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Crossing Guard: A Smart Intersection for Vulnerable Pedestrians

Team members: Kristen Nicole Scudder, Li Zhuang, and Yuyang Yin

The Problem: Underserved Vulnerable Pedestrians at the Intersection

Many intersections today are built for the average pedestrian but are not as accommodating for those with limited mobility that need more time or assistance to cross a busy street intersection safely. Examples of these populations may include the elderly, the disabled, the visually impaired, or the hearing impaired. In certain situations, extended light signal times and audio assistance are present, but these usually occur as constantly extended signals and auditory supplements or as brail on cross signal buttons that requires the visually impaired pedestrian to find the post. These enhancements that are meant to help certain individuals may also interfere with the efficient flow of traffic, especially during peak hours, or be a nuisance to those living by an intersection who constantly hear the audio signals.
 

National MUTCD signal standards recommend using a crossing time for the average pedestrian (3.5ft/s) which is faster than the average speed of an elderly pedestrian (2ft/s – 2.5ft/s). The disabled pedestrian’s walking speed varies person to person but they tend to move slower than the average pedestrian.

This problem is particularly important in the City of Philadelphia because the disable population has increased by almost 7,000 people from 2012, and the population of Philadelphians over the age of 65 has increased by over 25,000 since 2010 which is a 14% increase.


The Solution: Crossing Guard

We want to address the problem by creating an opt-in solution for vulnerable populations, something that could be prescribed similarly to a handicap parking pass. Our concept is a RFID chip that is detected by the intersection as a pedestrian approaches, similarly to a toll system detecting a toll pass in your car.

To make the intersections more friendly to underserved populations,  we are introducing Crossing Guard, an RFID (Radio-frequency identification) tag system for vulnerable people such as the elderly, visually impaired, hearing impaired, or mobility impaired who have difficulties crossing intersections in busy urban areas. The RFID tag uses the electronically-stored information to trigger different responses at the intersection as a pedestrian approaching the intersection is detected. The intersection responds by extending the crossing light signal timing, playing an audio noise to indicate that it is safe to cross, or displaying a visual cue that it is safe to cross. This not only helps pedestrians with limited mobility to feel safer when crossing a street but may also contribute to maintaining traffic flows by not permanently extending pedestrian intervals. The setting could also reduce the potential disturbance caused by audio assistance that running all the time.

Crossing Guard Working Diagram

The RFID sensors will be attached to the traffic light poles along with the speakers (No additional speaker required if the intersection already has it installed). Ground LED lights are installed on the ground with the wiring underneath the pavements. The traffic light poles will provide a constant power source to the system.

  • Why are we choosing RFID tag?

    The RFID tag is inexpensive compared to other systems such as monitoring cameras. It is small and nonintrusive which are easy to carry around and less likely to be noticed by others. The system provides the correct range from tag to sensor which makes our solution feasible to implement. Last but not least, it does not require the pedestrian to find a push button which is particularly helpful for visually impaired populations.

  • Where can people with special needs obtain RFID tags?

    In our proposal, people with special needs can obtain RFID tags from their doctors. We are encouraging doctors to explain the benefits of using the RFID tag in daily life to those people during their routine visits. People can also obtain the RFID tags from pharmacy stores such as Walgreens and CVS throughout the City for free with prescription and ID. In addition, these tags can be embedded in or attached to special types of equipment as such wheelchairs and blind canes (See picture below).

RFID tags can be attached to commonly used equipment

Prototype: How Crossing Guard Works?

Sense and Response

When a pedestrian with an RFID tag approaching the intersection, the person along with the unique ID assigned to that tag will be detected by the RFID Reader installed on the traffic light pole.  For this prototype, we are proposing two major responses. One is for the visually impaired population, and it will trigger the speaker to play audio “Safe to Cross” or “Wait” to notify the person about traffic light status. The other response is for the mobility impaired population, as the intersection will respond by extending the crossing time for 5 seconds. The ground LED lights will only be triggered when light intensity is low, which will notify the drivers that vulnerable pedestrian is crossing the intersection and make sure to pay attention. This project is not limited to these two responses. Additional surveys and research may help refine the responses we proposed and introduce other categories for RFID tags’ unique ID to trigger more responses at the intersection.

System Diagram

Moreover, if the person could not make to the opposite corner (the RFID Reader on the other side has not detected the same tag when the crossing interval ends), an extra 5 seconds will be added once to ensure crossing while reducing the stress level of that person. Then the intersection will be set back to the regular cycle.

Enjoy the video!
Click the Image to View the Video

Location Recommendation

We chose an example location on the intersection of Market Street and 22nd Street in Philadelphia. It is a busy and highly utilized intersection for the elderly and disabled. The intersection is close to the John Fox Towers, a senior apartment. The decision is also based on the consideration of the width and high injury rates of Market Street indicated by High Injury Network Map provided by Vision Zero.

Market Street and 22nd Street Intersection

Based on the analysis, we would recommend a pilot installation of the system in Cobbs Creek Neighborhood and then promote Crossing Guard implementation in entire Philadelphia.

Analysis of neighborhood-scale implementation

Future

The Crossing Guard will better serve the vulnerable population living in urban regions by not only generating instant benefits but also benefiting the population in long-term. The data collected by the system will provide significant add-on values in future studies associated with the vulnerable population in urban settings and potentially promote improvements to their life in cities.


 Appendix: Prototype Code

Master Board: Control Traffic Intersection (Arduino Mega 2560)

Slave Board 1: Searching for RFID Tags (Arduino Uno)

Slave Board 2: Searching for RFID tags on the other side (Arduino Uno)

Check out our previous Tutorials for the project if you would like to see how each Arduino part works.

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