Walk or wait?: An empirical analysis of street crossing decisions

Abstract

We examine the behaviour of pedestrians wishing to cross a stream of trasffic at signalized intersections. We model each padestrian as making a desccrete crossing choice by comparing the gaps between vehicles in traffic to an individual-specific "critical gap" that characterizes the individual's minimal acceptable gap. We propose both parametric and nonparametric approaches to estimate the distribution of critical gaps in the population of pedestrians. To estimate the model, we gather field data on crossing decisions and vehicle flows at three intersections in New Delhi. The estimates provide information about heterogeneity in critical gaps across pedestrians and intersections and permits simulation of the effect of changes in traffic light sequence (flows)on pedestran crossing behavior and waiting times.