Temporal and spatial compliance behaviour of pedestrians under the influence of time pressure at signalized intersections: A pedestrian simulator study

Abstract

Pedestrian safety is at high stakes due to the non-compliance practices of pedestrians at signalized intersections. Additionally, when pedestrians are hurrying, they deliberately engage in such unsafe behaviour. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to understand how time pressure (i.e., feeling of hurry or saving time) affected pedestrians' decisions to follow traffic rules at signalized junctions. To achieve the study objectives, a pedestrian simulator setup was used to collect the crossing behaviour of forty participants at a four-legged signalized intersection. Non-compliance, one of the riskiest pedestrian behaviours, was examined with respect to three different forms, comprising dangerous temporal non-compliance (D-TNC), non-dangerous temporal non-compliance (ND-TNC), and spatial non-compliance (SNC) behaviour under two distinct conditions: baseline (i.e., no time pressure) and time pressure conditions. The effects of demographics, usual walking features, and time pressure on D-TNC and ND-TNC were investigated using a multinomial regression model, while SNC behaviour was investigated using a binary regression model. It was interesting to note that the majority of the factors related to pedestrians’ usual walking behaviour had an impact on all kinds of non-compliance behaviours. Importantly, the results also showcased that time pressure had a contrasting impact on D-TNC and ND-TNC behaviour whereas SNC behaviour increased under time pressure. Additionally, the varying impacts of D-TNC, ND-TNC, and SNC were also reflected in the occurrence of the crashes, which were probably triggered by discrepancies in the influence of time pressure on non-compliance behaviours. These findings highlight the need for technical solutions, educational outreach, and efficient enforcement practices to reduce pedestrians' non-compliant behaviour.