Purpose: The safety level of a pedestrian crossing is affected by infrastructure characteristics and vehicular and pedestrian traffic level. This paper presents a methodology that allows assessing the safety level of a pedestrian crossing, regulated or not by traffic light, in an urban area according to the features of the crossing. Methods: A hierarchical structure representing factors influencing crossing safety has been developed and the relative contributions of each factor were calculated using AHP method. A composite index for crossing safety and specific indexes for main aspects included in the assessment have been developed. Results: Main assessment aspects are: Spatial and Temporal Design, Day-time and Night-time Visibility and Accessibility. Night-time Visibility resulted to have the higher weight (about 41%). Conclusion: Developed indexes allow ranking of pedestrian crossings and assigning intervention priorities, highlighting the aspects which are to be enhanced. The methodology has been used for the evaluation of 215 pedestrian crossings in 17 European cities for the Pedestrian Crossing Assessment Project co-financed by FIA Foundation. © 2010 The Author(s)

This paper is the result of a PhD in Transport Infrastructure, realized at CTL, aimed to investigate issues related to the evaluation of interventions producing changes in traffic configuration and to develop an information system (Road safety Impact Assessment - RIA Module) to be integrated in an existing Decision Support System on road safety. The research created a library of SPF and developed an information system, called "RIA Module", updating the existing "DSS - ISIDE", developed by CTL. (C) 2012 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of SIIV2012 Scientific Committe