U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
400 Seventh St SW
Washington, DC 20590

Refer to: HOTO-1
March 9, 2000

Mr. Charles Vidrine
Traffic Signal Engineer
Department of Public Works
Division of Transportation
Room 200. City Hall Building
Norfolk. Va 23510

Dear Mr. Vidrine:

We have reviewed your February 9 letter regarding your request to experiment with "Pedestrian Countdown" signals and offer the following comments. As stated in Section 1A-6 of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control devices (MUTCD), please provide the following in your experimentation request and evaluation plan:

• An agreement to restore the experiment site to a state complying with the provisions of the MUTCD within 3 months following the end of the experiment.
• An agreement to provide semiannual progress reports for the duration of the experimentation and to provide a copy of the final results of the experimentation to our office within 3 months following the completion of the experimentation.
• Please revise your evaluation plan to include the following details:
  • Data should be collected before and after installation of the countdown signal.
  • The evaluation plan must provide for close monitoring of the experimentation, especially in the early stages of its implementation. Please specify your frequency of data collection and monitoring, along with the estimated start date of your experimentation.
  • A large number of pedestrian observations should be made (100+) (your pedestrian observation form leads us to believe you only intended to make 20 observations).
  • Data should be collected during the same time period and on the same day of the week.
  • A large number of motorist observations should be made (100+). Motorist data (parallel to the pedestrian crossing) that should be collected as a minimum (see attached sample Motorist Behavior Form):
    1. What was the signal display during arrival at the intersection (GREEN ARROW, CIRCULAR GREEN, YELLOW, YELLOW ARROW, RED, RED ARROW)?
    2. What was the vehicle’s maneuver (straight through, right turn, left turn)?
    3. What was the signal display as the vehicle proceeds through the intersection (GREEN ARROW, CIRCULAR GREEN, YELLOW, YELLOW ARROW, RED, RED ARROW)?
    4. Was there a conflict with a pedestrian?
  • The Pedestrian Survey needs to be revised as follows:
    1. The age categories in the pedestrian survey should be revised to: 0-17, 18-64, or 65+ to be consistent with your pedestrian observation form.

Once we receive and review your revised request, we will notify you as to the status of your request. For future reference purposes, we have assigned the following official experimentation number and title to your request: IV-176(Ex) - "Pedestrian Countdown Signals." Please refer to this number in future correspondence.

If we can be of further assistance, please contact Ms. Louisa M. Ward on 202-366-4372.

Sincerely yours,

Jeffrey A. Lindley
Acting Director, Office of Transportation Operations