|
Addressing Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety
Overview:
Research reports safety as a commonly identified barrier to walking or bicycling to school. The literature on bicycle and pedestrian safety suggests that as safety increases, so does participation in active travel.
The research in this section identifies patterns of active transportation, injury, environmental attributes associated with pedestrian safety, as well as successful strategies to increase safety implemented by Safe Routes to School projects. Implications of this research suggest infrastructure improvements, traffic education for students, and driver enforcement can provide positive impacts on overall pedestrian and bicyclist safety.
Research Highlights:
• For students living within 1 mile of school, implementation of effective pedestrian interventions can reduce the traffic dangers that prevent children from walking to school (Beck, et al., 2008).
• Pedestrian injuries represented 8% of the unintentional injury deaths among children 0 to 19 years of age.(Borse, 2008).
• A motorist is less likely to collide with a person walking and bicycling if more people walk or bicycle. For example, an individual’s risk while walking in a community with twice as much walking will reduce to 66% (Jacobsen, 2003).
Academic Research Articles and Findings:
“Who Owns the Roads? How Motorized Traffic Discourages Walking and Bicycling” (2009)
• This article examines the impact of traffic on levels of walking and bicycling through a review of literature of medical, public health, city planning, public administration and traffic engineering.
• Results indicate that the real and perceived danger and discomfort imposed by traffic discourage walking and bicycling.
• Observed behavior provides good evidence for injury risk judgment and response, with the strong association being an inverse correlation between volumes and speeds of traffic and levels of walking and cycling.
• The authors suggest that interventions to reduce traffic speed and volume are likely to promote walking and bicycling and therefore, public health gains.
Jacobsen, P.L., Racioppi, F. and Rutter, H. “Who owns the roads? How motorized traffic discourages walking and bicycling.” Injury Prevention. 15 (2009): 369-373.
“Pilot Evaluation of a Walking School Bus Program in a Low-Income, Urban Community” (2009)
• This study evaluates the impact of a walking school bus on student transport in a low-income, urban neighborhood.
• The intervention consisted of a part-time walking school bus coordinator and parent volunteers.
• At intervention schools, three walking school buses were developed and maintained with an individual route to school (distances ranged from 0.3 to 1.5 miles long) and took 15-40 minutes from start to finish.
• After 12-months of the intervention, the number of students who walked to the intervention school increased from 20% to 25%.
• The number of students who walked to control schools decreased.
Mendoza, Jason A., Levinger, David D., and Johnston, Brian D. “Pilot evaluation of a walking school bus program in a low-income, urban community.” BMC Public Health. 9 (2009): 122-137.
“Identifying Factors Affecting the Number of Students Walking or Biking to School” (2009)
• This study investigates the characteristics of student travel behaviors before the implementation of SRTS program and identifies the influential factors affecting the number of children to walk or bike to school.
• Parents reported the following as the five primary factors affecting children’s walking or biking:
- distance (67.0%)
- traffic speed along route (53.7%)
- traffic amount along route (51.3%)
- violence or crime (42.1%)
- intersection safety (38.2%)
• Parents reported the following as the five primary factors that would change their decisions and allow their children to walk or bike to school:
- distance (25.5%)
- safety of intersections and crossings (22.0%)
- weather or climate (21.9%)
- presence of an adult cowalker (17.5%)
- convenience of driving (15.0%)
• Researchers suggest that distance between the rankings reveal a variance between people’s perceptions and reactions.
• Subjective opinions were also considered in this study demonstrating that most students and parents held positive attitudes toward students walking or biking to school:
- Forty percent of students consider walking or biking to school “fun” or “very fun” and less than 10 percent of students consider it “boring or “very boring”
- 57.2 percent of students consider it “healthy” or “very healthy” to walk or bike to school
- 78.8 percent of students have asked for permission to walk or bike to school
- Only 4.1 percent of students believed their schools discourage or strongly discourage students to walk or bike to school
- 32.9 percent of parents will allow their children to walk or bike alone at different grades.
