Pedestrian Crossing Decision-Making Model at Uncontrolled Mid-Block Locations Based on Pedestrian Simulator

The pedestrian-vehicle conflict at uncontrolled mid-block locations often results in severe injuries. The present study developed a game theory-based pedestrian crossing decision-making model considering the effects of time pressure, vehicle speed, pedestrian-vehicle distance, and vehicle length. We used a pedestrian simulator to conduct a pedestrian crossing experiment with 54 subjects (40 males and 14 females. The experimental independent variables include vehicle gap (2s-6s, with an interval of 0.5s), time pressure (with or without time pressure), and driving status of the vehicle (decelerating to a stop or passing at a constant speed). The experimental dependent variable is the gap acceptance behavior. Based on the experimental data, we developed a pedestrian crossing decision-making model based on game theory and solved it with the mixed strategy algorithm. The parameters of the model were calibrated, and the validity was verified. The results show that the time pressure and vehicle gap have significant impacts on gap acceptance behavior, and the proposed pedestrian crossing decision-making model can effectively predict pedestrian crossing decision-making behavior under different time pressure conditions.