Investigation of pedestrian crossing behavior at crossing facilities in India

Pedestrians are one of the most vulnerable road users, yet requisite attention has not been given to their safety especially in developing countries. Every year large numbers of pedestrians are killed in road crashes in India, and many of them die while crossing the roads. The main aim of this paper is to investigate the crossing behavior of pedestrians & to enhance road safety. The survey was conducted on 1423 participants. Factor analysis was carried out, which divided the pedestrian behaviors into five factors, namely: violation, lapse, error, risk, and infrastructure. Mann Whitney U test, Kruskal Wallis H test and post hoc test (Dunn's test with Bonferroni correction) were conducted to find the correlation between pedestrians' demographic features and behavioral factors. The results showed that the behavioral patterns like violations, lapses and risks are differentiated by gender. Men made statistically more violations, lapses and took more risks than female road users. Pedestrians from the low-income group, many of whom are devoid of formal education, showed more violations and risk-taking behavior compared to those from the higher-income group. Similarly, old road users and those coming from the higher-income group were found to be more concerned about the lack of pedestrian facilities.