Zhou, Huaguo, Zhao, Jiguang, Hsu, Peter, and Rouse, Jeanette. “Identifying Factors Affecting the Number of Students Walking or Biking to School.” Institute of Transportation Engineers Journal. 79.10 (2009).
“Recommended Community Strategies and Measurements to Prevent Obesity in the United States” (2009)
• The CDC initiated the Common Community Measures for Obesity Prevention Project (the Measures Project) to identify and recommend a set of obesity prevention strategies and corresponding suggested measurements that local governments and communities can use to plan, implement, and monitor initiatives to prevent obesity.
• Strategies 17-23 suggest community improvements that are addressed by Safe Routes to School. These recommendations suggest that communities should:
- enhance infrastructure supporting bicycling
- enhance infrastructure supporting walking
- support locating schools within easy walking distance of residential areas
- improve access to public transportation
- zone for mixed-land use development
- enhance personal safety in areas where persons are or could be physically active
- enhance traffic safety where persons are or could be physically active
Khan, Laura Kettel, Sobush, Kathleen, Keener, Dana, Goodman, Kenneth, Lowry, Amy, Kazietek, Jakub, and Zaro, Susan. “Recommended Community Strategies and Measurements to Prevent Obesity in the United States.” Center for Disease Control. (2009): 58(RR07); 1-26.
“Why Parents Drive Children to School” (2009)
• The purpose of this study is to understand why many parents choose to drive their children to school, even short distances, and identify implications for programs to increase walking and biking to school.
• Results from a telephone survey reveal that 75% of parents drive their children less then 2 miles to school for convenience and to save time.
• Nearly 50% of parents that drive their children less then 2 miles to school do not allow their children to walk without adult supervision.
• Researchers suggest that SRTS programs consider convenience and time constraints by providing ways for children to walk to school supervised with someone other then a parent.
McDonald, Noreen C. and Aalborg, Annette E. “Why Parents Drive Children to School.” Journal of the American Planning Association. 75.3 (2009): 331-342.
“Policy Statement – Pedestrian Safety” (2009)
• Approximately 900 pediatric pedestrians younger than 19 years are killed each year.
• Each year, 51,000 children are injured as pedestrians.
• This policy statement published by the American Academy of Pediatrics supports community- and school- based strategies that minimize a child’s exposure to traffic, especially high-speed, high-volume traffic.
• The American Academy of Pediatrics makes 10 recommendations to create safe pedestrian environments for children to enable greater amounts of walking and physical activity, including; adult supervision coupled with pedestrian education and environmental modification.
Agran, Phyllis and Weiss, Jeffery C. “Policy Statement – Pedestrian Safety.” American Academy of Pediatrics. 124.2 (2009): 801-813.
“Why Don’t More Children Walk to School?” (2008)
• Only 14% of students aged 5-14 years usually walk to school.
• The most frequently reported barrier to walking to school is distance.
• For students that live within 1 mile of school, implementation of effective pedestrian interventions can reduce the traffic dangers that prevent children from walking to school.
Beck, Laurie F. and Greenspan, Arlene I. “Why Don’t More Children Walk to School?”Journal of Safety Research. 39.5 (2008): 449-52.
CDC Childhood Injury Report: Patterns of Unintentional Injuries among 0 -19 Year Olds in the United States, 2000-2006. (2008)
• Transportation-related injuries represented 66% of the unintentional injury deaths among children 0 to 19 years of age.
• Pedestrian injuries represented 8% of the unintentional injury deaths among children 0 to 19 years of age.
• Transportation-related injuries accounted for 15% of the nonfatal injuries among children 0 to 19 years of age.
• Pedal cyclist injuries accounted for 4% of the nonfatal injuries among children 0 to 19 years of age.
Borse, Nagesh N., Gilchrist, Julie, Dellinger, Ann M., Rudd, Rose A., Ballesteros, Michael F. and Sleet, David A. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. CDC Childhood Injury Report: Patterns of Unintentional Injuries among 0 -19 Year Olds in the United States, 2000-2006. Atlanta (GA); 2008.
