Introduction:

Signalized pedestrian crossings are one of the most common causes of road accidents involving
pedestrians. Illegal crossings result in a high number of crashes involving pedestrians at a
signalized pedestrian crossing (Wang et al.2011).

The relative crash risk for each crossing event during an illegal crossing is 8 times greater than
that of a legal crossing at a signalized intersection (King et al.2009). Therefore, it is essential to
take various steps to reduce the number of pedestrian offenders.

Two PC (pedestrian crossing) with traffic lights were chosen in the city of Doboj. One of the PCs
had a countdown display. The countdown display showed the number of seconds remaining
until the signal light (green or red) changed for pedestrians. The other PC had no countdown
display.

In Europe, countdown displays tell pedestrians how long it will take for the green light to turn
green.However, there is still some uncertainty about the extent to which countdown displays
actually improve behavior and pedestrian safety (Keegan and O’Mahony 2003; Botha et al.
2002; Eccles et al. 2003; PHA Consultants 2005; Reddy et al. 2008).

Objectives:
• The difference in illegal pedestrian crossings is influenced by the gender and age of the
pedestrians, as well as other factors such as traffic volume, weather conditions .
• The use of countdown displays reduces the number of illegal pedestrian crossings.
• Differential distribution of illegal crossings with a countdown display.

Research methods:
On-the-spot video footage was recorded simultaneously at both pedestrian crossings in the
survey area. The survey was conducted using two cameras. The cameras were positioned so
that they could not be seen by pedestrians. The video footage showed clearly the traffic light,
the information on the display and access to the pedestrian crossings at a sufficiently long
distance to accurately record all research variables. The video footage and other data collected
were then analyzed in detail. Gender and age of pedestrians (the age of pedestrians was
visualized based on the analysis personal opinion).The recorded information was inputted into
a spreadsheet and prepare a statistical analysis of the sample.

Results:
The total sample of pedestrians, 3.466 male pedestrians (38.5%), 3.549 female pedestrians
(39.3%), and 2.003 children (22.2%) belonging to the 12–18 age group were recorded at PC1. At
PC2, there were 5.303 men (43.1%), 4.990 women (40.6%), and 1.999 children (16.3%).The results
showed that there is no statistically significant difference between the number of male
pedestrian offenders at PC1 (32.5%) or PC2 (30.0%).The analysis of the group of female
pedestrian offenders showed that a statistically significant smaller number of women crossed at
the red light at PC2 (17.7%) than PC1 (22.7%).Contrary to these findings, there was statistically
significant difference between the number of of child-offender pedestrians at PC1
(26.2%) and PC2 (24.0%). Pedestrians arrived at the intersection and waited for the green light
to cross. On PC1, the average pedestrian crossing time was 17.5 s, and on PC2, it was 18.2 s.

Discussion:
In this study, there were 23.9% fewer offenders at a pedestrian crossing with a countdown
display compared to without a countdown display (27.3%) (King et al. 2009; Ying and Keping
2011).Of the total number of pedestrians at the two pedestrian crossings combined, the number
of male offenders was statistically significantly higher than the number of female offenders
(those crossing at the red light) Rosenbloom et al. (2008), Rosenbloom (2009), Yagil (2000),
Tiwari et al. (2007), and Zhu-ping et al. (2011). In this example, the countdown display allowed
pedestrians to see how long they had to wait before they could safely cross the road. This
allowed them to see the end of their wait and become more patient while waiting. A higher
percentage of pedestrians chose to follow the traffic light (and wait for the green light), which is
different from PC1 (traffic lights with no countdown display).It had no statistically significant
influence on children.

Conclusions:
The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare pedestrian behavior at two similar
microlocation (i.e. two pedestrian crossings) with a scientific, systematic and analytical
approach, focusing on traffic signal observance by pedestrians at signalized pedestrian
crossings with and without countdown displays.The total number of offences at pedestrian
crossings with and without a countdown display was 23.9% and 27.3%, respectively.The
number of women with a countdown display was statistically significantly lower (17.7%) than
without a countdown display (22.7%). This suggests that women are more likely to follow
traffic signals. Men and children did not show a statistically significant difference in behavior
with respect to the presence or absence of countdown displays. They aso provide a foundation
for evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of cost-benefit analysis at the planning stage of
road safety activities.

References:
Botha, J. L., Zabyshny, A. A., and Day, J. E. (2002). Countdown pedestrian signals: An experimental
evaluation, Dept. of Transportation, City of San Jose, San Jose, CA.
Eccles, K. A., Tao, R., and Mangum, B. C. (2003). “Evaluation of pedestrian countdown signals
in Montgomery County, Maryland.” Proc., 83rd Annual Meeting, Transportation Research
Board, Washington, DC.
Keegan, O., and O’Mahony, M. (2003). “Modifying pedestrian behavior.” Transp. Res. Part A,
37(10), 889–901.
King, M. J., Soole, D. W., and Ghafourian, A. (2009). “Illegal pedestrian crossing at signalized
intersections: Incidence and relative risk.” Accid. Anal. Prev., 41(3), 485–490.
PHA Consultants. (2005). Pedestrian countdown signal evaluation—City of Berkeley, Berkeley,
CA.
Reddy, V., Datta, T., Savolainen, P., and Pinapaka, S. (2008). A study of the effectiveness of
countdown pedestrian signals, Florida Dept. of Transportation, Tallahassee, FL.
Rosenbloom, T. (2009). “Crossing at a red light: Behavior of individuals and groups.” Transp.
Res. Part F, 12(5), 389–394.
Wang, S., Yang, J., Hu, C., and Chen, Y. (2011). “Study on pedestrian safety evaluation and
improvement at urban intersections.” Proc., ICTIS 2011, 1st Int. Conf. on Transportation
Information and Safety: Multimoda Approach to Sustained Transportation System Development—
Information, Technology, Implementation, ASCE, Reston, VA.
Yagil, D. (2000). “Beliefs, motives and situational factors related to pedestrians’ self-reported
behavior at signal-controlled crossings.” Transp. Res. Part F, 3(1), 1–13

Tables and Figures: