Pedestrian Safety and Driver Yielding Near Public Transit Stops

Abstract

Pedestrian crashes are a pronounced threat to public safety. Numerous factors have been linked to their recent increase, such as higher pedestrian and vehicle volume, proximity to bus stops, as well as increased distraction and other risky driving behaviors that result in poor yielding rates. Reducing the conditions that lead to pedestrian crashes involves not only changes to roadways and crosswalks, but also changing the cultural influences that tolerate unacceptable driver behaviors. A multi-faceted approach was implemented to improve driver compliance with pedestrian laws. Average stopping behavior was observed to be significantly poorer at sites in near proximity to bus stops. The planned multi-faceted intervention improved yielding rates and multiple-threat passing rates over time. Public transit vehicles were significantly more likely to stop for pedestrians than the rest of the fleet and had a disproportionate improvement in response to high-visibility police enforcement with ticketing compared with the rest of the fleet. Overall, the study replicates the effectiveness of high-visibility enforcement and outreach on increasing yielding rates to pedestrians, generalizes this effect to both passing behavior and public transit, and links past research showing significantly higher pedestrian crash rates with poorer yielding of drivers near sites close to bus stops.