Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Basic Guidelines on
Pedestrian Facilities
7.0m
5.0m
Roads Branch
Public Works Department Malaysia
Jalan Sultan Salahuddin
50582 Kuala Lumpur
FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY Basic Guideline on Pedestrian Facilities
Introduction
Pedestrians are highly vulnerable road users and they form the second largest group of road users
killed on Malaysian roads. In 1995, there were 5286 pedestrian casualties in traffic accidents, of
which 711 were deaths. The majority of these (67%) involved people crossing roads, whereas
about 33% involved people walking along (or working on) the road.
Existing Facilities For Pedestrians court action which may arise out of an accident
Crossing Roads at such sites.
The current facilities provided in Malaysia to
assist pedestrians in crossing busy roads At many signalised intersections, a combination
include: of `white and black' Zebra crossing markings
have been installed in direct contradiction of the
Pedestrian Bridges and Subways, current Road Traffic Rules. These pose consid-
Signalised Pedestrian Crossings, erable risk to pedestrians because of the confu-
Pedestrian (`Zebra') Crossings, sion between pedestrians and vehicle drivers as
to who has `right of way'. Quite recently,
School Children's Crossings,
`Yellow and Black' Zebra crossing markings
Combined `Zebra' and Signalised Pedestrian
Crossings. have been introduced in conjunction with traffic
signals. These are equally confusing to pedestri-
In respect to pedestrian bridges and subways, ans and motorists.
there is strong evidence that the majority of
those which have been built across non-express- The provisions for pedestrians to walk along
way routes have poor utilisation. For example a roads varies greatly even in urban and `built-up'
study of 10 pedestrian bridges in and around areas. In town and city centres, footpaths are
Kuantan Pahang, showed utilisation at some generally provided as part of building (shop)
sites was less than 10 %. although at few sites development, but in many cases these are
utilisation was higher than 80%. A similar study severely obstructed by business activity, street
of a Pedestrian Subway under Jalan SS l 64 (in furniture, motorcycle parking and even vehicle
the Bandar Utama area) had less than 20% utili- parking. In addition to this, most footpaths are
sation. `unfriendly' to pedestrians particularly the elder-
ly and those who are `disabled'. The cutting of
In respect to 'Zebra' type pedestrian crossings, the footpath at driveways, the excessive height
there is considerable confusion about the obliga- of the kerbs, the lack of `ramps' at intersections
tions of vehicle drivers and pedestrians at this and driveways, the common use of steps instead
type of crossing. There is generally poor obser- of ramps to cater for changes in level and the
vance of the `give -way' obligation by vehicle common presence of deep uncovered (and often
drivers when pedestrians enter the crossing and smelly) drains, is a significant discouragement
there appears,to be little or no enforcement of to pedestrians using the footpath and as a result
this obligation by the police. even where footpaths are provided pedestrians
find it more convenient to walk along the road-
In respect to signalised pedestrian crossings, way.
while these offer a higher degree of safety for
pedestrians, they are often not adopted on Guidelines On Facilities For
Federal Routes because (it is argued) it would Pedestrians To Cross Roads
interrupt the "free flow" of traffic on these It is universally accepted that pedestrians need
routes. to be provided with safe and convenient facili-
ties, to cross busy roads. The choice of type of
School Children's Crossings have been marked treatment is not always clear cut and may be
in various ways in different areas of Malaysia influenced by economics and other factors.
and none of them have any legal or regulatory
backing. This poses a serious legal problem for
road authorities such as JKR in the event of any
The ability of pedestrians to cross roads 'at- The use of `Speed Humps' and other `vertical
grade' anywhere is very dependent on traffic displacement' devices are not favoured on `arte-
volume (or `flow rate') and traffic speed. As traf- rial' roads because of the severe effect these
fic flow rate increases, the availability of `gaps', have on heavy trucks and busses, but they are
sufficient for pedestrians to cross the road safely applicable and quite effective on `collector' and
between vehicle arrivals at the site, decreases `local streets' in urban areas. Thus `Speed
and pedestrians are delayed. At high traffic flow Humps' and `raised platform' areas, which may
rates pedestrian delays can become very large be used in conjunction with other `Local Area
and in some cases impatient pedestrians may Traffic Management (LATM) Devices and
make risky crossings in short gaps in the traffic `Traffic Calming' techniques can also be used
flow. This situation invariably results in the in combination with pedestrian crossing facili-
occurrence of traffic accidents involving pedes- ties at appropriate locations.
