Enhancing Pedestrian Safety at Track Crossing: A Motion Analysis Study

This study introduces motion analysis as a novel approach for evaluating pedestrian safety at Pedestrian Track Crossings (PTC), addressing limitations of traditional assessment techniques. Using markerless 3D motion analysis, we examined movement patterns of 26 healthy participants (mean age: 22.8±2.8 years) in two locomotor tasks; i) normal walking under three conditions: standard slope, textured (tactile pavements) slope, and textured slope with safety marking. ii) emergency stopping where response times were quantified. The methodology enabled non-invasive, detailed tracking of gait parameters. Compared to walking on standard slope, results revealed significant changes in movement patterns with reduced mean walking speeds from 1.26±0.20 m/s on standard slope to 1.17±0.20 m/s on textured slope (p < 0.046), and 1.21±0.19 m/s (p < 0.004) on textured slope with markings. Emergency stopping response times decreased, with participants halting 270 ms faster on textured surfaces compared to standard slope. Notably, while 67% of participants reported no perceived change in their walking behaviour, quantitative analysis demonstrated significant modifications in gait parameters, highlighting the unconscious influence of environmental features on pedestrian behaviour. This research demonstrates the importance of quantitative motion analysis in safety equipment assessment, overcoming the subjective nature of questionnaires and limited scope of in-situ observational studies. The findings suggest including the tactile pavements in the future passive safety equipment and establish a methodological framework for future investigations using biomechanical analysis in railway crossing safety. This cross-disciplinary approach provides unprecedented insights into human-environment interactions, paving the way for more effective safety measure design and implementation.

Keywords: Safety, Pedestrians, Railway, Motion analysis, Walking speed, Biomechanics, Ergonomics, Tactile.