Global Journal of Researches in Engineering, E: Civil & Structural, Volume 23 Issue 2

Captain Gospel Otto α , Chinonyerem B. Onyekaba σ & Peace Ifesinachi Okafor ρ Abstract- In Port Harcourt city, the design of roads do not adequately accommodate pedestrians, leading to ongoing conflicts as motorists and pedestrians try to share the limited spaces on roads. However response time to control vehicles in Port Harcourt is minimal making pedestrian crossing behavior at intersections and midblock crossings significantly more complicated. These problems created the need for additional research into pedestrian crossing behavior at crucial roads in Port Harcourt. This study's primary goal is to discover the factors influencing pedestrian crossing behavior at signalized intersections and midblock crossings and its effect regarding road performance. Considering this reason, 520 questionnaires were developed and shared among road users (drivers and pedestrians) to determine the factors influencing pedestrian crossing behavior. Again, traffic survey was conducted using a camcorder, questionnaires were analyzed using the Likert scale to identify elements that may be critical. In addition, the level of service (LOS) was used to assess the effect on congestion. This study revealed that age, lack of crossing facilities, location of crossing facility, lack of educational awareness which had a mean value between 3.5- 5.0 are considered critical factors influencing pedestrian crossing attitude. Gender with a mean value at 2.304 is not a critical factor, while the use of mobile phone which had a 2.626 mean value is a neutral factor. The volume to capacity ratio (V/C) value of the road segments ranging from 0.72 to 0.97 is shown by the LOS which means smooth to low traffic flow with an affected speed and high vehicular density. It is a true reflection of the roads in Port Harcourt. It was observed that at major roads with signalized intersection that 73.19% of pedestrians conform to signal indications at peak hours. Keywords: pedestrian crossing behavior, congestion, signalized intersection, midblock crossing. I. I ntroduction ehicles have traditionally been the focus of traffic research on roads in developing countries. In constructing roads, considerations for pedestrian comfort, convenience, and safety are usually not given priority in Nigeria. Some difficulties experienced are modeling of pedestrian behavior in Nigeria. So many complications are involved in trying to identify the characteristics that influence pedestrian behavior. For densely populated cities like Port Harcourt, pedestrian traffic at unsignalized crossroads, signalized crossroads and midblock crossings are very common with little or Author α σ ρ : Department of Civil Engineering, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt. e-mail: captain.ottos@ust.edu.ng no provision for safe pedestrian crossing. For some intersections crosswalks where people and cars share the same road area, signal phases have been provided to regulate this interaction in Port Harcourt, collisions between pedestrians and vehicles still happen as a result of pedestrian disobedience with traffic signals. However, pedestrian non-conformance with traffic signals causes pedestrian-vehicle interactions. Poor- quality traffic management, high traffic volume, and extended cycle times (waiting time) are some of the causes of pedestrian non-conformance with traffic signals. There are numerous other variables that influence how pedestrians’ respond to signals and interactions not included in previous research. Analyses of pedestrian behaviour have significant consequences for transportation systems, as well as for urban planning principles and methods of design (Laxman et al. 2010). Many research studies according to Laxman et al. (2010) have focused on the characteristics of pedestrians and the features of pedestrian movement in sidewalks and walkways only. A hand full of the studies have looked at the pedestrian flow characteristics at signalized crossings in order to develop pedestrian models for evaluating walking facilities. There have been few studies that looked at pedestrian disobedience at signalized crossings in order to develop pedestrian speed flow relationships (Zhou et al. (2011) and delay models (Li et al. (2013); Marisamynathan & Vedagiri (2013)). For the purpose of increasing pedestrian safety at signalized crossings, pedestrian crossing habits were investigated, and factors affecting those behaviors were found (Ren et al. 2011). Numerous characteristics have been overlooked in previous studies on pedestrian crossing behavior which is being found in the aforementioned investigations. A study that considers effective elements like pedestrian features, behavior, and traffic characteristics has not yet been done to analyze pedestrian crossing speed variation and pedestrian- vehicle interaction in crosswalks of signalized crossings. Here in Nigeria, studies of this kind are lacking. Thus, this study seeks to identify the factors influencing pedestrian crossing behaviors in Port Harcourt through a structured questionnaire method. V © 2023 Global Journals Global Journal of Researches in Engineering ( ) E Volume XxXIII Issue II Version I 57 Year 2023 Understanding the Factors Influencing Pedestrian Crossing Behavior and its Effect on Road Performance in Port Harcourt City