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1. Introduction

During April and May 1999 the regional offices of the Land Transport Safety Authority (LTSA) conducted surveys of three safety areas in 31 road controlling authorities (RCA). The 31 RCAs included three regional offices of Transit New Zealand and 28 territorial local authorities.

The three safety areas surveyed were:

  • skid resistance (interview surveys only)
  • pedestrian platforms (interview and field surveys)
  • floodlighting pedestrian crossings (interview and field surveys)

This report describes the procedures for the pedestrian platform surveys and presents the results.

For this survey a pedestrian platform was defined as a section or area of roadway specifically textured or raised to slow vehicles and intended to provide a crossing point for pedestrians. A pedestrian platform could be part of an intersection threshold or a mid-block treatment and could include standard pedestrian crossing markings and signs. Specifically textured sections may be flush (<20mm above road) or raised.

Performance was measured with respect to Traffic Note 2 Platforms as Crossing Points - Guidelines (Traffic Note 2) issued by the LTSA in June 1998. The surveys were also designed to collect data on the current practices, policies and procedures for the installation of pedestrian platforms. Information gathered has been made available to the TRAFINZ (Traffic Institute of NZ) group preparing a guideline on pedestrian facilities.

Traffic Note 2 was issued to highlight the LTSA's concern that some pedestrian platforms were creating a false sense of priority for pedestrians. It did not contain detailed design or legal requirements but encouraged RCAs to ensure pedestrian platforms had specific features.