trians. In this situation the ability of pedestrians
to cross can be enhanced by measures such as: Types Of Pedestrian Crossing
Facilities
narrowing the vehicular roadway (maintain-
ing only just sufficient width to meet vehicu- Pedestrian crossing facilities can be categorised
into three distinct types as follows:
sation of any grade separated pedestrian (faces) and signal phases to assist pedestrians to
crossing facility. cross safely can be incorporated at little addi-
The provision of steps (stairs) rather than tional cost. In general, at important intersections
ramps at pedestrian grade separations has within cities and towns. there will usually be suf-
been found to be a discouragement to pedes- ficient pedestrian movements to justify the pro-
trians. vision of pedestrian facilities, not withstanding
Where subways are depressed below ground this, some guidelines / warrants for such provi-
level, are long and not well lighted, personal sions are included in Appendix A.
security can be a perceived problem, particu-
larly for women, children and elderly people. The type of pavement marking to be used to
Such facilities often experience poor utilisa- indicate the pedestrian crossing at signalised
tion even in daytime. intersections is similar to that used at signalised
pedestrian crossings away from intersections ie,
Warrants And Layout Guidelines conventional signalised pedestrian crossings as
Consideration of the various factors relevant to illustrated in Figure 5. These consist of white
the choice of the appropriate type of pedestrian transverse lines marked across the carriageway
crossing leads to the presentation of a range of the width between which may vary from a min-
different types of facilities to suit various classes imum of 2.5m (for low pedestrian flows) to 4 m
of road and different road environment situa- (for high pedestrian flows). Note that Zebra type
tions. Most of the `well proven' techniques and markings must not be placed across the main
devices are currently being used in Malaysia, but carriageways at signalised intersections.
the main problem is that particular treatments
are often used at inappropriate locations and the The pedestrian phases at signalised intersections
geometric design, traffic signing and roadmark- are usually incorporated into the signal cycle in
ing vary greatly from site to site. parallel with non-conflicting, or the least con-
flicting traffic movements. It is generally accept-
Guidelines for the selection of the most appro- ed that conflicts between left turning traffic is
priate type of treatment are provided in Figure 1. acceptable except where high speed `slip' road
The desirable general layout etc for various with 2 or more traffic lanes are provided. At sig-
types of pedestrian crossing facilities are illus- nalised intersections with significant pedestrian
trated in Figures 2 to 7. movements, `Zebra' type pedestrian crossings
may be installed across any separate left turn
`slip' road, but never in conjunction with a sig-
In the absence of quantitative and other guide-
nalised left turn `slip' road. It is also generally
lines specifically developed for Malaysian con-
acceptable to allow the conflict between right
ditions, it is suggested that those presented in the
turn vehicular traffic and pedestrians crossing
AUSTROADS (Australia) Guide To Traffic
the roadway into which the right turners are
Engineering Practice, Part 13 - Pedestrians,
entering, except where this traffic movement is
(derived from Australian Standard AS 1742. 10),
proceeding on a green arrow signal.
be adopted as `Interim Guidelines' until such
time as experience in practice indicates any nec-
essary changes to better suit Malaysian condi- Guidelines For Providing Facilities
tions. These are attached as Appendix A of this For Pedestrians To walk Along
report. Roads:
There are few places on the road system where
Provisions For Pedestrians At no provision needs to be made for pedestrians to
Signalised Intersections walk along a road, and in view of the vulnerabil-
At intersections where traffic signals are ity of pedestrians in any conflict with vehicles
installed to control conflicting traffic move- (including motorcycles) some form of segrega-
ments, the provision of special signal heads tion is desirable. However where the intensity of
land use and thus pedestrian movements are low Manhole covers and gratings, if they cannot
, such as in most rural areas, the road shoulder be avoided, should be kept flush with the
can adequately provide space for people to walk footpath surface and any drains close to the
clear of vehicular traffic. footpath, which could pose a danger to pedes-
trians, should be covered.
While no numeric warrants are given for the Clearance of at least 1.0 m should be provid-
provision of footpaths along roads, they are gen- ed between the traffic lanes and the footpath.
erally considered necessary in all "built-up" This clearance, which should be greater
areas and may also be necessary at some rural where traffic volume and, or speed are high,
locations such as in the vicinity of schools, increases the safety of pedestrians, and
mosques or other community facilities where reduces the inconvenience / annoyance
pedestrians are likely to be concentrated. caused by the splash from vehicle tires in wet
weather.
