Urban Mid-Block Bicycle Crossings: The Effects of Red Colored Pavement and Portal Overhead Bicycle Crossing Sign

This paper aims to investigate the effectiveness of some mid-block bicycle crossing elements by analyzing the drivers' behavior, when approaching the bicycle crossings in a real road experiments with 18 participants. The eye-tracking instrument has been used to monitor the driver's visual behavior during the test in an instrumented vehicle with GPS (global positioning system) and an inertial measurement unit (IMU). In particular, the drivers' gaze was investigated frame by frame while approaching the mid-block bicycle crossings. The results showed that the red colored pavement increased the visibility of the mid-block crossing zone to 65.3% with respect to zebra crossing 59.6%. The drivers' visual field was also narrowed by the portal overhead bicycle crossing sign and, consequently, drivers reduced their velocity and looked more to the vertical signs by 28%. The drivers' speed reduction helped drivers to see the mid-block crossing elements from a greater distance with a higher fixation duration.