AN INVESTIGATION FOR THE NEED OF A PEDESTRIAN

CROSSING FACILITY AT OSHAKATI PHARMACY MEDICAL

CENTRE ON THE C46 ROAD (OSHAKATI MAIN ROAD)

A RESEARCH PROJECT REPORT

Prepared By:

ISRAEL HAIMBILI (201501969)

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of BSc. (Hon.) Degree in

Civil Engineering

Supervisor:

Mr. ROBERT AMBUNDA

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

UNIVERSITY OF NAMIBIA

December 2020
 © 2020
Israel N.P. Haimbili
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

ii
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this research project report is that of my own work and
that it was not produced before. Acknowledgements are given where others
have contributed as well as to the authors of the literature.
The work was done under the supervision of Mr. Robert Ambunda at the
Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, Ongwediva.

ISRAEL N.P HAIMBILI …………………….……. DATE: …………………

(Student)

Mr. ROBERT AMBUNDA……………………. DATE: ………………...

(Supervisor)

iii
 DEDICATION

I dedicate this report to my parents, for their constant support and guidance
during my studies at the University of Namibia.

iv
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Foremost, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my supervisor Mr.

Robert Ambunda for his invaluable assistance, motivation and insights leading
through this research project. His guidance helped me in all the time of research
and putting together this report.

I am grateful to my classmates, head of department, staff members and the

entire faculty of Engineering and Information Technology for their unyielding
support and encouragement.

Last, but not least, I would like to thank God for his unwavering love, guidance
and support during my studies at the University of Namibia.

v
 ABSTRACT

Road accidents are a serious concern in Namibia. Vulnerable road users,

including pedestrians contribute to nearly half of all road deaths globally.
Pedestrian collisions, like all road traffic crashes, should not be accepted as
inevitable, as they are predictable and preventable. Key risk factors for
pedestrian road traffic injury are vehicle speed, alcohol use by drivers and
pedestrians, distractions faced by drivers and pedestrians, lack of safe
infrastructure for pedestrians and inadequate visibility of pedestrians.
Reduction or elimination of the risks faced by pedestrians is an important and
achievable behavioral and policy goal. Proven interventions exist, yet in many
locations’ pedestrian safety does not attract the attention it requires. Medical
zones like all other zones in towns, need pedestrian crossing facilities to ensure
the safety of patients and medical staff when crossing the road.
The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a need exists for a
pedestrian crossing facility at the Oshakati Pharmacy Medical Centre on the
C46 road in Oshakati, Namibia. The investigation involved observing and
assessing the pedestrian-traffic relationship in the study area, with a focus on
pedestrian crossing behavior and crossing conflicts, peak hour traffic volumes,
pedestrian volumes and motorists behaviour. This was done by doing traffic
and pedestrian counts, questionnaire interviews for the pedestrians at the
medical zone and also by visual observation to assess the behaviour and
crossing conflicts of pedestrians and motorists. From the data collected, the
medical center was found to have high peak hour traffic and pedestrian volumes,
with an average of over 650 veh/h and an average of 47 pedestrian crossing
the road in an hour. These results, according to guidelines do indeed justify the
need of a pedestrian crossing facility. A signalized pedestrian crossing facility
with a speed hump was recommended for the Medical Centre.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION .............................................................................................. iii
DEDICATION .................................................................................................. iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................ v
ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................... vi
LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................... ix
LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................ xi
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................... 1
1.1 Orientation of study ................................................................................. 1

1.2 Problem Statement ................................................................................. 1

1.3 Objectives of the study........................................................................ 2

1.4 Significance of the study ......................................................................... 2

1.5 Limitation of the Study ............................................................................ 2

1.6 Research Questions ............................................................................... 3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................. 4

2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................. 4

2.2 Pedestrian safety in Namibia .................................................................. 6

2.3 The Impact of Pedestrian crossing facilities on pedestrian safety ........... 7

2.4 Different types of pedestrian crossing facilities ....................................... 9

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY..................................................................... 12
3.1 Research Design .................................................................................. 12

3.2 Research Instruments ........................................................................... 13

3.3 Research Procedure ............................................................................. 13

3.4 Data Analysis ........................................................................................ 14

3.5 Validity, Reliability and ethics ................................................................ 14

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS .............................................. 15

4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................... 15

4.2 Results from the Traffic and Pedestrian Count ..................................... 15

4.3 Observations made at the Medical Zone under study ........................... 20

4.4 Results from Questionnaire Survey ...................................................... 24

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 4.4 Similar cases: Omuthiya and Ondangwa .............................................. 31

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS .......................... 33

5.1 Conclusion ............................................................................................ 33

5.2 Recommendations ................................................................................ 34

REFERENCES .............................................................................................. 36
APPENDICES ............................................................................................. - 1 -
APPENDIX A: Traffic and Pedestrian count data tables ............................. - 1 -
APPENDIX B: Traffic and Pedestrian Count Tally Sheets .......................... - 5 -
APPENDIX C: Questionnaire Interview Survey........................................... - 7 -
APPENDIX D: Photos ............................................................................... - 11 -

viii
 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Road traffic deaths by type of road users by WHO region [4]. ......... 5
Figure 2: Injury severity by road user group (percentage), retrieved from
National Road Safety Council of Namibia statistical report 2012 ..................... 7
Figure 3: Types of pedestrian crossing facilities............................................ 10
Figure 4 Crosswalk striping types ................................................................. 10
Figure 5 An aerial view of the study area ...................................................... 12
Figure 6 Traffic count data for the morning peak hour(07h00-08h00) at the
Oshakati pharmacy medical center. ............................................................... 16
Figure 7 Traffic count data for the afternoon peak hour(13h00-14h30) at the
Oshakati pharmacy medical center. ............................................................... 17
Figure 8 Traffic count data for the late afternoon peak hour(16h30-17h30) at
the Oshakati pharmacy medical center. ......................................................... 18
Figure 9 Traffic volume distribution throughout the study period. .................. 19
Figure 10 Pedestrian volume distribution throughout the study period. ......... 20
Figure 11 Pedestrian crossing facility at the Oshakati State Hospital, in
Oshakati......................................................................................................... 21
Figure 12 Pedestrian crossing facility at the Onandjokwe State Hospital in
Ondangwa. .................................................................................................... 22
Figure 13 Pedestrians standing too close to the road waiting to cross at the
Oshakati Pharmacy Medical center ............................................................... 23
Figure 14 Chart showing the opinions of the Oshakati pharmacy medical
center staff on the safety of the road environment and pedestrians at the
medical zone. ................................................................................................. 25
Figure 15 Chart showing the frequency of pedestrian-traffic crashes at the
Oshakati pharmacy medical center. ............................................................... 26
Figure 16 Impact of pedestrian related crashes at the Oshakati pharmacy
medical center................................................................................................ 27
Figure 17 Chart showing the participating pedestrians understanding of road
safety issues. ................................................................................................. 29

