Pedestrian Crossing Behaviour 32 

The pedestrians who walk along the freeway and those who cross the freeway and on- and off- ramps were observed to determine the typical crossing behaviour of the people living in the vicinity of the freeway. A site visit was conducted on 19 April 2019 and 15 and 17 June 2019, the TMC was visited in the AM peak hour of 20 May 2019 and the CCTV camera feed on the traffic website was observed between 1 May 2019 and 17 May 2019 to determine how pedestrians behave along the section of freeway that is included in the study area.

During the site visits and the visit to the TMC, it was determined that the majority of the pedestrians walk along the freeway and either crossed at the ramps of the freeway or at the interchange itself. During the observations, it was established that less than 5% of the pedestrians crossed the freeway midblock.

A pedestrian count was conducted on the N3 Eastern bypass between the London Road and Marlboro Road interchanges, which are located adjacent to the Alexandra informal settlement. This settlement is one of the biggest informal settlements in the study area, and it was therefore assumed that the data obtained from the pedestrian count, would give a reasonable estimation of how pedestrians behave along the freeway and would also give an indication of the locations

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where they prefer to cross. It was assumed that the pedestrian behaviour on all the sections of the freeway included in the study area would be similar to the pedestrian behaviour at the London Road interchange. Table 3 gives a summary of the pedestrian behaviour during the AM peak hour of a typical day:

Table 3: Pedestrian count summary

No  Pedestrian activity  Pedestrians per hour 

1  Pedestrians walking on the informal walkways on the eastern side of the  N3 (Marlboro Road to London Road)  20  2  Pedestrians walking on the informal walkways on the eastern side of the  N3 (London Road to Marlboro Road)  215  3  Pedestrians walking on the informal walkways on the western side of the  N3 (Marlboro Road to London Road)  85  4  Pedestrians walking on the informal walkways on the western side of the  N3 (London Road to Marlboro Road)  200  5  Pedestrians crossing at the ramps of the Marlboro Road interchange (all  directions)  505  6  Pedestrians crossing at the ramps of the London Road interchange (all  directions)  145  7  Pedestrians crossing the freeway at any location between the London  Road and Marlboro Road interchanges  5 

It is therefore evident that the majority of the pedestrians walk along the freeway to cross either at the ramps of the interchanges or walk along the ramps to cross at the ramp terminal. It was observed that pedestrians waited and were picked up along the freeway as well as on the ramps of the interchange, as indicated in Figure 8.

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Figure 8: Pedestrians waiting to be picked up by public transport vehicles

It is also evident from the pedestrian count that the number of pedestrians that cross the freeway is significantly lower than the number of pedestrians that cross the ramps of the interchanges, which is consistent with the observations made during the site visits and the visit to the TMC. It should, however, be noted that pedestrians tend to present a different behaviour when they realise that they are observed. The pedestrians that would cross the freeway when they are not observed might, therefore, be different from the number of pedestrians that crossed the freeway when the pedestrian count was done.

Due to the barriers and median that is installed on the entire section of the FMS Network included in this study, the pedestrians that have to cross the freeway are forced to cross in a rolling-gap manner. The pedestrians cannot cross both traffic streams using a single-stage crossing method. This reduces the number of conflict points that pedestrians have to anticipate when they cross the freeway since it is only necessary to observe the oncoming traffic in one direction and not in both directions. The rolling-gap crossing method also decreases the gap that has to be taken to safely cross the freeway since the pedestrians only have to cross one direction at a time. An inside shoulder is provided on the entire section of the freeway, which provides refugee for the pedestrians to climb over the barrier and wait for a gap in the oncoming traffic stream to cross the

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second half of the freeway. It is noted that the shoulder is not implemented to be used as a walkway or as a refuge island for the pedestrians. It is; however, safer for the pedestrians to be able to wait on the shoulder than to have to sit on the barrier while they wait for another gap in the traffic stream to cross the second half of the freeway.

Pedestrian footpaths were observed along the freeway, indicating that pedestrians walk along the shoulders of the freeway. This was confirmed during the site visit as well as on the footage that was seen in the TMC. The majority of the pedestrians that were observed were walking along the freeway or waiting at the ramps or on the shoulder of the freeway for their transport.

The following crossing behaviours were observed:

1. Pedestrians walk on the side of the road or on the outside shoulder of the freeway to get to their destinations without crossing the freeway.

2. Pedestrians walk along the freeway towards the ramps of an interchange, cross only the ramps and continue walking along the freeway

3. Pedestrians walk along the ramp towards the ramp terminal where they cross and continue walking on the internal roads leading to and from the freeway.

4. Pedestrians wait on the outside shoulder for a sufficient gap to cross the first half of the freeway, climb over the barrier and wait for a second gap to cross the second half of the freeway.

5. Pedestrians wait on the outside shoulder for a sufficient gap to cross the first half of the freeway, climb over the barrier walk along the barrier for some time before waiting for a second gap to cross the second half of the freeway

It was observed that pedestrians tend to walk along the barrier on the freeway when one of the sides of the freeway is fenced off. The pedestrian, therefore, crosses the first part of the freeway, but cannot cross the second half of the freeway due to fencing on the side of the freeway or due to the gradient on the other side of the freeway which prevents them from leaving the freeway. They are therefore forced to walk on the median or along the barrier until there is a gap in the fencing or until they reach an interchange where they can cross and walk along the ramp to exit the freeway.

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Figure 9: Pedestrian footpaths and public transport vehicles at the Witkoppen Interchange

Figure 9 above is a photo of the Witkoppen interchange. It is evident from Figure 9 that there are major pedestrian and public transport activity in the area, with the majority of the pedestrian footpaths leading to the ramp of the interchange. It is evident that there is an informal mini-bus taxi holding facility at this interchange. There is a pedestrian footpath that leads to the freeway; however, there is no evidence that the pedestrians cross the freeway in a straight line since the footpath is only located on the one side of the road. The pedestrians might, therefore, walk on the shoulder of the road to a different location before they cross the road. Another possibility is that the pedestrians are picked up and dropped off by public transport vehicles at this point, from which they can take another mini-bus taxi at the informal holding facility.

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Figure 10: Pedestrian footpaths leading to the N1 Western Bypass

A high number of pedestrian footpaths are visible in Figure 10. The majority of the footpaths are located on the western side of the N1 Western Bypass. A reason for this is due to the informal settlement on the western side of the road, resulting in a high number of pedestrians that walk to the freeway from different sides of the settlement. Pedestrians might also walk on the shoulder of the eastern side of the road before they divert away from the freeway to their destinations.

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Figure 11: Pedestrian footpaths leading to and from the ramps of the Malibongwe Interchange

Figure 11 gives a representation of the footpaths at the Malibongwe Interchange. It is clear from the figure that the pedestrians cross the freeway at the ramps as well as between the on- and off- ramps. It can, however, be assumed that the majority of the pedestrians cross the freeway at the ramps since the majority of the footpaths leads to and from the ramps of the freeway. These types of footpaths confirm the observation made in the pedestrian count data.

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Figure 12: Pedestrian bridge and pedestrian footpath at N12 Southern Bypass

It is clear from Figure 12 that pedestrians make use of the existing pedestrian bridge, located to the east of the Klip Rivier interchange. There is, however, also evidence of pedestrians who do not make use of the pedestrian bridge but instead cross the freeway midblock.