Pedestrian Characteristics
A pedestrian is a person that travels by foot and not via vehicle. Pedestrians are one of the
common users of the roadway system. They vary in age, some have abilities and disabilities,
and some have different needs in which the traffic engineers should cater to. If the project is
poorly planned and constructed, pedestrians will be the major victims of an incident in the
roadway system. Hence, traffic engineers are challenged to build a convenient and accessible
design. To achieve this, it is essential to know the characteristics of the pedestrian to
determine the correct location and design of the pedestrian control devices and establish the
right timing pattern for signalised intersections. Some examples of these devices are
pedestrian signals, safety zones, underpasses, walkways, and crosswalks.
The characteristics that influence the design of the devices include visual and hearing, which
is similar to the driver. Aside from those, the walking speed of the pedestrian plays a major
part in influencing the design. The speed of the pedestrian varies depending on their age,
abilities and disabilities, and seemingly depending on the gender. Observations of pedestrian
movements have indicated that walking speeds vary between 3.0 and 8.0 ft /sec. The average
adult pedestrian has 4.00 ft/s or 1.22 m/s mean walking speed which is also used as the
typical design value. There is also a significant difference in the walking speed of male which
is determined to be 4.93 ft/s while the female has 4.63 ft/s walking rate in an intersection. If
there are 20% more elderly pedestrians present, an average of 2.8 ft/s or 0.9 m/s walking rate
is used. Handicapped persons also indicate lower walking speed rate. These factors should be
taken in consideration for the design of the pedestrian signals and the space in crosswalks and
walkways. Considerations are also given to the pedestrians with disabilities such as a special
key or bell for the blind people and ramps for pedestrians who are using a wheelchair.
Bicyclist and Bicycle Characteristics
Just as pedestrians are important in a roadway system, people who use bicycles have
significantly increased as well, especially in urban areas. Hence, the factors discussed in
automobiles are also applicable to the bike riders such as perception and reaction. However,
the only difference is that the rider is the one that gives the bicycle the power to move.
Therefore, not only the rider but also the bicycle was taken into consideration.
According to the AASHTO, three classes of bicyclists are identified; A, B, and C. Class A
includes those experienced riders, while class B are those with less experience. On the other
hand, class C includes children and riders who require a guide and a guardian in riding the
bicycle. These factors are taken into consideration by the traffic engineers in order to design
urban roads and streets that can be useful and can accommodate Class B and C bicyclists.
Moreover, the speed of the bicycle is also observed. The mean speed of the bicycle that is
commonly used in design is 8 mi/h and the mean acceleration is 3.5 ft/sec².
