The sustained and generalized effects of multifaceted treatment on unsignalized pedestrian crossings

Introduction: One method of improving pedestrian safety is through a multifaceted intervention program to enhance awareness and enforcement of pedestrian right-of-way laws, which has been shown to significantly improve driver behavior toward pedestrians at unsignalized crosswalks. An intervention using this approach was performed in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 2018. However, the sustainability of the intervention's positive effects on yielding, as well as the potential contributing role of police enforcement and infrastructure such as crosswalk markings, are not as well understood. Methods: The present study provides a reassessment of driver yielding to pedestrians at unsignalized crosswalks in Saint Paul three years after the original intervention, as well as a comparison with unsignalized crosswalks in neighboring Minneapolis, the latter of which has not received any form of high visibility enforcement. The methodology employed the use of staged crossings and natural pedestrian observations at selected unsignalized crosswalk sites. Results: An analysis of driver yielding found that there was a sustained improvement in driver yielding in the reassessment period at generalized non-treated sites in Saint Paul in the final phase of the 2018 intervention, compared to the original baseline pre-treatment measures. Second, comparisons between Minneapolis baseline and original 2018 Saint Paul baseline showed significantly higher yielding averages for Saint Paul, which had prior iterations of high visibility enforcement. Conclusions: The present research indicates long-term benefits to employing a multi-method intervention to improve pedestrian safety at unsignalized crosswalks and suggests there are moderate benefits to including high visibility enforcement as a component of these programs.