Dimitriadis (TU Delft - Civil Engineering & Geosciences)
Haneen Farah – Mentor (TU Delft - Transport and Planning)
Jan Anne Annema – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Transport and Logistics)
Eleonora Papadimitriou – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Safety and Security Science)
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Abstract
Mobility of disabled people has as a basic guarantee the traffic safety. Walking for disabled may have improved considerably compared to the past, but there are stillissues such as the safe crossing at signalized crosswalks. Also, the availability of studies on safe crossing for disabled pedestrians is limited. While it has been understood how pedestrians perceive safety at crosswalks, no similar study has been done for disabled pedestrians. The main purpose of this study is to fill the gap and make it more understandable how disabled pedestrians perceive traffic safety at signalized crosswalks. The literature showed significant factors that influence the pedestrian crossing behavior, such as the gender, the kind of disability, the presence of traffic lights at crosswalks, and weather conditions. Most ofthese factors are significantly related to the perception of safety.
The main methodology included the interviews, and the survey, using the statistical analysis with the hypothesis tests and the Generalized Linear Model for the process of the data. The results proved that factors such as gender, age, kind of disability, the walking frequency had a significant impact on the perceived safety of disabled pedestrians. Yet, the study brought up important solutions that can improve safety perception, such as technological solutions like artificial intelligence traffic lights and infrastructure solutions such as the construction of underground crosswalks and refuges islands at long distance crosswalks. A recommendation is that the authorities and transport planners should emphasize to the solutions proposed to improve safety. A further scientific recommendation would the study of the objective safety in the future, comparing it with the perceived safety. This study has contributed significantly to the understanding of the issues faced by disabled pedestrians at crosswalks and it can be a starting point for further improvements in the mobility of disabled pedestrians and their lives in the future.