A recent research project sponsored by the Transportation Cooperative Research Program and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program focused on improving pedestrian safety at unsignalized and midblock crossings. The project's two main objectives aimed to:

• Recommend select engineering treatments to improve safety for pedestrians crossing high-volume, high-speed roadways at unsignalized intersections, in particular on roads served by public transportation
• Recommend modifications to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) pedestrian traffic signal warrant.

The study considered key input variables such as pedestrian volume, street crossing width, and traffic volume to recommend one of four crossing treatment categories. The research team also developed findings on recommended pedestrian walking speed and motorist compliance. Pedestrian walking speed recommendations were 3.5 feet per second (FT/S) for the general population and 3.0 FT/S for older or less able populations. Motorist compliance, namely yielding or stopping where required, was the primary measure of effectiveness for the crossing treatments analyzed. The study found that crossing treatment type, the number of lanes being crossed, and posted speed limit were primary factors influencing treatment effectiveness.