ix
Figure 18 Chart showing the participating pedestrians’ opinions on their
safety when crossing the C46 road. ............................................................... 29
Figure 19 Land use on both sides of the B1 road, Omuthiya, Namibia. Google
Earth. ............................................................................................................. 31
Figure 20 Land use on both sides of the B1 road, Ondangwa, Namibia.
Google Earth. ................................................................................................. 32
Figure 21 Pedestrian count direction key ................................................... - 3 -
Figure 22 Traffic count tally sheet .............................................................. - 5 -
Figure 23 Pedestrian count tally sheet ....................................................... - 6 -
Figure 24 An extract from the medical staff questionnaire ......................... - 7 -
Figure 25 An extract from the medical staff questionnaire ......................... - 8 -
Figure 26 An extract from the patients/pedestrian’s questionnaire............. - 9 -
Figure 27 An extract from the patients/pedestrian’s questionnaire........... - 10 -
Figure 28 Medical staff members being dropped off by taxis at the taxi stop,
to cross the C46 road................................................................................ - 11 -
Figure 29 A pedestrian with crutches waiting to cross the C46 road. ....... - 11 -
Figure 30 Pedestrians waiting on traffic to clear....................................... - 12 -
Figure 31 Pedestrians crossing the road after traffic cleared in one direction. .-
12 -
Figure 32 Pedestrian standing on the Island, waiting for traffic to clear. .. - 13 -
Figure 33 Pedestrians crossing the road at the Onandjokwe hospital,
Ondangwa. ............................................................................................... - 13 -

x
 LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 Frequency of the pedestrian-traffic crashes at the medical center .............. 26
Table 2: Traffic count data for the time session 07h00 - 08h00 in the direction of
Oshakati from Ongwediva. .................................................................................... - 1 -
Table 3: Traffic count data for the time session 13h00 - 14h30 in the direction of
Oshakati from Ongwediva. .................................................................................... - 1 -
Table 4: Traffic count data for the time session 16h30 - 17h30 in the direction of
Oshakati from Ongwediva. .................................................................................... - 2 -
Table 5: Traffic count data for the time session 07h00 - 08h00 in the direction of
Ongwediva from Oshakati. .................................................................................... - 2 -
Table 6: Traffic count data for the time session 13h00 - 14h30 in the direction of
Ongwediva from Oshakati. .................................................................................... - 2 -
Table 7: Traffic count data for the time session 16h30 - 17h30 in the direction of
Ongwediva from Oshakati. .................................................................................... - 3 -
Table 8: Pedestrian count data for the time session 07h00 - 08h00, away from and
towards Oshakati Pharmacy. ................................................................................. - 4 -
Table 9: Pedestrian count data for the time session 13h00 - 14h30, away from and
towards Oshakati Pharmacy. ................................................................................. - 4 -
Table 10: Pedestrian count data for the time session 16h30 - 17h30, away from and
towards Oshakati Pharmacy. ................................................................................. - 4 -

xi
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Orientation of study

Walking is a major mode of transportation in developing countries, where most

road users are pedestrians who spend significant time using the road
environment. Walking almost inevitably involves crossing a road, where the
chances of conflict between pedestrians and motor vehicles is high. In some
parts of Oshakati, a northern town in Namibia, the safety of pedestrians
crossing major roads is mostly ignored.

1.2 Problem Statement

The Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (MVA) in October 2019, stated that 147
pedestrians were killed on Namibian roads, while 832 were injured in 901
pedestrian-related accidents between January 2016 to October 2016. In
Namibia, most of the road designs still fall short of providing pedestrian facilities
to pedestrians in urban zones. The high number of pedestrian accidents and
the lack of local literature on pedestrian-motor vehicle interaction to lead
evidence based remedial and proactive measures has prompted the study to
take place. This study intends to investigate the need of a pedestrian crossing
facility at Oshakati Pharmacy Medical Centre on the C46 road in Oshakati. This
study area is a medical zone that has several practices and pharmacies on
either side of the C46 road, which is a class 1 urban road. The findings will help
determine if a pedestrian facility at that zone will be feasible. The findings will
also be compared to similar zones in the town.

1
1.3 Objectives of the study
1.3.1 Main Objective:

To investigate the patterns of pedestrian crossing behaviour as well as patterns

of pedestrian-driver interaction in order to improve our understanding of
pedestrian risk in Namibia.

1.3.2 Specific Objectives:

A) To carry out traffic and pedestrian counts and analyze pedestrian waiting
times

B) To assess the safety of the pedestrian in the study zone with a focus on
pedestrian crossing behavior and crossing conflicts.

C) To identify a set of possible solutions for the pedestrians.

1.4 Significance of the study

Medical zones are some of the areas that may have high number of pedestrians
throughout the day. This is justified by pedestrian crossing facilities present at
the Oshakati State Hospital in Oshakati and Onandjokwe Hospital in Ondangwa.
Safety of these pedestrians is a concern and a need for the investigation of
pedestrian crossing facilities is required. The study will provide an
understanding of pedestrian risk in Namibia, specifically at the Oshakati
Pharmacy Medical Center. This study will be helpful to other similar studies at
other medical zones. It may help in the design of the pedestrian crossing facility.

1.5 Limitation of the Study

The student will only investigate the need for a pedestrian crossing facility at
the Oshakati Pharmacy Medical Centre in Oshakati.

2
1.6 Research Questions
• Is there a need for a pedestrian crossing facility at the medical zone?
• What pedestrian crossing facility will be adequate for the zone under
study?

3
 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

Numerous research studies have been conducted on the safety of pedestrians.

This is very important when pedestrians are required to cross a major urban
road and there are no pedestrian crossing facilities. This section covers some
of the published work related to the topic of study.

Pedestrians are diverse groups of people representing all parts of society with
a wide range of abilities. They are vulnerable road users and they form a large
proportion of road fatalities and injuries [1]. Walking, the simplest form of
transportation has many benefits for pedestrians and the society. Yet,
pedestrians are a vulnerable group of people and safety concerns are a
significant barrier in one's decision to walk [2]. With over 500 million cars and
trucks in use, the World Health Organization WHO reported that the world loses
over 1.2 million people annually and 50 million are injured because of motor
vehicle crashes. The estimated economic loss is more than US$ 500 billion [3].

With economic growth and increased urbanization, many countries are

experiencing transport-related problems as inherited transport infrastructure is
unable to cope with increasing travel demand. These problems include an
increased likelihood of crashes and severity of injury for unprotected road users,
particularly pedestrians, due to their inherent vulnerability. A high proportion of
pedestrian fatality is evident on a global scale, accounting for 22% of all road
traffic deaths [4]. Almost half of all deaths on the world’s roads are among those
with the least protection – motorcyclists, cyclists1 and pedestrians. However,
the likelihood of dying on the road as a motorcyclist, cyclist or pedestrian varies
by region: the African Region has the highest proportion of pedestrian and
cyclist deaths at 43% of all road traffic deaths, while these rates are relatively
low in the South-East Asia Region (see Figure1). This partly reflects the level
of safety measures in place to protect different road users and the predominant
forms of mobility in the different regions – for example, walking and cycling are
important forms of mobility in the African Region, while in the South-East Asia

4
Region and the Western Pacific Region, motorcycles are frequently used as the
family vehicle[4].

Pedestrian safety is an important issue in and around work zones. Urban and
suburban settings have the highest volume of pedestrian traffic, and
construction projects are most likely to impact pedestrians in these areas.
Pedestrians may ignore a detour that is out of the direction of their travel. Safe
and convenient passage through or around work zones should be provided.
Local jurisdictions responsible for traffic safety in work areas should train
construction inspection staff to recognize improper and unsafe pedestrian
facilities during construction[5].

Figure 1: Road traffic deaths by type of road users by WHO region [4].

