SAFE TRANSPORTATION FOR EVERY PEDESTRIAN CASE STUDY

Austin Puts Pedestrians Out Front with 

Widespread Leading Pedestrian Intervals

Austin, Texas

KEY ELEMENTS:

Intra-agency Collaboration

Remote Traffic Signal Programming and 

Monitoring

In 2019 the City of Austin Transportation Department 

(ATD) implemented Leading Pedestrian Intervals (LPIs) 

at 110 intersections in the Austin central business 

district to improve pedestrian safety in the City’s most 

active pedestrian environment. The effort required 

collaboration between ATD Vision Zero Program 

staff, traffic signal engineers, and public information 

personnel. The City received overwhelmingly positive 

feedback from the public following implementation and 

it is continuing to monitor pedestrian safety effects. 

BACKGROUND

Austin's goal of Zero traffic-related fatalities 

and serious injuries coupled with the desire 

to use proven safety countermeasures 

motivated ATD to implement LPIs at 

downtown signalized intersections. LPIs 

are adjustments to traffic signal timing 

that provide pedestrians a head-start to 

establish themselves in the crosswalk before 

vehicles are given a green signal; they 

reduce conflicts between pedestrians and 

turning vehicles by increasing pedestrians’ 

visibility to drivers.

Austin's downtown road network is a one 

square mile grid bounded by arterials to 

the north, south, west, and Interstate 35 to 

the east. ATD identified downtown as an 

opportunity to systemically implement a 

proven countermeasure in a small, defined 

area. Vision Zero staff performed data 

analysis that shows an overrepresentation 

of pedestrian crashes in the downtown 

area, and the top contributing factor for 

pedestrian crashes in downtown Austin is 

failure of the motor vehicle driver to yield 

the right of way to the pedestrian. LPIs can 

specifically address this crash type.

For more information, please contact:

Joel Meyer, Transportation Planner, ATD

Joel.Meyer@austintexas.gov | 512.974.1150

Figure 1. Photo. A turning vehicle yields to 

pedestrians in downtown Austin.

©2020 Austin Vision Zero
STEP: https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/step/

Case Study: Austin Puts Pedestrians Out Front with Widespread Leading Pedestrian Intervals

TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS 

ATD identified several signal operations and 

capacity considerations that could affect 

LPI implementation throughout downtown. 

For example, certain minor corridors had 

short green bands of around 12 seconds. A 

green band is the amount of time available 

for vehicles to pass through a roadway 

network at a determined speed. LPIs would 

decrease these green bands to 7 seconds, 

which could encourage red-light-running 

when drivers leave one intersection just 

as the downstream signal turns yellow. 

However, adjusting signal offsets can 

prevent this situation.

Staff also had to consider the fact that 

many downtown Austin intersections already 

operate at capacity. The LPI can increase 

intersection delay by holding up through 

traffic, even though through movements 

do not conflict with the pedestrian 

crossings. ATD engineers decided to reduce 

intersection delay for through movements 

by implementing flashing yellow arrows for 

the left turns to allow for the LPI. 

IMPLEMENTATION

After considering operational factors, 

ATD determined that LPIs could be 

implemented at 110 of 135 downtown 

Austin signalized intersections. Three ATD 

engineers implemented the LPIs over 4 

hours during December 2019. ATD maintains 

remote communication with nearly all 

of its traffic signals through its advanced 

traffic management system (ATMS). This 

significantly decreased the amount of time 

to implement LPIs. The ATD decided to set all 

LPIs to 5 seconds after reviewing operations.

RESULTS

ATD conducted an intercept survey of 166 

pedestrians in downtown Austin following 

the LPI implementation. Eighty-seven 

percent of respondents agreed or strongly 

agreed that they felt safer crossing at an 

intersection knowing they had a head-start 

due to the LPI. Furthermore, 60 percent 

agreed or strongly agreed that they are 

more likely to use a crosswalk knowing that it 

has an LPI. ATD plans to continue to monitor 

the project through before-and-after video 

collection and crash data analysis. 

“This is one of the most successful projects we’ve 

ever done. It required very little staff time, and 

we’ve received tons of positive feedback from the 

public.” 

– Robin Osborne, Traffic Engineer, City of Austin

Transportation Department

References 

1"Downtown Leading Pedestrian Interval Initiative." City of Austin Transportation Department. Presented at 

Pedestrian and Bicycle Focus Cities and States Quarterly Meeting. February 27, 2020. 

Downtown street 

network is 1% of 

Austin’s overall 

network, but accounts 

for 12% of all 

pedestrian crashes 

and 17% of 

intersection-related 

pedestrian crashes.

LPIs implemented at 

110 of 135 downtown 

signalized 

intersections.

Implementation took 

12 person-hours.

The LPIs were all 

set at 5 seconds.

87% of survey 

respondents felt 

safer crossing at 

an intersection 

with an LPI.

60% of survey 

respondents are 

more likely to use 

a crosswalk 

knowing it has an 

LPI.