Investigation of illegal road users’ behavior at overpass locations and the effect of an escalator on the overpass usage ratio

When traffic is evaluated it is clear that pedestrians are an important factor. despite the fact that pedestrian behavior has not been included in the researches in previous years, recently detailed information about pedestrians has started to be collected. the researches are usually carried out on signalized pedestrian crossings, and studies covering the overpass areas are limited. in order to determine the effect of the escalator presence, two overpass locations are selected in izmir where road geometry is similar. in addition, a short questionnaire was conducted to the pedestrians to reveal their perceptions towards overpass safety and find out their self-evaluations about their crossing type. usage ratio was computed comparing the crossing time of the pedestrians who crossed at street level and who crossed using the overpass. the validity of the usage ratio formula for overpasses with and without escalators was assessed. it is recommended to review the usage ratio formula for overpasses with different characteristics since it takes into account time as the sole parameter. when the data are evaluated it is found that average crossing speed of pedestrians who crossed illegally around the overpass where an escalator did not exist is 1.72 m/s, and where an escalator existed is 1.63 m/s.