Insight can be gained from experiences of countries that have achieved the
lowest number of road death such as Sweden and the Netherlands.
Consequently, many countries are adopting and implementing a “Vision Zero”
strategy[6]. New Zealand faces significant pedestrian safety-related issues as

5
pedestrian crash trends have increased in recent years, even though the Safe
System approach was introduced in 2010 as a national road safety strategy[6].
The vision outcome targeted a safe road system, which is increasingly free of
death and serious injury. It recognized that people make mistakes and are
vulnerable in a crash. It was expected to reduce the price paid for a mistake so
that crashes do not result in loss of life or limb. There is a lack of evidence-
based research that focuses on vulnerable road user behavior in comparison
to driver behavior. Research evidence is required for policymakers to develop
effective performance measures[7]. With many urban and land use initiatives
promoting and encouraging increased walking trips, increased pedestrian
movements in car-centric cities will lead to an increasing proportion of
pedestrian-related crashes unless specific action plans are put in place to
protect this group.

2.2 Pedestrian safety in Namibia

Namibian roads are very dangerous, it is not only drivers who need to stay safe
on the roads. In the newspapers, it is common for us to read headlines of
pedestrians being killed on the roads, even if they haven't been in a vehicle.
Road safety is a continuous concern in the country particularly because there
are road users who do not abide in the rules of the road, leading to accidents
and other incidents.

As shown in Figure 2, in 2012, pedestrian injuries resulting in deaths (16.6%)

were almost twice as high as that of drivers (8.0%) and passengers (9.1%). The
highest percentage of serious injuries sustained (40.8%) was recorded for
passengers, followed by pedestrians (36.8%) and drivers (27.8%). As for the
percentage of slight injuries, drivers were the most affected (64.2%), followed
by passengers (50.1%) and pedestrians (46.6%) respectively. These
percentages underline the fact that pedestrians and passengers stood more
chance of getting killed or injured in a road crash than drivers[8].

6
Figure 2: Injury severity by road user group (percentage), retrieved from National Road Safety Council
of Namibia statistical report 2012

Comparing to other parts of the world, in 2017, 5,977 pedestrians were killed in
traffic crashes in the United States. That’s about one death every 88 minutes.
Additionally, an estimated 137,000 pedestrians were treated in emergency
departments for nonfatal crash-related injuries in 2017.Per trip, pedestrians are
1.5 times more likely than passenger vehicle occupants to be killed in a car
crash. Almost half (47%) of crashes that resulted in a pedestrian death involved
alcohol for the driver and/or the pedestrian. One in every three (33%) fatal
pedestrian crashes involved a pedestrian with a blood alcohol concentration of
at least 0.08 grams per deciliter (g/dL), 17% involved a driver with a blood
alcohol concentration of at least 0.08 g/dL, and some fatal pedestrian crashes
involved both [9]

2.3 The Impact of Pedestrian crossing facilities on pedestrian

safety

A few research papers have stressed on the importance of the safety of

pedestrians, this means making sure every road design caters for them. A road
that is likely to have a large number of pedestrians is required to have a
pedestrian facility for safety reasons.

7
Pedestrian crash risk is multi-factored. Crashes vary significantly by location
and time, complicated further by their statistical rareness and largely
randomness in relation to being able to predict an occurrence. Urban cores
commonly comprise mix-land use, diversity of trip purposes, and dispersed
walking trip linkages[9]. The main urban road, which is usually classified as an
arterial road or collector road, dominates the concentration of pedestrians and
vehicle volumes. Zegeer and Bushell[9] explain that the number of pedestrian
crashes is more likely to occur in areas with a higher population and road
crossing movements. Pedestrians’ risk of death in these zones is 10 times
higher than car occupants. In fact, Christie and Pike[10] remarked that vehicle–
pedestrian crashes are less likely when the number of cycling or walking road
users in particular areas increased. In an environment that prioritizes
pedestrians, such as self-explaining roads or mixed-use shared spaces, a road
function can influence road users’ manoeuvres and safety outcomes. These
environments, if appropriately implemented, can create a safe, user-friendly
place for vulnerable road users to dominate the primary space function,
resulting in fewer crash events [11]. However, a key issue is that self-explaining
roads or shared space roads cannot be implemented on all road types,
especially arterial and collector roads when high through movement is
prioritized.

Pedestrians and vehicle interactions are common at road crossings where

sharing the right of way creates a greater potential of conflict and a higher risk
of crash involvement. In most cases, the casualty can be examined from road
rule compliance. Studies indicate that the lack of adherence to the traffic
regulations from both drivers and pedestrians is one of the critical factors
associated with pedestrian crashes[11]. The relative risk of non-compliance
crossing was eight times higher than in legal crossings at signalized
intersections. Collisions from road rule violation may aggravate the situation,
particularly when involved with high-speed vehicles[11]. Only one in four drivers
would lower their speeds or brake when they are encountering pedestrians who
are on or about to step onto the zebra crossing, and most of them did not
prepare to reduce speed for unexpected situations. Pedestrians are

8
unprotected road users and as such are significantly more likely to sustain
greater injury severity with increased relative vehicle conflict speeds[12].

The provision of controlled pedestrian crossings is believed to enhance the

safety and mobility of pedestrians, but it does not always guarantee road user’s
(pedestrian and driver) compliance. Several studies have revealed the counter-
intuitive evidence that the presence of pedestrian crossing facilities is found not
to be significant and seems to create a false sense of safety in some
situations[9]. Pedestrians are more likely to be impatient when the waiting time
increases or crossing during the red signal phase seems easy. Non-compliance
behavior is, therefore, considered as one of the key factors associated with
increased crash risk[12].

2.4 Different types of pedestrian crossing facilities

The construction or improvement of pedestrian crossing facilities often become
the main alternative to mitigate the impacts of roads on pedestrians, when
solutions such as reducing traffic levels or lowering speed limits meet with
social and political resistance due to their impact on the accessibility of users
of private and public motorized transport. However, the provision of crossing
facilities does not necessarily improve the ease of crossing busy roads. There
is evidence that some types of facilities are generally disliked by pedestrians,
which leads to a high incidence of informal road crossing behaviour, away from
crossing facilities and even to an aggravation of the perceived barrier effect of
the road[13].

Two types of pedestrian crossing facilities:

1. Signalized Crossings
2. Grade separated Crossings

Signalized crossings (Figure 3a and b) are usually safer than uncontrolled

crossings, but may involve detours and delays to the trip due to additional
waiting and walking times[13]. Grade-separated crossing facilities, such as
footbridges and underpasses (Figure 3c and d) tend to be safe in terms of

9
vehicle-pedestrian collision but are almost universally disliked, due to the time
and effort required to use them, and issues of personal security[14].

Figure 3: Types of pedestrian crossing facilities

Marked crosswalks at uncontrolled locations must be carefully selected and

designed to ensure that they enhance, rather than reduce, pedestrian safety.
In some circumstances marked crosswalks should not be installed unless
supplemental measures are taken to reduce traffic speeds, shorten crossing
distances, enhance driver awareness, and/or provide an active warning of
pedestrian presence[15].

Signalized crossings striping options:

Figure 4 Crosswalk striping types

10
Pedestrian and public transport comprises more than 60% of person movement.
There must be clear guidelines and thresholds to accommodate it legally and
with good facilities that provide good balance between mobility and safety[16].

