The surrogate safety measures evaluation of a staggered crossing on the delta area of Rijeka

The causes of accidents in the crossings are many and cannot be alone traced back to the "irresponsible" action of the pedestrian, but should instead be sought above all in the failure to plan urban pedestrian itineraries, in the disorderly organization of the urban functions, in poor vehicle traffic planning and in the poor quality of road infrastructure design.The presence of pedestrian areas allows greater safety during the crossing, especially for users with reduced mobility or for the elderly as they provide a protected area where they can stop especially if the crossing is wide and the pedestrian traffic light cycle has a phase of reduced green.Generally the area bounded by the perimeter of the island is forbidden to the circulation of all vehicles, but can be used by pedestrians as a refuge for crossing the roadway, when the island is affected by a pedestrian crossing.The present work shows a comparison of traffic and safety scenarios hypothesizing the addition of a pedestrian island in an urban area of the city of Rijeka characterized by a very wide pedestrian crossing and by large pedestrian and vehicular flows. The traffic level of service level (LOS) and the surrogate safety parameters with and without the pedestrian area were evaluated through microsimulation of traffic.