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<br /> 20 <br /> <br />In addition to the variables included in the models presented above, data were available for several other <br />factors potentially associated with crosswalk safety. These included: <br /> <br />• Speed limit. <br />• Location of crosswalk (intersection or midblock). <br />• Presence and type of median. <br />• Type of crosswalk marking (marked only). <br /> <br />Neither speed limit nor crosswalk location (intersection or midblock) had a significant effect in the <br />models for marked or unmarked crosswalk crashes. Initially, three types of medians were compared with <br />no median. These were: <br /> <br />• Raised medians. <br />• Painted medians. <br />• Two-way left turn lanes. <br /> <br />Several specific types of crosswalks were represented in the data, but the primary comparison came down <br />to a comparison between the standard markings (two parallel lines) versus designs with more markings <br />(e.g., continental or ladder patterns shown in figure 12). <br /> <br />In attempting to estimate these more detailed models, it was also a concern to consider effects due to <br />specific locations (i.e., cities, States, regions) from which the data were obtained since crashes, types of <br />medians and crosswalks, and other variables were not uniformly distributed across these locations. To <br />this end, two sets of regions were identified (North-South and East-Midwest-West), and class variables <br />indicating these regions were included in the models. A second approach was to estimate a model using <br />data from all locations, then to re-estimate the model while omitting the data from each of the eight cities <br />where the most data had been obtained, one step at a time, to see how the estimates changed. These eight <br />cities and the total number of observation sites at each are listed below. <br /> <br />• Seattle, WA (204). <br />• San Francisco, CA (182). <br />• New Orleans, LA (160). <br />• Milwaukee, WI (136). <br />• Cleveland, OH (110). <br />• Cambridge, MA (92). <br />• Oakland, CA (90). <br />• Gainesville, FL (90). <br /> <br />A few iterations of this process resulted in a model for marked crosswalk crashes summarized in table 3. <br />The model for table 3 contains no variable pertaining to crosswalk type, a single variable indicating a <br />raised median as opposed to no median or another median type, and another variable indicating the <br />western region of the country as opposed to the East or Midwest. <br /> <br />In some preliminary models, there was an indication that the crosswalk types with more markings were <br />associated with slightly lower crash rates than the standard type. These results were not consistent across <br />models and became quite nonsignificant when regional variables were included. Similarly, preliminary <br />models indicated that raised medians were marginally better (associated with lower crash rates) than <br />crosswalks having no median or painted medians, while two-way left turn lanes were significantly worse <br />than the other types. With the addition of the East-Midwest-West regional variables, the two-way left <br />turn lane effect became nonsignificant, and the raised median effect became more significant. All of the