11
 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research Design

An observation study was carried out by the student at the Oshakati Pharmacy
Medical Centre at Oshakati. Observations at the study area were carried out
throughout the week and weekends. The observations were done for a period
of 11 days, from the morning to evening peak hours.
During those periods, visual observations were conducted at the study area and
pictures were taken. The student also did traffic counts as well as pedestrian
counts to determine the numbers, in order to justify for a pedestrian crossing
facility. The student has also engaged with patients and medical staff from
either side of the C46 road and asked them to complete short interview
questionnaires. Pedestrian waiting times were also be recorded.

Figure 5 An aerial view of the study area

12
Factors investigated in this study area were:
- Traffic Volume
- Pedestrian Volume
- Pedestrians and Drivers behavior
- Pedestrian waiting times

3.2 Research Instruments

For this study, the student used tally sheets, a watch and an assistant for
pedestrians and traffic counts, while survey questionnaire sheets were used for
questionnaire surveys. A camera was used to capture pictures throughout the
study. Data analysis was done with SPSS/Excel.

3.3 Research Procedure

3.3.1 Visual Observation
Visual observations were carried out at the Oshakati Pharmacy Medical Centre.
During these observations, pictures were taken.

3.3.2 Questionnaire Interview procedure

1) Approached pharmacy and medical practice managers with request forms in
order to engage their staff regarding the research.

2) The engagement with the staff was done by questionnaire interviews, aimed
at mainly asking how they feel when they cross the C46 road, how many times
they cross the road and what they wish to change about the experience.

3) The questionnaire interviews were also be conducted on randomly selected

patients or visitors in the study area.

4) There were 2 separate questionnaires, one for the medical staff and one for
the patients and random pedestrians.

13
3.3.3 Traffic and Pedestrian Counts

- Traffic was counted in both directions for an hour (07h00-08h00) in the

morning, 1 hour 30 minutes (13h00-14h30) in the afternoon and for an hour

(16h30-17h30) in the late afternoon.
The traffic was counted in 6 different categories namely, Cars, buses, trucks
and others (such agricultural vehicles and others).

- Pedestrian counts was done with traffic counts simultaneously. The student
had an assistant to help with the pedestrian counts from either direction of the
road.

These observations were done over a period of 11 days, over randomly chosen
days of September 2020.

3.4 Data Analysis

The data collected was presented in tables and charts. These results were then
be compared to Traffic Survey Studies in order to help validate the research
study.

3.5 Validity, Reliability and ethics

The process for selecting the most appropriate pedestrian facility revolves
around the question of why it is considered desirable to provide specific
assistance for pedestrians at particular location. Observation days were
randomly selected, the medical staff, patients and pedestrians were randomly
selected too, this eliminated the chances of the results being bias.

14
 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

4.1 Introduction
This chapter presents the results and discussions of the investigation. In
accordance with the methodology described in the previous chapter, the
following results were obtained.

4.2 Results from the Traffic and Pedestrian Count

The traffic and pedestrian count surveys were conducted at the area of study
for a period of 11 days. The surveys were conducted during the peak hours
(07h00 -08h00), (13h00 - 14h30) and (16h30 - 17h30).

Traffic count data: Morning peak hour (07h00-08h00)

The traffic counts conducted indicate that there is a high traffic volume at the
study area, especially during the morning peak hour (07h00-08h00), where a
total of 14 402 vehicles in both directions (Ongwediva-Oshakati Direction and
Oshakati-Ongwediva direction) were counted during the period of 11 days. The
results show that 51.2% of these vehicles were headed in the Oshakati direction
from Ongwediva (see Appendix), from that, one can deduce that slightly more
residents of Ongwediva and Ondangwa towns make morning trips to Oshakati
for either work, school or shopping, while some of the vehicles are possibly
through traffic. The traffic volume comprised of mostly cars (95%), followed by
Trucks (3%), Buses (2%) and then Others (0%), see Figure 6 below.

15
 Morning Peak Hour Overall Traffic
Volume,per Category
Buses, 265, 2% Trucks, 395, 3%

Others, 11, 0%

Cars, 13731,
95%

Cars Buses Trucks Others

Figure 6 Traffic count data for the morning peak hour(07h00-08h00) at the Oshakati pharmacy medical
center.

Traffic count data: Afternoon peak hour (13h00-14h30)

The afternoon peak hour (13h00-14h30) recorded the lowest traffic volume,
where a total of 13 648 vehicles were counted during the study period. There
was no significant difference between the volume of vehicles travelling in the
two different directions during the afternoon peak (see Appendix), however the
Oshakati to Ongwediva direction had a slightly higher traffic volume compared
to the opposite direction with 51.9% of the total traffic volume. People choosing
to have lunch at their workplaces or at places near their workplaces could
account for the drop in the overall traffic volume. For the traffic categories, 95%
of the traffic volume were cars, followed by trucks (3%), Buses (2%) and then
others (0%), see Figure 7 below.

16
 Morning Peak Hour Overall Traffic Volume,per
Category

Trucks, 374, 3%
Buses, 293, 2%
Others, 8, 0%

Cars, 12973, 95%

Cars Buses Trucks Others

Figure 7 Traffic count data for the afternoon peak hour(13h00-14h30) at the Oshakati pharmacy
medical center.

Traffic count data: Late afternoon peak hour (16h30-17h30)

The late afternoon peak hour (16h30 - 17h30) recorded the second highest
traffic volume, where a total of 14 078 vehicles were counted during the study
period. There was a significant difference between the volume of vehicles
travelling in the different directions during the late afternoon peak (see appendix
A). The Oshakati to Ongwediva direction had higher traffic volume compared
to the opposite direction with over 51.8% of the total traffic volume. This data
indicates that more people reside in Ongwediva and they make late afternoon
trips back to their houses after they knock off from their work. No difference in
the volume per traffic categories was seen, as cars were still over 95%, followed
by Trucks (3%), Buses (2%) and then Others (0%) as shown in Figure 8 below.

17
 Late Afternoon Peak Hour Overall Traffic Volume,per
Category

Trucks, 408, 3%
Buses, 302, 2%

Others, 9, 0%

Cars, 13359,

Cars Buses Trucks Others

Figure 8 Traffic count data for the late afternoon peak hour(16h30-17h30) at the Oshakati pharmacy
medical center.

The total traffic volume over the period of 11 days was 42 128. The morning
peak hour volume was the highest with 34.2% of the total, followed by the late
afternoon peak hour volume of 33.4% and then the afternoon peak hour of
32.4%.
For the traffic volume distribution, the results show how volume is distributed
over the peak hours throughout the study period. Figure 9 shows that the
Ongwediva- Oshakati direction had more traffic in the morning peak hour.
During the afternoon and late afternoon peak hours, the Oshakati -Ongwediva
had more traffic. As mentioned before, one can deduce that more people take
morning trips in the Ongwediva-Oshakati for work, and they make the return
trips back in the afternoon and late afternoon trips.

18
 TRAFFIC VOLUME DISTRIBUTION OVER
PEAK HOURS
Ongwediva-Oshakati Oshakati-Ongwediva

7600
7400
TRAFFIC VOLUME

7200
7000
6800
6600
6400
6200
6000
07H00-08H00 13H00-14H30 16H30-17H30

TIME

Figure 9 Traffic volume distribution throughout the study period.

Pedestrian count data

The results obtained from the study indicate that pedestrians at the medical
zone interact with about 1309 veh/h every morning, 1240 veh/h in the afternoon
and 1279 veh/h in the late afternoon, which are quite high figures. A total
pedestrian volume of 1 762 was counted at the study zone.

