The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) published a TechBrief describing research into environmental influences on where and when pedestrians cross the roadway.  The study collected information on pedestrian crossings at 20 different locations in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

The study recommends that areas with a high predicted likelihood of unmarked non-intersection crossings should be proactively targeted to modify the crossing affordances of the environment, in order to increase the safety and meet the needs of all road users.