TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) and National Cooperative Highway Research Program have jointly produced and published Improving Pedestrian Safety at Unsignalized Crossings. The product, which can be referred to as TCRP Report 112 or NCHRP Report 562, examines selected engineering treatments to improve safety for pedestrians crossing high-volume and high-speed roadways at unsignalized locations. The report presents the edited final report and Appendix A. TCRP Web-Only Document 30/NCHRP Web-Only Document 91 (Pedestrian Safety at Unsignalized Crossings: Appendices B to O) contains the remaining appendixes of the contractor's final report.

This guide is intended to provide information on how to identify safety and mobility needs for pedestrians with the roadway right-of-way. Useful for engineers, planners, safety professionals and decision-makers, the guide covers such topics as: the Walking Environment including sidewalks, curb ramps, crosswalks, roadway lighting and pedestrian over and under passes; Roadway Design including bicycle lanes, roadway narrowing, reducing the number of lanes, one-way/two-way streets, right-turn slip lanes and raised medians; Intersections with roundabouts, T-intersections and median barriers; and Traffic calming designs.

During its 1989 session, the Virginia General Assembly passed House Joint Resolution No. 419. The Resolution requested that Virginia's pedestrian safety laws be studied and that recommendations for revisions of those laws be made to improve pedestrian safety. Data concerning motor vehicle crashes involving pedestrians, for the period from 1986 through 1988, were obtained and analyzed. During these 3 years, 389 pedestrians were killed, and 6,540 were injured. Pedestrians accounted for over 12 percent of the fatalities and nearly 3 percent of the injuries resulting from motor vehicle crashes. The analysis of the data identified specific pedestrian, location, driver, and vehicle crash characteristics. It was found that nearly 90 percent of the pedestrians killed and 78 percent of those injured were over 9 years old. They were either not using crosswalks when crossing the roadway, or were .walking along the roadway, or were standing or working in the roadway. Nearly 55 percent of the pedestrians killed and 83 percent of those injured were in business and residential areas. Hit-and-run, speed limit violations, inattention, and avoiding maneuvers were the primary driver actions cited. The vehicle was going straight ahead in over 70 percent of the cases when a pedestrian was killed or injured. The Code of Virginia was analyzed as it applied to the rights, duties, and responsibilities of both pedestrians and motorists and as it addressed the pedestrian crash problem. It was found that the Code does not address several problems and deals inadequately with others. The following changes were suggested: add six definitions, clarify pedestrian right of way in crosswalks, require drivers to yield to pedestrians on sidewalks, require pedestrian obedience to traffic control devices, prohibit passing a loading or unloading bus on the right, to prohibit certain pedestrian actions at railroad crossings, regulate pedestrian crossing behavior at locations other than crosswalks, regulate pedestrian use of the highways, detail pedestrian response to emergency vehicles, require both motorists and pedestrians to use due care.

The guide is intended to provide transit agency staff with an easy-to-use resource for improving pedestrian safety. The guide includes a variety of approaches to address common pedestrian safety issues that are likely to arise near transit stations, bus stops, and other places where transit (bus or rail) is operated. It provides references to publications, guides and other tools to identify pedestrian safety problems. Descriptions of engineering, education and enforcement programs that have been effectively applied by transit agencies are included as well as background information about pedestrian safety and access to transit.