The pedestrian count results confirm that the zone has a high number of
pedestrians crossing the road. In the morning peak hour (07h00 - 08h00), a
total of 486 pedestrians was counted, which gives an average of 44
pedestrians/hour. The number of pedestrians can peak as high as 40
pedestrians/hour (see appendix A). In the afternoon peak hour (13h00 - 14h30),
the total pedestrian count for 11 days was 724, which averages to 43.8
pedestrians/h. The average is slightly lower than in the morning peak because
medical staff that cross the road in the morning stay at their respective
workplaces during lunch.
In the late afternoon peak (16h30 - 17h30), the total pedestrian count for the
study period was 552, with an average of 50.2 pedestrians/h. The average is
higher than the previous peak hours because more pedestrians access the
medical center after they knock off at 17h00, this is because the pharmacies

19
close at 19h00. See Figure 10 for the pedestrian volume distribution over the
peak hours.
More pedestrians walk towards the Oshakati pharmacy in the morning peak
hour, as compared to the other direction, away from Oshakati pharmacy. This
trend continues for the afternoon peak, this is because more medical staff
members cross the road in the morning for work and for the afternoon peak,
more people use the pharmacy because it is lunch hour. As expected, the away
from Oshakati Pharmacy direction had more pedestrians, because some
medical practices on that side close at 17h00.

PEDESTRIAN VOLUME DISTRIBUTION

OVER PEAK HOURS
Towards Oshakati Pharmacy Away from Oshakati Pharmacy

400
350
PEDESTRIAN VOLUME

300
250
200
150
100
50
0
07H00-08H00 13H00-14H30 16H30-17H30

TIME

Figure 10 Pedestrian volume distribution throughout the study period.

4.3 Observations made at the Medical Zone under study

In addition to the traffic and pedestrian surveys, the observations below were
made on the safety of pedestrians at the medical zone.

4.3.1 Pedestrian Safety Measures

The following road safety measures are present at the medical zone:

⚫ There is a pedestrian bridge on the storm water channel on one side of the
c46 road.

20
⚫ The speed limit at the area is 60km / h, which is indicated urban speed limit.
⚫ The road is a dual carriageway with an island separating the traffic going in
different directions.
⚫ There is a taxi/bus stop on one side of the C46 road. Pedestrians are
dropped off here, and most of them cross the road almost immediately

There is currently no pedestrian crossing facility at the study area, thus

pedestrians struggle to cross the road. The speed limit of 60km/h that is
currently in place at the study area under study is generally high for a medical
zone as speed limits in medical zones are usually 30km /h and 40km/h[17].

Two medical zones with almost the same amount of traffic volume have been
identified in Oshakati and Ondangwa, the Oshakati State Hospital and the
Onandjokwe State Hospital respectively. The road in front of the Oshakati State
Hospital has a signalized pedestrian crossing facility and yield for pedestrians’
markings, see Figure 11. Pedestrians use this facility to cross the road when
entering and exiting the hospital to/from the other side of the road. This road
has a relatively lower traffic volume, compared to the study area because it is
a collector road. The road in front of the Onandjokwe State Hospital has a
similar pedestrian crossing marking and also has erected yield for pedestrian
signs, see Figure 12. This road also has relatively low traffic volume compared
to the study area, this road connects Ondangwa with Eenhana.

Figure 11 Pedestrian crossing facility at the Oshakati State Hospital, in Oshakati.

21
 Figure 12 Pedestrian crossing facility at the Onandjokwe State Hospital in Ondangwa.

These two medical zones have low traffic volumes compared to the study area
and they have pedestrian crossing facilities. This further cement the need for a
pedestrian crossing facility at the study area. The pedestrian safety measures
at these two medical zones with a few adjustments may work for the medical
zone under study.

4.3.2 The behaviour of the pedestrians at the medical zone

The following observations of the pedestrians’ behaviour were made at the

study area:

⚫ The pedestrians crossed the road at any point they deemed safe.
⚫ The pedestrians stand too close to the road when waiting for traffic to pass
so that they can cross. See Figure 13,
⚫ Traffic lights that are about 150m from the study area help cease traffic and
this makes pedestrians cross the road with ease.
⚫ Some pedestrians tend to run across the road to the island even when there
is oncoming traffic, this is fueled by the fact that they might have to wait for
longer periods if they don’t cross.
⚫ Older pedestrians always had assistance from some younger pedestrians
that accompanied them. This indicates that the pedestrians know the risks
involved when an older pedestrian has to cross the road at the study area.

22
⚫ Overall, the pedestrians seem to understand the dangers of crossing the
road as they were very vigilant when crossing.
⚫ Pedestrians, mostly the medical staff get dropped off at the taxi/bus stop
and they have to wait until after the traffic has cleared in order to cross

Figure 13 Pedestrians standing too close to the road waiting to cross at the Oshakati Pharmacy Medical
center

Generally, the observed behaviour of the pedestrians has been good, with a
few hazards picked up. The behaviour of some pedestrians rushing from far
when traffic has stopped at the traffic lights is dangerous as it may happen that
when they get by the roadside the traffic will have started to move, causing a
collision. This behaviour can be attributed to impatience and pedestrians’
awareness of the long awaiting times for traffic to yield for them.

The absence of a pedestrian crossing facility causes the pedestrians to cross

the road in a disorganized manner. That is, every pedestrian crosses the road
where ever they deem safe to cross. This causes a hazardous disruption in
traffic flow, as motorists now have to yield for pedestrians at different locations
on the road.

23
4.3.3 The behaviour of the motorists at the medical zone

The following observations of the motorists’ behaviour were made at the study
area:

⚫ The average speeds are generally high for a medical zone. The speed limit
at the zone is 60km/h which is the urban speed limit. By observation one
can tell that motorists drive at much higher speeds.
⚫ Since the road is a dual carriageway, some drivers choose to continue
driving even when a driver on the other lane has stopped for the pedestrians
to cross.
⚫ The absence of a pedestrians crossing facility, makes motorists drive
through the zone even with pedestrians standing by the roadside and also
on the island.

Due to the unavailability of a pedestrian crossing facility, pedestrians cross the

road at any location, this makes drivers yield for them a few times, rather than
stopping for a collective group of pedestrians, if a pedestrian crossing was
present at the medical zone.

4.4 Results from Questionnaire Survey

A questionnaire survey was conducted at the medical zone, where 8 medical

staff members and 10 patients / pedestrians responded to a short questionnaire
on the safety of pedestrians at the Oshakati Pharmacy Medical Centre and
Oshakati Medical Square. Different information was needed from both the
medical staff and the medical customers/ patients. Thus, there was 2 different
questionnaires, one for the medical staff members and one for patients/
pedestrians. The results of the questionnaires are presented in this section. The
aim of conducting the questionnaire was to get views from the everyday
pedestrians in the area on pedestrian safety. The two questionnaires gave
significant information on the feelings and opinions of the medical staff
members and the pedestrians at the medical zone.

