The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has released a comprehensive report entitled “Sharing the Road: Optimizing Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety and Vehicle Mobility,” which reviews roadway improvements designed to enhance bicyclist, pedestrian, and motorist safety and mobility.  The report includes an analysis of bicycle and pedestrian crashes in the state of Michigan; a review of national design guidelines on methods to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety; a case study analysis of recently completed improvements in the state of Michigan; an analysis of existing guides and manuals that influence the design of roadways in the Michigan and other states; and finally, a set of recommended best design practices for walking and bicycling  The report was prepared by T.Y. Lin International and Western Michigan University (WMU).

The report finds the following countermeasures were associated with the greatest reductions in crashes:

• Sidewalksreduce pedestrian crashes by 88%, while adding shoulders reduce pedestrian crashes by 70%
• Roundaboutsshow an overall decrease in all types of crashes by 35%, injury crashes by 76% and fatal crashes by 89%
• Road dietsreduce all crashes anywhere from 14% to 49%.
• Raised mediansreduce all crashes by 40%, and by as much as 69% at unsignalized intersections
• Pedestrian hybrid beaconswere shown to have a 69% reduction in all crashes and a compliance rate of motorists yielding to pedestrians between 94-99%
• Bike lanescan reduce bicycle crashes by 50%

America Walks, a national coalition of local advocacy groups dedicated to promoting walking and walkable communities, has launched a new program to work with communities around the country to increase walking and walkability.  The program allows America Walks to bring workshops, technical assistance, and other support services directly to local communities.  The program, called “Walking in America,”  is funded by the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  Half-day and 1.5 day workshops are available.

The Illinois Center for Transportation at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has released a report that provides guidelines for the structural design of bicycle trail pavement and recommendations for bicycle trail pavement maintenance.  The report includesdetailed life-cycle cost analyses for different trail designs and different pavement materials for a design period of 20 years.

A new report issued by the National Center for Transit Research at the Univeristy of South Florida gives an overview of designs, policies, and operational characteristics of shared bicycle/bus lanes in municipalities in the United States and other countries. The study examines and presents as case studies shared bicycle/bus lanes from four U.S. cities: Ocean City, MD; Minneapolis, MN; Philadelphia, PA; and Washington DC. Through its investigation, the study identifies and discusses contextual factors, design variables, and tools for planning and implementing shared bicycle/bus lanes, and provides recommendations for further research.

A new report summarizes results of an evaluation of the Sound Transit Remote Infrared Audible Sign (RIAS) system in guiding persons with disabilities in multi-modal public transportation environments. The RIAS Model Accessibility Program (RIAS MAP) is an ongoing program funded by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to evaluate the effectiveness of remote infrared audible sign systems in enabling persons with visual mobility and cognitive disabilities to travel safely on their own.

The report presents test results on the effectiveness of the Sound Transit RIAS system for persons with visual or cognitive disabilities and cost-benefit analysis on future expansion of the RIAS system versus other wayfinding systems.

For a report summary, visit the FTA website.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has issued a report providing implementation guidance on strategies and methods to prevent pedestrian incidents, injuries, and fatalities at or near passenger rail stations.  The report recommends that passenger rail operators use risk-based hazard analysis methods to identify methods and treatments to improve pedestrian safety at rail crossings.  The report provides illustrations of many of these treatments.  See our earlier post on the draft document.

The Active Transportation Alliance has launched a new website, Active Transportation Policy.  The website, which was made possible through a Department of Health and Human Services Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) grant, provides a clearinghouse of information on the advancement of municipal and school policies that promote active travel in our region and beyond.  Information is categorized by target audience, target barrier, subject matter, title, author, associated agencies, and by a list of general tags in our library.

Included on the website is Active Transportation Alliance’s recently published Complete Streets, Complete Networks: A Manual for the Design of Active Transportation.  The manual, which was created for the Cook County Highway Department through the CPPW grant, provides information and tools intended to support and assist in the design of Complete Streets, which allow for and encourage safe and convenient travel by all modes and can help create or enhance a sense of place and attractive public spaces.

