Evaluation of an intersection with an exclusive traffic light phase to improve the displacement times of people with reduced mobility in urban areas with high commercial activity

Currently, many cities in Latin America prioritize vehicular circulation in the design of road intersections, where the traffic light phases do not consider the total displacement time of people. This is where frequent pedestrian-vehicle conflicts occur before and during the pedestrian green interval. Against this background, the most affected are users with reduced mobility, since they spend more time in crosswalk. The present investigation selected an intersection located in a commercial area in the city of Lima. Here the time and behavior of people with reduced mobility when crossing the intersection were identified. Then, through microsimulation in the VISSIM and VISWALK programs, the effectiveness of a scenario with an exclusive traffic light phase that considers users with reduced mobility is evaluated. In the evaluation of the operational behavior of the intersection, the displacement time of people in 8 usual paths, the levels of both pedestrian and vehicular service and a list that compares the improvements in the infrastructure is considered. Here it is evident that the displacement time decreases from 12% to 40% in 6 of the 8 paths, the pedestrian service levels improve from 1 to 2 levels, the vehicular service level of the intersection is maintained in D and the improvements to the proposed design are verified.