24
4.4.1 Safety information from medical staff member’s Questionnaire
Survey

All 8 medical staff members believe that road safety is a very important issue.
When asked on how they would rate their understanding of road safety issues,
5 of them indicated that their understanding is ‘Very high’, 2 indicated that their
understanding is ‘Above average’ and 1 indicated his understanding to be
‘Average’.
The medical staff were then asked how frequent they cross the c46 road, 3
indicated that they cross it ‘Everyday’, 4 cross it ‘Almost everyday’ and 1
indicated to cross it at least ‘Twice a week’. The pedestrian waiting time was
also questioned and 5 of the 8 medical staff members claim to wait for ‘at least
5 minutes’ for traffic to clear when they want to cross the C46 road. The
remaining 1 and 2 medical staff members claim to wait for ‘3 minutes’ and ‘1
minute’ respectively. On the safety of the road environment and pedestrians in
the medical zone, 37.5% medical staff members thought it was ‘Very unsafe’,
while 37.5% thought it was ‘Fairly safe’ and the other 25% thought it was ‘Very
safe’ and ‘Fairly unsafe’ respectively. This is illustrated in Figure 14 below.

Safety of the Road Environment and pedestrians at the

Oshakati Pharmacy Medical Centre

12.50%

37.50%

37.50%

12.50%

0%
Very Safe Fairly Safe Not sure Fairly unsafe Very unsafe

Figure 14 Chart showing the opinions of the Oshakati pharmacy medical center staff on the safety of
the road environment and pedestrians at the medical zone.

25
The medical staff members were then on asked on how many crashes they
thought occurred at the medical zone on the C46 road. The results show that
at least one pedestrian-traffic crash occurs each year as shown in Figure 15
and Table 1 below.

Frequency of Pedestrian-Traffic Crashes at the Oshakati

Pharmacy Medical Centre
12.50% 12.50%

25%

50%

0-1 1-2 2-3 >4

Figure 15 Chart showing the frequency of pedestrian-traffic crashes at the Oshakati pharmacy medical
center.

Table 1 Frequency of the pedestrian-traffic crashes at the medical center

Frequency (crashes/year) Number of Medical Staff Members

0-1 1
1-2 4
2-3 2
>4 1

The medical staff were then asked about their perspective on the seriousness
of the pedestrian-traffic crashes that occur at the study area, they were to
categorize them into three different categories, namely, ‘Minor Injuries’,
‘Serious injuries’ and ‘Loss of life’. The different options were chosen as follows;
Minor Injuries: 5; Serious Injuries: 2; Loss of life: 1, as shown in Figure
16.

26
 Impact of Pedestrian related Crashes
6

4
Pedestrians

0
Minor Crashes Serious Injuries Loss of life
Impact

Figure 16 Impact of pedestrian related crashes at the Oshakati pharmacy medical center

The last part of the questionnaire asked them about the changes that they
would like to see as far as pedestrian safety at the medical center is concerned,
here are their suggestions:

⚫ Installation of speed humps and pedestrian crossing.

⚫ Erection of Pedestrian crossing and Yield signs.
⚫ Installation of traffic lights at the intersection close to the study area.
⚫ The study area is close to the Oshakati Police station, one medical staff
suggested that traffic officers must assist pedestrians when crossing the
road by controlling traffic.
⚫ Recklessness of some pedestrians needs to be addressed by educating
them on their safety as pedestrians.

The issue of road safety is very important and it cannot be overlooked. All the
8 medical staff share the same opinion, 5 out of the 8 indicated that their level
of understanding of road safety issues is very high.

The participants of the questionnaires had different opinions on the safety of

the road environment and pedestrians around the medical zone with 3 stating
that it is very unsafe, 3 stating that it is fairly safe, 1 stating that its very safe

27
and 1 stating that it is fairly unsafe. The absence of any pedestrian facility at
the study area is definitely the reason why most participants would deem the
road environment very unsafe. Both sides of the C46 road have busy medical
practices that complement each other and in turn attract a lot of pedestrians as
shown in the pedestrian count results. The pedestrian-traffic crashes that are
frequent in the area may also account for the opinions that the road
environment is very unsafe. The high speeds and the absence of speed humps
and yield signs may account for the pedestrian-traffic crashes and impacts on
the pedestrians involved. The medical staff is not satisfied with the road
environment around the medical center and they suggested a pedestrian
crossing facility to be put up, specifically a crossing facility with a speed hump,
plus traffic lights and pedestrian yield signs.

4.4.2 Safety information from patients/pedestrian’s Questionnaire

Survey

Pedestrians and patients around the study area were given the questionnaires
during the period of the study. It however proved difficult because some refused
to answer, some didn’t have time and some did not want to engage with the
student because of social distancing. The student only managed to get back 10
questionnaires from the pedestrians.
The 10 participants were asked on how important they think road safety is, they
were given a scale to choose from, 8 of the pedestrians chose ‘Very important’
and 2 chose ‘Important’.

The participants believe that road safety is very important, they rated their
understanding of road safety issues as follows;
5 participants rated their understanding as ‘Average’, 3 ‘Above average’ and 2
‘Below average’, see Figure 17.

28
 Pedestrians' Understanding of Road
safety issues
0% 0%

20%
30%

50%

Very High Above average Average Below average Limited

Figure 17 Chart showing the participating pedestrians understanding of road safety issues.

The pedestrians were then asked on how often they cross the C46 road, 8 of
them indicated that they cross the road every time they visit the Medical center,
1 indicated that they cross only once a week and the remaining 1 claim to never
cross the road. The pedestrian waiting times were also questioned, and 6 out
of the 10 pedestrians indicated that they wait for more than 5 minutes for traffic
to clear for them to cross the C46 road, 3 pedestrians claim to wait for 5 minutes
and 1 indicated to wait for at least 3 minutes.

Most of the pedestrians feel unsafe when crossing the c46 road at the medical
zone. When asked about how they feel, 5 stated that they feel ‘Very unsafe’, 4
feel ‘Fairly unsafe’ and only 1 claimed to feel ‘Fairly safe’ when crossing. See
Figure 18 below.

Pedestrians opinions on their safety

when crossing the c46 road
0.00% 10.00%
0%
50.00% 40.00%

Very Safe Fairly Safe Not sure Fairly unsafe Very unsafe

Figure 18 Chart showing the participating pedestrians’ opinions on their safety when crossing the C46
road.

29
The pedestrians raised almost the same pedestrian safety hazards as the
medical staff. The most concerning issue to them is the absence of pedestrian
crossing facilities and the amount of traffic volume present and how motorists
do not acknowledge their presence.
The pedestrians/patients were asked to suggest the changes that they would
like to see in the area as far as road safety is concerned, the suggestions were
as follows;

⚫ Reduction of speed limit at the study area.

⚫ Installation of traffic lights and speed humps.
⚫ Installation of pedestrian related road signs.
⚫ Some pedestrians suggested that medical practices that complement each
other need to be on one side of the road. This is because at the medical
center, the Radiology lab is only on one side of the road and patients always
have to cross the road to go for imaging.

The number of pedestrians that participated in the questionnaires were 10, and
about 80% of them indicated that they cross the c46 road every time they visit
the medical center. Most of these pedestrians use taxis to get to the medical
center and the taxi/bus drop off point is only on one side of the road, justifying
the constant crossing of the road.
The pedestrians know the significance of road safety issues. However, 20% of
the pedestrians rated their understanding of road safety issues to be below
average. This could be because of the lack of road safety education or training.
Road safety education needs to be mandatory for every pedestrian.

The absence of any pedestrian facility at the area endangers the lives of the
pedestrians, with 50% of the pedestrians feeling very unsafe and 40% feeling
fairly unsafe. Overall, one can deduce that the road environment and the
pedestrians at the Oshakati Pharmacy Medical Centre are unsafe, as over 90%
of the participants indicated that it is either ‘very unsafe’ or ‘fairly unsafe’.