The manual has five chapters: Basis, Typologies, Geometrics, Amenities, and Processes. The individual chapters can be downloaded separately and are organized to facilitate the design process by allowing the reader to access relevant information at any of the various stages in the development of Complete Streets.

In addition, municipal active transportation plans, bikeway plans, Complete Streets policies and ordinances, school travel plans, and other resources are available in the website’s library.

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has released the fourth edition of its Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities, last published in 1999.

According to AASHTO, the guide “provides information on how to accommodate bicycle travel and operations in most riding environments. It is intended to present sound guidelines that result in facilities that meet the needs of bicyclists and other highway users. Sufficient flexibility is permitted to encourage designs that are sensitive to local context and incorporate the needs of bicyclists, pedestrians, and motorists.”

The guide is currently available for pre-order through AASHTO and is expected to ship in early June. The new edition of guide will also be available as a download. 

The City of Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has released a before and after report with data demonstrating that implementation of a road diet (on Nickerson Street, completed in August 2010) resulted in improved safety for all users. According SDOT, the project, completed in August 2010, reduced collisions by 23 percent, helped prevent speeding, and did not result in traffic diversion to other streets.

The Center for Transportation Studies at the University of Minnesota has released a report that explores approaches to distinguish bicycles from pedestrians for traffic counting applications.

The primary goal of the study is to develop a practical vision-based bicycle counting system that is capable of automatically processing video stream data of traffic scenes involving bicycle and pedestrian activity and estimating their traffic counts.

The authors argue that, once deployed, vision-based counting systems can potentially be the least expensive and easiest method to do counting. This is due to the fact that cameras themselves are relatively inexpensive and easy to use.  In addition, the authors believe that in many places communities will be able to leverage the already existent security cameras, which can further reduce expenses.  Algorithms that perform image analysis and object classification are presented and discussed

The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed an online resource, the Health Economic Assessment Tool (HEAT) for walking and cycling.  The tool estimates the economic savings resulting from reductions in mortality as a consequence of regular cycling and/or walking. Simply put, HEAT calculates an answer to the following question: "If x number of people cycle or walk y distance on most days, what is the economic value of mortality rate improvements?"  While default parameters are set for the European context, they can be adapted to various situations.

The Transportation Research Board’s (TRB) Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2264 is dedicated to studies on topics related to pedestrian planning and safety.  The volume contains 20 papers exploring topics such as automatic pedestrian detectors, sign visibility for pedestrians, advance yield markings, midblock pedestrian crosswalks, signal-based countermeasures for pedestrian safety, and other topics.

In this volume, readers will find papers that examine phase optimization at intersections to minimize vehicle and pedestrian delays; crossing behaviors and activity of pedestrians at signalized intersections; the lower rates of physical activity by low-income and minority populations; and measurement of greenway use in Cary, North Carolina.  In addition, this volume highlights walking behavior prediction; probability models for pedestrian injury severity; pedestrian safety programs in central areas of large cities; risk of fatality in vehicle–pedestrian crashes; estimation of frequency and length of pedestrian stride in urban environments; and accessibility of complex intersections.

The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC), in conjunction with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), is offering a free webinar on pedestrian safety and accessibility considerations at modern roundabouts.  Modern roundabouts are an FHWA proven safety countermeasure and have been documented to reduce vehicle injury and fatal crashes when compared to signalized intersections.  However, the safety of roundabouts for pedestrians is less clear, and significant concerns about the accessibility and safety of roundabouts for pedestrians who are blind have often been raised.

This webinar will take place tomorrow, Wednesday, March 7, from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. CT.  Register at https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/941771786.

The U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Safety has launched a new website that includes links to detailed descriptions, related research studies, and evaluations of nine research-proven countermeasures -- superseding the 2008 guidance on the consideration and implementation of proven safety countermeasures -- which are considered highly effective and whose use should be encouraged. The nine countermeasures highlighted on the site address crashes that occur in the focus areas of intersections, pedestrians, and roadway departure.

The website provides a direct link to the January 12, 2012 memorandum from the Acting Associate Administrator for Safety to division administrators on the promotion of the implementation of proven safety countermeasures.

