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Federal Highway Administration Research and Technology
Coordinating, Developing, and Delivering Highway Transportation Innovations

Report
This report is an archived publication and may contain dated technical, contact, and link information
Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-10-043
Date: September 2010

Effects of Yellow Rectangular Rapid-Flashing Beacons on Yielding at Multilane Uncontrolled Crosswalks

508 Captions

Figure 1. Photo. RRFB with two forward-facing LED flashers and a side-mounted LED flasher. A pole mounted at the side of a roadway near a crosswalk bears the W11-2 pedestrian warning sign, which shows a silhouette of a person walking to the left. The sign is a yellow diamond with a black border, and the silhouette is black. Below the sign, there is a rectangular rapid-flashing beacon (RRFB) with two yellow lights, and the light on the right is activated. Below the sign, there is a rectangular yellow sign with a black border and a black arrow pointing diagonally downward to the left toward the crosswalk. Above the W11-2 sign, there is a photovoltaic panel.

Figure 2. Graph. Yielding compliance for three conditions during nighttime observations at the third site at 1st Street and 37th Avenue S. This bar graph depicts the average yielding percentage for nighttime observation at the third site at 1st Street and 37th Avenue S. The three treatment conditions, Baseline, 2 rectangular rapid-flashing beacons (RRFBs), and 4 RRFBs, are shown on the x-axis. The yielding compliance is recorded as a percent on the y-axis. The Baseline condition has a yielding compliance of 5 percent, the 2 RRFBs condition has a yielding compliance of 85 percent, and the 4 RRFBs condition has a yielding compliance of 100 percent.

Figure 3. Graph. Mean yielding percentage for each condition. This bar graph depicts all of the data from the four experimental sites averaged together per treatment condition. The following six treatment conditions are listed along the x-axis in chronological order of the evaluation of the conditions: Baseline, 2 rectangular rapid-flashing beacons (RRFBs), 4 RRFBs, 4 RRFBs, Baseline, and 4 RRFBs. The mean yielding percentage per condition is recorded on the y-axis. There is a vertical dashed line between the two 4 RRFBs bars in the center of the graph. The data to the right of the dashed line show results of follow-up data collection 14 months after installation. The bar graph depicts the following results from left to right: Baseline, 18 percent; 2 RRFBs, 82 percent; 4 RRFBs, 89 percent; 4 RRFBs, 96 percent; Baseline, 18 percent; and 4 RRFBs, 95 percent.

Figure 4. Photo. Northbound view of standard overhead beacon system and crosswalk at 58th Street N with advance yield markings. A standard overhead yellow flashing beacon system is shown above a crosswalk across a multilane street. Two 12-inch-diameter yellow beacons facing both directions of traffic and a square, yellow pedestrian crossing sign hang from a wire attached to utility poles on either side of the street. A W11-2 pedestrian warning sign is mounted on a pole on the right side of the roadway. A car and a bus are approaching the crosswalk on the left side of the street. Advance yield markings are installed 30 ft before the crosswalk on the right side of the street. The advance yield markings are a series of triangles, with the point of each triangle facing the approaching driver. The system is inactive.

Figure 5. Graph. Driver yielding behavior at the 58th Street N site. This bar graph depicts driver yielding data from the first site at 58th Street N. Four treatment conditions, Baseline, Standard, 2 rectangular rapid-flashing beacons (RRFBs), and 4 RRFBs, are listed on the x-axis. The mean percent yielding compliance is recorded as a percent on the y-axis. The graph depicts the following results: Baseline, 11 percent; Standard, 16 percent; 2 RRFBs, 82 percent; and 4 RRFBs, 89 percent.

Figure 6. Graph. Relative efficacy of the side-mounted yellow beacon at the 4th Street S site. This bar graph depicts data from the second site at 4th Street and 18th Avenue. Three treatment conditions, Baseline, Side-Mounted, and 2 rectangular rapid-flashing beacons (RRFBs), are listed on the x-axis. The mean percent yielding compliance is recorded as a percent on the y-axis. The graph depicts the following results: Baseline, zero percent; Side-Mounted, 15 percent; and 2 RRFBs, 87 percent.

Figure 7. Photo. Perpendicular lighting (left panel) and Direct Aim® lighting (right panel). The left photo is a close-up of a pair of perpendicular LED lights. Two yellow arrows point to the lights, which are mounted flush to the metal bracket. When activated, these lights create a flash parallel to the roadway. The right photo is a close-up of pair of Direct Aim® lights. Two yellow arrows point to the lights, which are mounted at a slight angle toward the street. The left side of the light is raised from the metal bracket, while the right side of the light is flush with the bracket. When activated, these lights flash at an angle that places oncoming traffic in the direct path of the light.

Figure 8. Graph. Yielding compliance for experiment 4 located at 4th Street and 18th Avenue S in St. Petersburg, FL. This bar graph depicts data from a crosswalk located at 4th Street and 18th Avenue S in St. Petersburg, FL. The following eight data sets are listed along the x-axis from left to right: Baseline, 7 Days, 30 Days, 180 Days, 270 Days, 365 Days, Direct Aim®, and Direct Aim® and momentary light bar (MLB). Yielding compliance is recorded as a percent on the y-axis. The graph shows the following results: Baseline, zero percent; 7 Days, 33 percent; 30 Days, 72 percent; 180 Days, 69 percent; 270 Days, 69 percent; 365 Days, 80 percent; Direct Aim®, 89 percent; and Direct Aim® and MLB, 86 percent.

Figure 9. Graph. Yielding compliance during the baseline and the RRFBs at the crosswalk alone versus the RRFB at the crosswalk plus the RRFB at the advance sign. This line graph depicts yielding averages over the course of several sessions. The yielding compliance is recorded as a percent on the y-axis. To the left of a vertical dashed line in the center of the graph are the initial baseline measurements, depicted as a line with six diamond points. The yielding compliance during the baseline is 0.8–17 percent. To the right of the dashed line are the measurements for rectangular rapid-flashing beacons (RRFBs) at crosswalk alone, depicted as a line with five square points, and the measurements for RRFB at crosswalk and at advance sign, depicted as a line with five triangular points. For RRFBs at the crosswalk alone, the range of yielding compliance is 83–100 percent. For RRFBs at the crosswalk and at the advance sign, the range of yielding compliance is 79–98 percent. To the right of this data, there is another dashed vertical line followed by a single triangular data point depicting the return to baseline, which produced a yielding compliance of zero percent.

Figure 10. Graph. Average yielding percentage during the RRFBs at the crosswalk alone and the RRFBs at the crosswalk and on the advance sign. This line graph depicts yielding averages in relationship to distance interval. The x-axis lists the following seven intervals: < 10 ft, 10–20 ft, 20–30 ft, 30–50 ft, 50–70 ft, and > 100 ft. The yielding compliance is recorded as percentage on the y-axis. The graph shows two lines. One line has diamond data points and shows RRFBs at the crosswalk alone. The other line has square data points and shows RRFBs at the crosswalk and at the advance sign. The line for RRFBs at the crosswalk alone shows a range from almost zero percent at less than 10 ft to 38.5 percent at more than 100 feet. The line for RRFBs at the crosswalk and at the advance sign shows a range from almost zero percent at less than 10 ft to 49 percent at more than 100 ft.

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