Improving Pedestrian Priority via Grouping and Virtual Lanes

Abstract: The shared space design is applied in urban streets to support barrier-free movement and integrate traffic participants (such as pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles) into a common road space. Regardless of the low-speed environment, sharing space with motor vehicles can make vulnerable road users feel uneasy. Yet, walking in groups increases their confidence as well as influence the yielding behavior of drivers. Therefore, we propose an innovative approach to support the crossing of pedestrians via grouping and project the virtual lanes in shared spaces. This paper presents the important components of the crowd steering system, discusses the enablers and gaps in the current approach, and illustrates the proposed idea with concept diagrams.