Practical Applications for Pedestrian Safety Systems

Pedestrian Safety at Airports

Landside airport crosswalks are among the busiest pedestrian crossings globally, making pedestrian safety at airports a public traffic safety concern. With passive pedestrian-activated bollards, in-roadway warning lights, and flashing LED signs - the hurried and distracted traveling public is given a safer crossing environment.

Approaching motorists are equally distracted as they scan terminal sidewalks for their arriving travelers. Smart Crosswalk™ alerts them of pedestrian activity up to 1,000 feet before the crosswalk, allowing drivers ample time to slow to a stop.

Dallas Love Field, TX, Project Summary

Client: Dallas Love Field Airport, TX

Project Size: 25 In-Roadway Warning Lights, 12 Bollards, 3 LED Border-Enhanced Pedestrian Signs

Year Installed: 2012

Overview: Dallas Love Field needed enhanced safety for their travelers with increased pedestrian visibility and advanced warning to motorists.

Requirements: A robust, flexible traffic safety solution that is effective at warning motorists up to 1,000 feet in advance of pedestrians in a crosswalk.

Full Project Summary

Dallas Love Field Airport — Santa Rosa, CA — Lightguard Systems

Dallas Love Field Airport, TX

In-Roadway Warning Lights at Dallas Love Field Airport

Diagram of an Automatic Pedestrian Detection Bollard with NightGuide™ crosswalk lighting and customizable lighted graphic

LED-Enhanced Flashing Pedestrian Crossing Sign

  • Solution 1: 25 In-Roadway Warning Lights (IRWL)

    • LightGuard Systems provided 25 IRWLs with high-intensity LEDs. Visible both day and night, they activate via passive detection bollards and flash only when a pedestrian is present. 
    • The client selected 10” composite base plates and an A/C power controller. IRWLs are MUTCD compliant and a proven method of increasing driver awareness up to 95%. 
    • Highly flexible, IRWLs are an ideal solution at curved airport parking entrances and at-grade landside walkways.

  • Solution 2: 12 Automatic Pedestrian Detection Bollards

    • Dallas Love Field Airport selected our Automatic Pedestrian Detection Bollard passive activation method due to its elegant design and directionally-sensitive infrared light beams, which activate only as pedestrians enter the crosswalk. 
    • Placed at crosswalk entrances in pairs, traveling pedestrians automatically trigger the system’s flashing IRWLs and LED signs simply by walking in-between them—making them the safest, most effective activation method. 
    • Bollards have a range of forty feet and contain vandal-resistant stainless-steel fasteners.

  • Solution 3: 3 Flashing LED Pedestrian Crossing Signs

    • Our flashing LED border-enhanced pedestrian signs were added to crossings where additional visibility was desired. MUTCD-compliant, only LightGuard Systems’ LED signs contain eight light bars with 96 high-intensity flashing LEDs. 
    • Visible from 1,000 feet, LED signs help to increase motorist yielding. Dallas Love Field’s LED signs activate via passive detection bollards and flash only when a pedestrian is present.

“Since we installed the LightGuard Systems in-roadway warning lights and LED signs at pedestrian crossings, we’ve really seen an increase in motorist yielding and a positive effect in the overall safety of our travelers.”

—Jimmy Jackson, Electrical Supervisor, Dallas Love Field Airport

LightGuard Systems Airport Installations Include:

ARIZONA

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Phoenix

CALIFORNIA

Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport, Santa Rosa

John Wayne Orange County Airport, Santa Ana

McClellan Palomar Airport, Carlsbad

San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco

FLORIDA

Jacksonville International Airport, Jacksonville

Miami International Airport, Miami

Orlando Sanford International Airport, Sanford

Palm Beach International Airport, West Palm Beach

HAWAII

Honolulu International Airport, Honolulu

MASSACHUSETTS

Logan International Airport, Boston

OKLAHOMA

Tulsa International Airport, Tulsa

Will Rogers Airport, Oklahoma City

PENNSYLVANIA

Pittsburgh International Airport, Pittsburgh

RHODE ISLAND

T.F. Green International Airport, Warwick

TENNESSEE

Nashville International Airport, Nashville

TEXAS

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Dallas

Dallas Love Field Airport, Dallas

El Paso International Airport, El Paso

San Antonio International Airport, San Antonio

William P. Hobby Airport, Houston

WASHINGTON

Spokane International Airport, Spokane

Citywide Pedestrian Safety

Implement LightGuard Systems’ traffic calming solutions at a single crosswalk location or install them throughout communities and neighborhoods as part of a Citywide pedestrian safety enhancement project.

National City, CA, Citywide Project Summary

Flashing Solar LED — Santa Rosa, CA — Lightguard Systems

Flashing Solar LED Border-Enhanced Pedestrian Crossing Sign in National City, CA.

College and university campuses have a considerable volume of pedestrian traffic—often more than in other public settings. They feature mixed-use spaces with dorms, cafeterias, retailers, and restaurants accessible via multiple channels—trails, sidewalks, and roadways. This creates a more significant potential for conflicts between motorists and pedestrians.

On most campuses, hotspots exist where pedestrian incidents occur. Facility managers use LightGuard’s robust flashing LED lighted crosswalk systems to enhance pedestrian safety at college and university campuses.

Florida Atlantic University Project Summary

Football Stadium — Santa Rosa, CA — Lightguard Systems

Florida Atlantic Univeristy’s Football Stadium with a LIGHTGUARD Solar Flashing Pedestrian Warning Light System

The project: Pedestrian safety enhancements for a double zone, 4-lane crosswalk with a center divider located

in front of FAU’s football stadium entrance, and another crosswalk at the stadium parking lot entrance.

LIGHTGUARD’s In-Roadway Warning Light Fixture

An in-roadway warning light system at Florida Atlantic University’s football stadium crosswalk

T6 Bollard

LightGuard Systems’ advanced solar power controller, with solar panel and lockable weatherproof cabinet

LIGHTGUARD’s Flashing LED Pedestrian Warning Sign

Product Spec Sheets 

Studies & Reports

To date, there have been numerous studies determining the effectiveness of in-roadway warning lights (IRWLs) in a variety of settings and roadway safety applications.


Whether the study compares the effectiveness of overhead signals to IRWL, identifies ideal IRWL placement, or the efficacy of uni-directional IRWL systems, every IRWL study conducted leads to the same conclusion. The incidence of conflict between pedestrians and motorists decreases, and motorists yielding to pedestrians and stop time significantly increases.


Below are industry studies using LightGuard Systems' flashing in-roadway warning lights to illuminate pedestrian crosswalks, rail grade crossing vehicle stop lines, and to flash in sync with stop light signals at a controlled intersection.




  • Whitlock & Weinburger Report

    • The original study conducted on IRWL enhanced crosswalks systems that paved the way for acceptance by the Federal Highway Administration as a standard in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), Section 4N.FINDINGS

    • 1. The concept of flashing amber lights embedded in the pavement at uncontrolled crosswalks clearly has a positive effect in enhancing a driver's awareness of crosswalks and modifying driving habits to be more favorable to pedestrians.

    • 2. The In-Pavement Flashing Lights Crosswalk Warning System has a much more significant effect in enhancing a driver's awareness of crosswalks during adverse weather conditions such as darkness, fog, and rain.

  • The Kirkland Study & Report – Kirkland’s Experience with In-Pavement Flashing Lights At Crosswalks, February 1999

    • The City of Kirkland, Oregon, conducted this study regarding their experience and results with flashing crosswalks, how the system works, installation, and their effectiveness in causing vehicles to respond to pedestrians. 

    • "The data suggests that the devices are effective in both increasing the number of drivers that yield to pedestrians and the distance from the crosswalk where drivers apply their brakes."