In a dissertation entitled “Understanding Sustainable Transportation Choices: Shifting Routine Automobile Travel to Walking and Bicycling,” Robert Schneider, at the University of California Berkeley, examined factors associated with the decision to walk or bicycle rather than drive for short, routine trips.   The author used an intercept survey to gather travel data from 1,003 customers at retail pharmacies in 20 San Francisco Bay area neighborhoods.

The study results showed that automobile use was negatively associated with higher employment density, smaller parking lots, and metered on-street parking in the shopping district.  Walking was positively associated with higher population density, more street tree canopy coverage, lower speed limits, and fewer commercial driveway crossings.  In addition, an exploratory analysis of a small number of bicycle tours found that bicycling was associated with more extensive bicycle facility networks and more bicycle parking. However, people were more likely to drive when they perceived a high risk of crime.

The study also estimates the magnitude of mode shift that could occur if certain changes – increasing population and employment density, increasing the street tree canopy, and eliminating parking spaces – were made.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recently updated and amended its Technical Advisories (TA) on the design and application of shoulder and edge line rumble strips (TA 5040.35 and 5040.39) to include issues of cyclists and cyclists’ safety.

Previously, the TAs contained little information on the needs of cyclists or the need for a public process when designing and installing rumble strips as part of road reconstruction or paving.  The revised TA (5040.39, Revised 1), released on November 16, 2011, includes a new section (Section 9) about the accommodation of all roadway users, with a special emphasis on the needs of cyclists and the measures that should be considered to accommodate them.

The U.K.’s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) released a report highlighting existing research on the role of infrastructure in relation to the safety of cyclists and their interaction with other road users.  The report consists of an international literature review of this subject and was undertaken as part of the wider research program, Road User Safety and Cycling, being led by TRL.  The paper identifies the influence of infrastructure on intermediate, behavioral outcomes which, in turn, may influence accident risk, such as the speed of motorized traffic and cyclist route choice and maneuvers, etc.

The study finds that, of all interventions to increase bicyclist safety, the greatest benefits result from reduction in the general speed of motorized traffic. According to the report, speed reduction may be achieved through a variety of methods including physical traffic calming; urban design that changes the appearance and the (pedestrian) use of a street; and, possibly, the wider use of 20 mph speed limits, which are common in some cities.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released an update of a study on the incidence rates of pedestrian and bicyclist crashes by hybrid electric (HE) vehicles.  The study compares the rate of bicycle and pedestrian crashes involving HE vehicles is compared to the rate involving internal combustion engine vehicles (ICE).  Overall, the odds ratios indicate that there is a greater likelihood of an HE vehicle being in either a pedestrian or bicycle crash -- 35 percent and 57 percent respectively -- than an ICE vehicle being in a similar crash.  For pedestrian crashes, the study found that the largest difference occurs on roadways where the speed limit is 35 mph and lower and during low-speed maneuvers.

A Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) report presents the results of a one-day workshop to explore technological innovations in accessible transportation and to better understand the requirements of pedestrians and travelers with visual impairment or other mobility disabilities.  The workshop brought together a panel of speakers made up of disability experts, academic professionals, transportation industry experts, and other professionals to discuss applications of technology for accessible transportation, identify knowledge gaps and opportunities, and highlight barriers to implementation.

The California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) has released a report that explores the development of methods for identifying sites where there is potential for significant reductions in pedestrian and bicyclist injuries.  The report, titled “Strategies for Reducing Pedestrian and Bicyclist Injury at the Corridor Level,” uses data from 1998 to 2007 along a16.5-mile section of San Pablo Avenue (SR 123) in the San Francisco East Bay area.  The report includes a framework for conducting benefit-cost analyses and a prototype training protocol for conducting analyses of pedestrian and bicyclist safety in a corridor or network.  The guiding principle is that sites with the most potential for reducing injury are those where the most injuries can be prevented per dollar spent.  Everything else being equal, these sites are also the ones with the highest expected number of injuries if nothing is done.  Prior history is typically used to make this estimate, but this may not be sufficient, especially if the underlying rates are low.