Environmental Assessment of Incorrect Automated Pedestrian Detection and Common Pedestrian Timing Treatments at Signalized Intersections

Slavica Gavric, Ismet Goksad Erdagi and Aleksandar Stevanovic ()
Additional contact information
Slavica Gavric: Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, 3700 O’Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA
Ismet Goksad Erdagi: Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, 3700 O’Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA
Aleksandar Stevanovic: Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, 3700 O’Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 11, 1-21

Abstract: Existing research has primarily focused on the accuracy of automated pedestrian detection systems, overlooking the consequential environmental impacts arising from false or missed pedestrian detections. To fill these research gaps, this study investigates the emissions and fuel consumption resulting from incorrect pedestrian detection at signalized intersections in microsimulation. To carry out experiments, the authors employ Vissim microsimulation software and the Comprehensive Modal Emission Model (CMEM). For the first time in the literature, missed and false calls are modeled in microsimulation and their environmental impacts are accurately measured. The research highlights the limitations of current automated pedestrian (video) detection systems (APVDSs) technologies in reducing emissions and fuel consumption effectively. While APVDSs offer potential benefits for traffic management, their inability to accurately detect pedestrians undermines their environmental efficacy. This study emphasizes the importance of considering environmental impacts of APVDSs, and challenges the belief that pedestrian recall treatment is the least eco-friendly. Also, the study showed that coupling APVDS or push-button treatments with pedestrian recycle features increases fuel consumption and CO 2 by 10% at the intersections with higher pedestrian demand. By understanding the emissions and fuel consumption associated with incorrect detections, transportation agencies can make more informed decisions regarding the implementation and improvement of APVDS technologies.

Keywords: traffic signals; pedestrian detection; pedestrian timing treatment; fuel consumption; emissions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/11/4487/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/11/4487/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:11:p:4487-:d:1401770

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().