Understanding the Factors Influencing Pedestrian Crossing Behavior and Its Effect on Road Performance in Port Harcourt City
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.
