The effects of installing new zebra crossings in Rugby and Chelmsford

Some effects of doubling the number of zebra crossings in Rugby and Chelmsofrd are described. The proportion of all drivers stopping or slowing voluntarily for pedestrians on crossings showed no change in the experimental towns after the new crossings were installed and was greater than in the towns used for controls. Additional studies at four sites in Rugby and three sites in Chelmsford where the new crossings were installed showed that: (1) at given sites vehicle journey time tended to be lower with pedestrian flows below about 400 peds/hour, and higher with pedestrian flows above this level, after crossings were installed; (2) at given sites pedestrian kerb delay tended to be lower where vehicle flows were more than about 300 vehs/hour, after the crossings were installed; and (3) pedestrians crossed the road more quickly with the crossings than they did without them. Pedestrian casualties were little changed in total by the introduction of the new crossings, but there were some inconsistent changes in the location of casualties in the towns studied. (A)