  • Evaluation of In-Pavement Flashing Lights on a Six-Lane Arterial Pedestrian Crossing – 2000

    • Study by Dr. Panos D. Prevedouros of the University of Hawaii. He conducted the study on the LightGuard IRWL installation on Pali Highway at Jack Lane & Akamu Place.

    • 1. Key results include the following: The effect on speeds was dramatic. In the northbound direction, maximum speed decreased by 16.2%, and average speed decreased by 25.2% when the lights were activated. In the southbound direction, maximum speed decreased by 17.8%, and average speed decreased by 27.2%.

    • 2. The system reduced the average wait time at the curb from 26.7 to 13.2 seconds. The proportion of pedestrians who crossed entirely outside the marked crosswalk decreased from 15.9% to 8.3%.

    • 3. The evaluation showed that this experimental application of in-pavement flashing lights produced positive results. HDOT's action to deploy this technology as a stopgap measure was appropriate and successful.

  • Crosswalk Enhancement Comparison Study, City of San Jose – 2001

    • This study specifically compares the effectiveness of overhead lights & beacons to In-roadway Warning Light (IRWL) systems. Conclusion: "… the experimental embedded pavement light system was found to be more effective at alerting motorists of pedestrian presence in the crosswalk than the standard overhead yellow flashing beacon…"


  • National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report – Applications of Illuminated, Active In-Pavement Marker Systems – 2008

    • A summary report by the Transportation Research Board regarding in-pavement signal light applications at crosswalks, intersections, highway-rail crossings, lane delineators, and other applications. It was released in June 2008.

  • Studies of Traffic Signal Enhancement (TSE™) Red Light Running Solutions

    1) Summary of EXPERIMENTAL TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICE APPLICATION … The City of Anaheim requested permission from the California Traffic Control Devices Committee (CTCDC) for in-pavement warning lights to flash with overhead stoplights. During the warning yellow phase, the in-pavement warning lights flashed in an amber color and changed to red at the red stoplight phase.


    Summary of EXPERIMENTAL TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICE APPLICATION


    2) Mid-Block Pedestrian Crosswalk, Traffic Engineering Study – The purpose of this study is to test the use of in-pavement warning lights installed at the stop bar of a pedestrian-actuated signalized, mid-block crosswalk. This crosswalk is located on West Alabama Street in the Uptown District of Houston, Texas. The study was conducted in June of 2003.


    • The Study "… confirms recognition of the in-roadway LED lights as traffic control devices worth complying with, and that the lights aid motorist to stop at an appropriate distance behind the stop bar."

  • Report on TraxAlert™ Installation, Paramount, CA - IRWL Systems at Highway & Railroad Grade Crossings

    • This highway-rail crossing is located at the intersection of Paramount Boulevard and Rosecrans Avenue in Paramount, California. The location is unusual because the railroad crosses diagonally through the intersection and not just across one approach. The intersection was too wide for regular railroad crossing gates, and the typical railroad crossing lights would have visually blocked the existing traffic signal faces. The in-pavement TraxAlert™ system works with the existing overhead signal lights, providing a safe crossing at the intersection.

  • Effects of In-Pavement Lights on Driver Compliance with Grade Crossing Safety Equipment, Federal Railroad Administration, May 2019

    • The U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, under the direction of DOT's Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Office of Research, Development, and Technology, evaluated the effectiveness of in-pavement lights in improving driver compliance with grade crossing safety signals. A LightGuard Systems TraxAlert in-pavement system was installed at a grade crossing in Elk City, Oklahoma.

    • This crossing had flashing lights but not gates. Data was collected for six months before and after the lights were installed. Results indicated a slight reduction in violations occurring more than 5 seconds after the signals were activated, from an average of 0.314 violations per activation before the lights were installed to 0.288 after the lights were installed. 