30
4.4 Similar cases: Omuthiya and Ondangwa

Cases of high pedestrian volumes at areas with land use on both sides of class
1 roads were discovered in Omuthiya, see Figure 19 and Ondangwa, see
Figure 20.

Figure 19 Land use on both sides of the B1 road, Omuthiya, Namibia. Google Earth.

According to [18], pedestrians and traffic are not supposed to mix on class 1
roads, however a lot of cases in Namibia such as in Figure 19, it is almost
impossible to prevent pedestrians from crossing the B1 road, hence there is a
pedestrian crossing facility on the road.. This can be attributed to poor planning
from the urban planners. Land use on both sides of the road attracts
pedestrians to cross the road and this calls for pedestrian related accidents.

31
 Figure 20 Land use on both sides of the B1 road, Ondangwa, Namibia. Google Earth.

The B1 road that passes through Ondangwa has high number of pedestrian
crossing facilities, which are simply continental pedestrian markings. This is
because of the land use on both sides of the road, which means there is a high
pedestrian volume. The C46 road at the Oshakati pharmacy medical center is
a class 1 road and it has land use on both sides as mentioned before. There is
a need for pedestrian safety measures at the medical zone.

32
 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Conclusion

The objectives of this study were:

⚫ To carry out traffic and pedestrian counts and analyze pedestrian waiting
times

⚫ To assess the safety of the pedestrian in the study zone with a focus on
pedestrian crossing behavior and crossing conflicts.

⚫ To identify a set of possible solutions for the pedestrians.

The study was successfully completed, based on the results obtained and the
discussions, the following conclusions were made:

⚫ The medical center has high peak hour traffic volumes, with an average of
about 650 veh/h in each direction during the morning peak hour, 413 veh/h
in the afternoon and about 639 veh/h in the late afternoon peak.
⚫ The zone has a high pedestrian volume in the peak hours, with an average
of about 47 pedestrians crossing the road in an hour.
⚫ The pedestrians wait for at least 5 minutes for traffic to clear when they
want to cross the road at the zone.
⚫ There are currently no pedestrians crossing facilities in place.

⚫ The 60km/h speed limit is too high for a medical zone.

⚫ There is at least 1 pedestrian-traffic related crash in the medical zone every

year.

⚫ Pedestrians do not feel safe when crossing C46 road.

33
⚫ The pedestrian safety measures in place are insufficient.

⚫ Similar cases in Ondangwa and Omuthiya show pedestrian crossing

facilities on class 1 urban roads.

5.2 Recommendations

Pedestrian and bicycle facilities should be provided where there is a reasonable

expectation that such facilities will be used by pedestrians and cyclists, even if
the numbers of pedestrians and cyclists are relatively low (within reason). The
standards of such facilities must be such that they will promote increased
pedestrian and cycle use[18].

The following suggestions and further recommendations have been made:

⚫ Considering the high number of pedestrians and the high traffic volume, a
pedestrian crossing facility needs to be provided at the medical center.

⚫ A convenient and most economical pedestrian crossing facility for the area
would be an elevated pedestrian platform.
This will be a pedestrian crossing with a hump, this facility will help reduce the
speed of approaching vehicles and when marked with zebra crossings will
provide priority for pedestrians.

⚫ Motorists are most likely to yield to pedestrians in the presence of a change

in vertical profile (speed hump).

⚫ Complementing the elevated pedestrian platform will be speed hump and

yield for pedestrian road signs on both sides of the c46 road.

⚫ Another traffic calming measure would be rumple strips leading up to the

pedestrian hump.

34
According to [18], On Class 1 roads (urban or rural), no pedestrian or cyclist
access to a development (formal or informal) may be provided and specific
measures must be introduced to prevent or limit pedestrian or cyclist access to
such roads, including the provision of pedestrian bridges.
However, a preliminary qualitative study found that people’s perceptions about
crossing facilities are shaped by aspects such as safety, convenience, crossing
time, accessibility, and personal security. Participants in the study were first
asked to indicate how comfortable they felt using different types of crossing
facilities. Footbridges and underpasses were systematically rated below
signalized crossings[13].
Grade-separated crossing facilities, such as footbridges and underpasses tend
to be safe in terms of vehicle pedestrian collision but are almost universally
disliked, due to the time and effort required to use them, and issues of personal
security. Some groups such as women and older people are particularly averse
to using grade-separated crossing facilities, especially at night time, Thus for
the convenience and safety of the pedestrians, a signalized crossing facility will
suffice for the medical zone.

35
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BEHAVIOUR ANALYSIS AT,” vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 103–116, 2014.
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of pedestrian crossing facilities,” Transp. Res. Part F Psychol. Behav.,
vol. 52, pp. 222–237, 2018
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 pedestrian decision-making,” Transp. Res. Part F Psychol. Behav., vol.
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FOR NATIONAL ROADS IN SOUTH AFRICA,” 2012.
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37
 APPENDICES

APPENDIX A: Traffic and Pedestrian count data tables

Table 2 to Table 10 below, show the data collected during the surveys.

Table 2: Traffic count data for the time session 07h00 - 08h00 in the direction of Oshakati
from Ongwediva.

TRAFFIC COUNT DATA (Time: 07h00 - 08h00)

Direction: Ongwediva - Oshakati
Type 14- 15- 16- 17- 18- 19- 21- 22- 23- 25- 30- Total
Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep
Cars 562 435 670 785 826 802 581 732 510 420 706 7029
Buses 9 11 21 17 8 14 5 14 8 6 17 130
Trucks 22 17 20 11 9 11 18 30 35 10 22 205
Others 1 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 7
Total 594 463 711 816 843 828 604 776 555 436 745 7371

Table 3: Traffic count data for the time session 13h00 - 14h30 in the direction of Oshakati
from Ongwediva.

TRAFFIC COUNT DATA (Time: 13h00 - 14h30)

Direction: Ongwediva - Oshakati
Type 15- 15- 16- 17- 18- 19- 21- 22- 23- 25- 30- Total
Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep
Cars 545 613 729 714 412 496 531 458 485 590 617 6190
Buses 22 20 15 14 19 10 14 11 12 5 24 166
Trucks 26 19 17 21 14 10 11 25 22 14 18 197
Others 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 0 0 5
Total 594 652 761 749 445 518 556 495 520 609 659 6558

-1-
Table 4: Traffic count data for the time session 16h30 - 17h30 in the direction of Oshakati
from Ongwediva.

TRAFFIC COUNT DATA (Time: 16h30 - 17h30)

Direction: Ongwediva - Oshakati
Type 16- 15- 16- 17- 18- 19- 21- 22- 23- 25- 30- Total
Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep
Cars 602 621 587 576 710 396 502 607 611 756 498 6466
Buses 10 8 19 6 14 10 13 11 15 18 9 133
Trucks 21 22 13 14 10 17 23 16 18 9 22 185
Others 0 1 2 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 7
Total 651 652 621 596 737 423 538 635 644 783 529 6791

Table 5: Traffic count data for the time session 07h00 - 08h00 in the direction of Ongwediva
from Oshakati.

