WE ARE ALL PEDESTRIANS PROGRAM - FIRST STEPS IN PEDESTRIAN SAFETY

This paper describes the "We're All Pedestrians Program". It documents the effectiveness of three pedestrian safety initiatives at signalized intersections. The study evaluates the benefits and costs and applicability of the safety initiatives, including Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) applications, across the 1,800 signalized intersections in the City of Toronto. The "We're All Pedestrians Program" is proactive program to enhance pedestrian safety. The program has been initiated by the City of Toronto in recognition of the importance of pedestrian travel and the fact that pedestrians represent the most vulnerable users of the transportation system. The purpose of the study is to measure the effectiveness of three measures to reduce the frequency of vehicle-pedestrian conflicts and collisions through field-testing and site evaluation. The study assessed the effectiveness of implementing Broad Pavement Markings, Leading Pedestrian Intervals, and Passive Pedestrian Detection Devices, through before and after studies of driver and pedestrian behavior. It quantifies changes in the frequency of yielding behavior of drivers and vehicle-pedestrian conflicts. The "We're All Pedestrians Program" is intended to provide statistically significant measures of effectiveness. The analysis includes research into the relationship between conflict frequency and collision frequency and a human factors assessment of driver and pedestrian behavior. The products of the process include a benefit-cost assessment of the measures and discussion of the potential for developing collision modification factors.