    • Additionally, post-train violations also slightly declined, from 81.20 percent of lead vehicles in each lane crossing before the signals were deactivated to 75.45 percent.

Written Specifications

Bid specifications are critical to determining the exact nature of the crosswalk systems desired for a particular location. These are generic specifications written to provide easy-to-follow guidelines when developing bid package specifications.

The sections included are:

  1. Logic Control Device and Enclosure
  2. Solar Powered Logic Control Device and Enclosure
  3. In-Pavement Signal Heads
  4. LED Enhanced Pedestrian Crossing Symbol Signs
  5. Bollards
  6. Push-buttons

Product Warranties

LightGuard Systems (LGS) Product Warranty Policy for Products and Components

Subject to the Conditions and Exclusions noted below, LGS warrants to the end-user that each LGS product, when registered, installed, and operated under regular use and maintained according to the instructions furnished with the product, will be free from defects in materials and workmanship. LGS agrees that it will, at its option, either repair any such defect or replace the non-conforming product or part thereof with an equivalent replacement product or part at no charge to Buyer/end-user for LGS-branded or LGS-supplied parts for the periods set forth below:

1 Year Limited Warranty – Third party manufacturers’ non-value added product such as batteries, enclosures, solar panels, push buttons, static signs, etc., for a period of 1 year from date of installation. Warranty period will never start later than 6 months after the date of purchase from LGS. If a third party manufacturers’ standard warranty period is greater, their warranty period will apply. In some cases, Buyer/end user may need to facilitate the warranty coverage directly with a third party manufacturer, rather than LGS.


3 Year Limited Warranty – In-Roadway Warning Lights (IRWL), Bollards, Controllers, and related cabling,  Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFB), LED Signs, and base plates for a period of 3 years from the date of purchase.


An IRWL is considered failed when 1/3 or more of its LEDs are inoperable. When an IRWL fails, the manufacturer covers replacement at no cost to the end user, subject to the return of the failed IRWL to the manufacturer.


For Limited Warranty coverage outside the USA, contact your local LGS representative, as coverage may vary.

Conditions & Exclusions of Warranties

All products must have been purchased from LGS or an authorized LGS Dealer. All LGS products are designed to function/operate as an integrated system. LGS does not warranty any of its products to function or provide any level of safety when directly integrated with other non-LGS products/brands. 

This Limited Warranty does not cover any product that has been subjected to damage/abuse, misuse, alteration, neglect, unauthorized repair or installation, connection to an improper power source, operation beyond its manufactured specifications and limits, improper site preparation, maintenance not in accordance with manufacturer instructions, or operation with components not supplied or approved in writing by LGS, including, but not limited to, buttons, switches, system wiring, and cabling. Refer to the   LGS manufacturer installation instructions.

This Limited Warranty is void if the product has been subjected to adverse conditions, or otherwise operated outside its specified environment; or if the FIELD RELATED TOTAL PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE (Section 8.3) of the LGS Installation Manual has been neglected. 

This Limited Warranty does not cover the finish or non-functional appearance of any product. Buyer, if different than end user, shall be solely liable to the end-user for the condition of the products as installed. Buyer is also required to provide the end-user with all documentation related to this Limited Warranty as well as these Terms and Conditions.

*To properly register the 3 Year Limited Warranty on IRWL, LGS or an authorized Dealer must receive at the time of installation registration photographs clearly showing close-up details of each IRWL and their respective placement(s) from each other, a panoramic photo spanning the width of the entire IRWL installation from one end of the crosswalk to the other from both sides of the crosswalk, a photo of the approaching drivers’ viewpoint from both sides of the crosswalk, and photos of all other installed components and products.

LightGuard Systems is a registered trademark™ of LightGuard Systems, Inc. Smart Crosswalk is a trademark™ name of LightGuard Systems, Inc. ©2021 LightGuard Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

Ready for a Free Pricing Quote on Any of Our Pedestrian Safety Systems? Call LightGuard Systems at 707-542-4547.