This study aimed to investigate the effects of the splitter-island on pedestrian safety at roundabouts, considering the interaction between pedestrians and vehicles. Traffic accident statistics have traditionally been used to assess traffic safety. This method has severe limitations when used to investigate the impact of a particular feature of traffic facilities on safety at a microscopic level. Most previous research on surrogate safety measures (SSMs) had, on the other hand, focused on studying the safety of traffic operation conditions. The impact of a particular geometric feature of a roundabout on safety has so far received little attention in the literature. Therefore, we evaluated pedestrian safety in the presence and absence of physical splitter-islands by taking advantage of comparative statistical analysis (SA) and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) methods. The Towa-Cho roundabout in Nagano prefecture in Japan was chosen for this study because it allows for five approaches, three with a splitter-island and two without. From 33-hr video data, a total of 343 and 183 potential pedestrian-vehicle conflicts were detected in three crosswalks with splitter-islands and two crosswalks without splitter-islands, respectively. The minimum time-to-collision (TTCmin), post-encroach-time (PET), maximum speed (MaxS), and maximum deceleration-to-safety (DTS) measures were monitored using particle tracking velocimetry (PTV) software for potential pedestrian-vehicle conflicts. It was found that geometric differences were significantly reflected by SSMs, and TTCmin was the most efficient among all. It was concluded that the splitter-island had a better safety performance than the roundabout approach.

Background: As urban landscapes rapidly integrate e-scooters into their transportation ecosystems, understanding pedestrian-e-scooter interactions becomes paramount for safety and planning. This study investigates pedestrian discomfort levels and avoidance strategies when encountering an e-scooter approaching from the front. Methods: 25 participants were exposed to e-scooters approaching at three different speeds and lateral distances. Avoidance paths were plotted, and subjective discomfort levels were recorded and analysed. Results: Our findings underscored two key behaviours: 1) As the speed of the e-scooter increased, participants initiated avoidance manoeuvres from a further distance ahead, suggesting a heightened perception of risk. 2) Regardless of the e-scooter's speed, the lateral distance maintained during passing remained fairly constant. However, when the e-scooter's initial lateral position was closer to participants, both the initiation distance for avoidance and the reported discomfort level increased noticeably. Conclusion: The findings underscore the critical influence of lateral distance and e-scooter speed on pedestrian comfort and avoidance behaviour. These insights can guide urban planners and policymakers in designing safer and more efficient shared spaces.

We discussed the role of medians at signalized intersections for utilizing as pedestrian refuge island from the viewpoint of users' consciousness and behaviors. Especially, we focused on the crank-type crosswalk installed with or without a two-step crossing operation. As a result, it was revealed that the crank-type crosswalk with two-step crossing operation can have an effect on the reducing risky behaviors after flashing green signal under the adequate signal phase setting.

At at-grade intersections, various users such as cars, bicycles, and pedestrians from multiple directions use the same space, causing their paths to intersect and creating a road facility where safety issues are likely to occur. Moreover, the quality of design and control of at-grade intersections not only affect safety but also significantly impact the efficiency of traffic. Therefore, when considering design and control, it is required to highly balance both safety and efficiency.