The Unused Crosswalk: An Analysis of Pedestrian Crossing Underutilization Through a Qualitative and Quantitative Lens

Despite the availability of various pedestrian crossing facilities, most of them are often disliked by pedestrians and are underutilized. The current study provides a systematic review of the various literatures available regarding the underutilization of pedestrian facilities. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines serve as the foundation for the review. About 32 papers are reviewed giving emphasis on the methods of data collection, analysis techniques, factors considered, and models developed in the studies. Attempt is also made to present the year-wise and country-wise distribution of the studies conducted so far. The study found that the years 2017, 2019, 2020, and 2021 have witnessed the maximum number of studies pertaining to pedestrian crossing underutilization. About 50% of the studies were conducted in India. Majority of the studies utilized questionnaire survey as the data collection method. Logit regression and Chi-square are the most frequently used data analysis techniques. Age and traffic parameters are the most commonly considered parameters in most of the studies. The study has helped in identifying the parameters which are considered in the literatures so far for analyzing the underutilization of pedestrian facilities. It has also provided a summary of the factors leading to the unsafe pedestrian behavior. The findings of this study provide an insight to the importance of a multifactored approach to address the issue of unused crosswalk and improve pedestrian safety in urban environments.