United States Department of Transportation
i
Evaluation of Pedestrian Hybrid Beacons on Arizona Highways
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2019-09-01
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[PDF-1.24 MB]
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Edition:Final Report
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Abstract:The pedestrian hybrid beacon (PHB) is a traffic control device used at pedestrian crossings. It was first included in the 2009 Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. The focus of this Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) research was to: investigate the safety and operational impacts of the PHB installations that have occurred on Arizona’s state highways (higher-speed roads) to understand their impacts on vehicles and pedestrians; investigate the relationship between crashes at PHB locations and the spacing from nearby signalized intersections; investigate the relationship between crashes at PHB locations and other roadway characteristics; and determine whether modifications to ADOT guidance are needed to advise ADOT on site selection and use of PHBs. While the PHB has shown considerable potential in improving pedestrian safety and driver yielding, questions arose about whether the device performs at a similar level on higher-speed roads. This study selected 10 Arizona locations representing higher-operating-speed conditions (85th-percentile speed ranging between 44 and 54 mph). The final dataset reflected about 40 hours of video data and included 1,214 pedestrians or bicyclists crossing at PHBs. Overall, driver yielding for the 10 sites averaged 97 percent. This study’s safety evaluation covered 343 sites— 186 PHBs along with 56 signalized intersections and 101 unsignalized intersections used for comparison purposes. Previous studies found a safety benefit with the installation of PHBs, and this study supports that finding. Crash reductions were found for severe crashes (25 percent), pedestrian crashes (46 percent), severe rear-end crashes (29 percent), and various other crash types. The study developed recommendations for ADOT’s guidance in locating, designing, and operating PHBs on Arizona roadways.
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