In some city and town situations, on 'local street'
Changes in level along and beside the foot
class of roads, where there may be very high
path should be minimised. Where it is not
pedestrian activity, the roadway itself. These sit-
possible to avoid steps, particular care needs
uations in which vehicles and pedestrians share
to be taken to properly identify them so that
the road carriageway require specific traffic
they can be seen, especially by people with
rules which give pedestrians equal priority to
impaired vision.
vehicles together with special traffic manage-
ment arrangements, including a maximum
Where differences in level are catered for by
speed limit of 25 km/h or less, to reduce the
a ramp instead of or in addition to steps, the
degree of threat to pedestrians posed by vehicu-
gradient should not be steeper than 1 in 10.
lar traffic. In some countries these are referred to
Where long ramps are involved, such as at
as "Shared Zones".
pedestrian bridges, gradients of 1 in 20 to 1 in
33 should be provided.
Where footpaths are provided. consideration
should always be given to the needs of elderly Where kerbs are provided at the edge of the
people and people with disabilities. The design carriageway, they should not be higher than
should incorporate the following characteristics 150mm. Where the footpath crosses or inter-
aimed at making them 'user friendly' for all sects the kerb as at intersections and drive -
classes of pedestrians: ways, the kerb should be `dropped' and a
Adequate width should be provided. This ramp at an acceptable slope should be provid-
may vary from an absolute minimum of 0.9 m ed.
to 2.4 m or wider in shopping and other high
pedestrian activity areas. In general driveways should not `cut' the foot-
path but should be ramped up or down from
A height clearance of at least 2.0 m should be
roadway level to meet the footpath level. The
provided.
need for pedestrians to step down to the drive-
The pathway should not be obstructed by way level and back up to footpath level at
posts, poles, traffic signs, trees and other each driveway is a major discouragement to
street furniture. Neither should they be pedestrians using the footpath. In addition.
allowed to be obstructed by adjacent business pedestrians should be given `right of way'
activity or parked vehicles, or unreasonably (priority) over vehicular traffic where drive
obstructed by motorcycles and bicycles. Any ways cross the footpath. This pedestrian pri-
obstacle close to the pathway which could ority is greatly enhanced if vehicular traffic is
endanger pedestrians, particularly people ramped up to footpath level.
with impaired vision, should be well delineat-
Footpath surfaces should be firm. even.
ed.
smooth and skid resistant, especially in wet
Appendix A
lar traffic flow, V > 1000 vph (sum of both and each case should be treated on its merits,
directions) in the same hours. the following general guides should be con-
sidered.
Subject to there being no other pedestrian
crossing (including a grade separated Low utilisation can be expected at sites
crossing within a reasonable distance (say where:
200m) of the site. Traffic flow on the carriageway to be
crossed is less than about 700 vph during
A signalised pedestrian crossing may be the period when most pedestrians need to
placed instead of a school Children's cross the road.
Crossing where: The site is within 250 m of a signalised
where P> 50pph for each of two (2) intersection.
one-hour periods and V > 600 vph. and, The site is not conveniently located for
the product of PxV > 40,000. the pedestrian movements in the vicinity.
A signalised pedestrian crossing may be
justified at any location on an Arterial Good utilisation is usually achieved
road where the above warrants for a
Pedestrian (Zebra) Crossing are met, but In the vicinity of schools (particularly pri-
at which it would not be appropriate to mary schools) where children can be
install a Zebra type crossing due to the `channeled' to the facility by fencing.
high speed of traffic or where the car- At high pedestrian demand locations
riageway is wider than 15m, or where where ramps are provided directly on the
there is a continuous high flow of pedes- most convenient route for pedestrians
trians which would cause excessive delay
to vehicular traffic at a Zebra type cross- Providing Pedestrian Signals At
ing. Signalised Intersections:
A signalised pedestrian crossing may be Pedestrian signal heads and 'push button'
justified to replace an existing pedestrian equipment should be incorporated as a gener-
(Zebra) crossing where the has been two al practice into all intersection and inter-
or more pedestrian involved accidents, of change signals in urban areas. Where there is
a type which may be corrected by the doubt about the justification of the increased
installation of traffic signals, in the last cost of providing the pedestrian equipment
three (3) years. on some or all approaches to a signalised
A signalised pedestrian crossing may be intersection. this provision is usually consid-
installed instead of a Pedestrian (Zebra) ered to be justified where the following crite-
Crossing where the site is within a `coor- ria is met:
dinated (linked)' traffic signal system , or
close to signalised intersection or a rail- At intersections where for any two (2)
way level crossing, where there is a dan one-hour periods of an average day the
ger of vehicles Pedestrian volume. P >60 pph across the
intresection approach under construction.
Grade Separated Pedestrian Crossings: The presence of children, elderly or dis-
Grade separated crossings are very costly and abled pedestrians at the site may justify
experience shows that they are generally the specialpedestrian equipment at lower
poorly utilised. They are however essential pedestrian flows than this.
wherever pedestrians need to cross and
`Expressway' (or Freeway) route.