Comparative Analysis of Pedestrian Crossing Behaviour Before and After the Construction of a Pedestrian Overpass
Bildiriler > Tam Metin Bildiri
Yazarlar: Yalçın ALVER, Pelin ÖNELÇİN, Elia Odabasi, Yasemin Karatas, Emre Açıkgöz
International Conference on Road and Rail Infrastructure, , , Uluslararası, Tam Metin Bildiri, cilt 9, ss 807-814
DOI: 10.5592/co/cetra.2026.1914
Özet
This study investigates changes in pedestrian crossing behavior and associated safety outcomes before and after the construction of a pedestrian overpass in İzmir, Turkey. The study area is located along an arterial road with high traffic volumes. Prior to the construction of the pedestrian overpass, pedestrians could cross at an at-grade crosswalk, which was directly connected to the nearby tram station. The combination of high vehicle speeds and pedestrians crossing outside the designated crosswalk showed the need for improved pedestrian safety measures in the area. The second phase of the study was conducted after the overpass started operating. Data were collected through on-site questionnaires and video footage. Before the overpass was built, 54 (44.26%) out of 122 people who participated in the survey perceived their crossing as unsafe or very unsafe. Survey results further showed that 80% of pedestrians (98 respondents) stated they would use an overpass if it were constructed, indicating strong user demand for an overpass. A total of 351 pedestrians were observed through video analysis, categorized by gender, age, group size, and items-carrying condition. Speed observations showed that all pedestrian categories displayed average walking speeds above 2.0 m/s. Raff’s method determines the critical gap by plotting the cumulative frequency distributions of accepted and rejected gaps and identifying the intersection point of these two curves. Based on this analysis, the critical gap was calculated as 3.00 s in one direction and 3.30 s in the opposite direction, indicating that pedestrians were willing to accept relatively short gaps before the construction of the overpass.