TRAFFIC COUNT DATA (Time: 07h00 - 08h00)

Direction: Oshakati - Ongwediva
Type 17- 15- 16- 17- 18- 19- 21- 22- 23- 25- 30- Total
Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep
Cars 754 575 675 503 611 423 706 689 576 563 627 6702
Buses 11 15 9 21 11 14 4 14 12 8 16 135
Trucks 26 23 19 24 7 15 9 23 17 11 16 190
Others 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 4
Total 792 613 703 548 629 452 719 726 608 582 659 7031

Table 6: Traffic count data for the time session 13h00 - 14h30 in the direction of Ongwediva
from Oshakati.

TRAFFIC COUNT DATA (Time: 13h00 - 14h30)

Direction: Oshakati - Ongwediva
Type 18- 15- 16- 17- 18- 19- 21- 22- 23- 25- 30- Total
Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep
Cars 661 612 589 674 683 542 593 613 578 702 536 6783
Buses 12 11 12 18 12 10 9 14 8 16 5 127
Trucks 18 14 11 14 22 15 9 27 17 18 12 177
Others 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
Total 693 638 612 706 717 567 611 654 603 736 553 7090

-2-
Table 7: Traffic count data for the time session 16h30 - 17h30 in the direction of Ongwediva
from Oshakati.

TRAFFIC COUNT DATA (Time: 16h30 - 17h30)

Direction: Oshakati - Ongwediva
Type 19- 15- 16- 17- 18- 19- 21- 22- 23- 25- 30- Total
Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep
Cars 649 627 579 675 706 436 610 592 721 596 702 6893
Buses 4 12 19 18 19 11 9 11 22 18 26 169
Trucks 22 18 23 16 16 21 35 15 11 29 17 223
Others 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
Total 675 657 621 709 743 468 654 618 754 643 745 7287

Figure 21 Pedestrian count direction key

-3-
Table 8: Pedestrian count data for the time session 07h00 - 08h00, away from and towards
Oshakati Pharmacy.

PEDESTRIAN COUNT DATA (Time: 07h00 - 08h00)

Location: Oshakati Pharmacy Medical Centre
Direction 14 15 16 17 18 19 21 22 23 25 30 Total
Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep

Away 31 16 25 12 40 9 5 11 39 12 14 214
Towards 25 22 18 18 18 12 38 31 23 31 28 272
Total 56 38 43 38 58 21 43 42 62 43 42 486

Table 9: Pedestrian count data for the time session 13h00 - 14h30, away from and towards
Oshakati Pharmacy.

PEDESTRIAN COUNT DATA (Time: 13h00 - 14h30)

Location: Oshakati Pharmacy Medical Centre
Direction 14 15 16 17 18 19 21 22 23 25 30 Total
Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep

Away 41 53 22 19 38 24 19 31 42 28 31 348
Towards 53 51 43 31 24 51 23 22 25 27 26 376
Total 94 104 65 50 62 75 42 53 67 55 57 724

Table 10: Pedestrian count data for the time session 16h30 - 17h30, away from and towards
Oshakati Pharmacy.

PEDESTRIAN COUNT DATA (Time: 16h30 - 17h30)

Location: Oshakati Pharmacy Medical Centre
Direction 14 15 16 17 18 19 21 22 23 25 30 Total
Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep Sep
Away 18 14 26 18 33 11 29 36 27 42 36 348
Towards 29 19 32 22 23 8 22 17 34 28 28 376
Total 47 33 58 40 56 19 51 53 61 70 64 552

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 APPENDIX B: Traffic and Pedestrian Count Tally Sheets
1. Traffic count tally sheet

Figure 22 Traffic count tally sheet

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2. Pedestrian count tally sheet

Figure 23 Pedestrian count tally sheet

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 APPENDIX C: Questionnaire Interview Survey
Safety of Pedestrians at the Oshakati Pharmacy Medical Centre and Oshakati Medical
Square.

(Form to be completed by medical staff)

By completing this questionnaire, you will be providing important information to assist in my

research to improve pedestrian safety around this medical zone.

STAFF NAME____________________POSITION___________________

MALE FEMALE ( Please cross the appropriate box)

1.Please indicate on the scale below, how important you think road safety is, (Please
circle one only)

Very important Important Moderately Important Somewhat Important Not Important

1 2 3 4 5

2. How would you rate your understanding of road safety issues?

Very High Above Average Average Below Average Limited

1 2 3 4 5

3. How often do you cross the c64 road during the week?

Everyday Almost Every day Once a week Twice a week Never

1 2 3 4 5

4. How long would you say you wait for traffic to clear when you want to cross the
road?

More than 5 5 minutes 3 minutes 1 minute A few seconds

Minutes
1 2 3 4 5

5. In your opinion how safe is the road environment and the pedestrians near your
workplace? (please cross one box only)

Very Safe
Fairly Safe
Not Sure
Fairly Unsafe
Very unsafe

Figure 24 An extract from the medical staff questionnaire

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6. How often do pedestrian-traffic crashes occur on the road near your workplace?

0 - 1 crashes/year
1 - 2 crashes/year
2 - 3 crashes/year
> 4 crashes/year

7. How serious are these crashes?

Minor injuries
Serious injuries
Loss of life

Comment (if any) _______________________________________________________________

8. What changes (if any) would you like to see as far as pedestrian safety at your
medical zone is concerned?

__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

9. Any comments or suggestions?

__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

THANK YOU FOR TAKING TIME TO COMPLETE THIS FORM

Figure 25 An extract from the medical staff questionnaire

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Questionnaire Interview Survey: MEDICAL ZONE

Safety of Pedestrians at the Oshakati Pharmacy Medical Centre and Oshakati Medical
Square.

(Form to be completed by patients/ pedestrians)

By completing this questionnaire, you will be providing important information to assist in my

research to improve pedestrian safety around this medical zone.

NAME________________________

MALE FEMALE ( Please cross the appropriate box)

C64* road - main road between Oshakati pharmacy and Pharmacy 2000

1.Please indicate on the scale below, how important you think road safety is, (Please
circle one only)

Very important Important Moderately Important Somewhat Important Not Important

1 2 3 4 5

10. How would you rate your understanding of road safety issues?

Very High Above Average Average Below Average Limited

1 2 3 4 5

11. How often do you cross the c64* road?

Every time I visit Once a week Twice a week Never

the Medical center
1 2 3 4

12. How long would you say you wait for traffic to clear when you want to cross the
road?

More than 5 5 minutes 3 minutes 1 minute A few seconds

Minutes
1 2 3 4 5

13. In your opinion how safe do you feel when you cross the road? (please cross one box
only)

Very Safe
Fairly Safe
Not Sure
Fairly Unsafe
Very unsafe

Figure 26 An extract from the patients/pedestrian’s questionnaire

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14. What changes (if any) would you like to see on the road as far as pedestrian safety
is concerned?

__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

15. Any comments or suggestions?

__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

THANK YOU FOR TAKING TIME TO COMPLETE THIS FORM

Figure 27 An extract from the patients/pedestrian’s questionnaire

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 APPENDIX D: Photos

Figure 28 Medical staff members being dropped off by taxis at the taxi stop, to cross the C46 road.

Figure 29 A pedestrian with crutches waiting to cross the C46 road.

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 Figure 30 Pedestrians waiting on traffic to clear

Figure 31 Pedestrians crossing the road after traffic cleared in one direction.

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 Figure 32 Pedestrian standing on the Island, waiting for traffic to clear.

Figure 33 Pedestrians crossing the road at the Onandjokwe hospital, Ondangwa.

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