Improving Pedestrian LOS at Traffic Signals

Christchurch City Council commissioned an investigation into ways of improving pedestrian level of service (LOS) at traffic signals in the central city. In 2009, Gehl Architects prepared a study entitled Public Space Public Life (2010) that considered how people use public spaces and streets in central Christchurch. This precedent study resulted in Christchurch City Council’s adoption of A City for People Action Plan (2010), which includes 66 related actions based on the recommendations in the study. This paper covers Stage 1 of the investigation that addresses some of those actions, which involved developing a methodology to measure existing LOS for each signalised pedestrian crossing in the study area, allocating a LOS score to each signalised pedestrian crossing, and identifying tools for improving pedestrian LOS. There were 32 signalised intersections within the study area, equating to 110 pedestrian signalised pedestrian crossings under consideration. The improvements considered for the project were restricted to changing traffic signal operations and adjusting signal hardware. Several methods were investigated to improve the existing pedestrian LOS. Testing of these methods indicated that the largest improvement to LOS would be gained through the reduction of the cycle time. In a subsequent stage of the project, each signalised pedestrian crossing will be looked at individually to determine which method can best improve the LOS for pedestrians. The methodology is easily transferrable to areas outside of the central city, and is applicable to other cities. Another major city has already expressed an interest in applying the methodology. The underlying hypothesis of this project is that improving the pedestrian level of service of the central city will increase prosperity. Improving Pedestrian LOS at Traffic Signals Wilke, Ward and McLaughlin Page 1 IPENZ Transportation Group Conference Auckland, March 201