Can we all coexist? An empirical analysis of drivers' and pedestrians' behavior in four different shared space road environments

Abstract

Shared space assumes that the elimination of physical segregation and traffic control measures forces road users to become more alert, move at lower speeds, and rely on the environmental context for negotiating movement. Still, pedestrians tend to feel reluctant about sharing the space with motorized traffic triggering a coexistence problem. By investigating trajectories, shared space is informally divided into three zones: circulation, safe, and activity zone. This study attempts to answer the following research questions: can all road users coexist in the same road space? If yes, under which circumstances, this can be achieved? Three German and one Greek case, presenting different design characteristics and traffic flow compositions, are empirically investigated. Relative variables, namely: pedestrian crossing rate, speed compliance rate and speed deviations, are considered. The findings indicate that vehicle speeds are reduced when the flow of both pedestrians and vehicles is above the mean. A high pedestrian crossing rate is related to higher speed deviations and consequently to heterogeneous driving behavior. By extending the activity or safe zones, the speed compliance rate is significantly reduced, while pedestrians cross more the circulation zone. By providing a wider circulation zone, average vehicle speeds exceed the speed limit.