A Critical Review of Grade-Separated Pedestrian Crossing Facilities

Abstract

Vehicle–pedestrian crashes are one of the common road accident types. Pedestrian crossing warrants are guidelines that recommend a particular type of pedestrian crossing facility to be provided at a crossing location. Various countries around the world have their crossing warrant guidelines, but most of them are focused toward at-grade facilities. Even with existing warrant criteria, the number of pedestrian–vehicle crashes is alarming. This indicates that the warrant criteria and their threshold values may need reexamination. Several of the existing warrant guidelines do not provide the required clarity for the provision of grade-separated pedestrian crossing facilities (GSPCFs). GSPCFs include overpasses (or foot overbridges), underpasses (or subways), and partial underpasses (or hump subways). The existing warrant guidelines consider GSPCFs as a single unit and do not identify which type of GSPCF should be provided at a crossing location. Appropriate GSPCFs not only minimize the accident rate but also eliminate delays for both vehicles and pedestrians. This paper conducts an in-depth analysis of the existing literature on urban midblock GSPCF warrants around the world. The discussion highlights the limitations associated with existing warrant guidelines and the need to formulate improved GSPCF warrants.