“Safe Routes to School Safety and Mobility Analysis” (2007)
• The purpose of this report is to evaluate the effectiveness of the SRTS program in reducing crashes, injuries and fatalities involving children in the vicinity of the projects, the impact of the program on levels of walking and bicycling to school, and the safety benefits of the program in comparison with other highway safety programs.
• Evaluation results report an increase in walking and bicycling to and from school from 10%-200% depending on the source of information (direct observation vs. parent estimates).
• California reports an overall decline in the number of child pedestrians/bicyclists injured in Safe Routes to School program areas.
• SRTS projects saw a similar decline in the actual numbers of child pedestrian/bicyclist injuries as the control areas and across California. However, when factoring in the increase in walking and bicycling in the SRTS projects and increased exposure to risk, the SRTS program showed a decreased rate of injuries and a net benefit in terms of safety for affected students. The magnitude of the safety benefit ranged from 0 to 49% depending on the increase in the walking/bicycling rate.
• Cost-benefit comparisons performed by Caltrans resulted in a cost per collision reduction ranging between $40,397 and $282,779.
• Improvements in traffic congestion and air quality near school are also considered beneficial but difficult to include in a cost-benefit evaluation.
Orenstein, Marla R., Gutierrez, Nicole, Rice, Thomas M., Cooper, Jill F. and Ragland, David R. "Safe Routes to School Safety and Mobility Analysis.” UC Berkeley Traffic Safety Center. (April 1, 2007). Paper UCB-TSC-RR-2007-1.
“An Examination of the Environmental Attributes Associated with Pedestrian-Vehicular Crashes Near Public Schools” (2007)
• This paper examines pedestrian–vehicular crashes in the vicinity of public schools, the severity of injuries sustained, and their relationship to the physical and social attributes near the schools.
• Results show that the presence of a driveway or turning bay on the school entrance decreases both crash occurrence and injury severity.
• The presence of recreational facilities on the school site is positively associated with crash occurrence and injury severity of crashes.
• Findings related to neighborhood characteristics are mixed but the significant variables – transit access, commercial access, and population density – are generally associated with increased pedestrian demand and should be interpreted with care.
• Researchers state that the results of this study are relevant for Safe Routes to School projects.
Clifton, Kelly J. and Kreamer-Fults, Kandice. “An Examination of the Environmental Attributes Associated with Pedestrian-Vehicular Crashes Near Public Schools.” Accident Analysis & Prevention. 39.4 (2007): 708-715.
“Traffic Safety and Safe Routes to School: Synthesizing the Empirical Evidence.” (2007)
• This paper examines existing empirical data on the known behaviors that lead to crashes involving children and the effects of 10 safety countermeasures incorporated by Safe Routes to School programs.
• This paper identifies the safety benefits associated with countermeasures and identifies areas for future research.
Dumbaugh, Eric and Frank, Lawrence. “Traffic Safety and Safe Routes to School: Synthesizing the Empirical Evidence.” Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board. (2009): 89-97.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Traffic Safety Facts 2007 Data, Bicyclists and Other Cyclists
• The 698 bicyclist deaths in 2007 accounted for 2 percent of all traffic fatalities during the year
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Traffic Safety Facts 2007 Data, Bicyclists and Other Cyclists DOT HS 810 986.
“Aggressive Traffic Enforcement: A Simple and Effective Injury Prevention Program” (2006)
• This study investigates whether an aggressive traffic violation enforcement program could reduce motor vehicle crashes (MVCs), injury collisions, fatalities, and fatalities related to speed, and decrease injury severity in crash victims treated at the trauma center.
• A vigorous enforcement program was established in Fresno, California. Data on citations, collisions, fatal collisions, and fatalities related to speed, as well as injury severity from the trauma registry, were collected for the year before program onset (2002), during the first year (2003), and after full implementation (2004).
• Results report a significant increase in citations issued, with marked decreases in motor vehicle crashes, injury collisions, fatalities, and fatalities related to speed.
• This study implies that traffic enforcement is a simple and easily implemented injury prevention program with immediate benefit.
Davis, James W., Bennink, Lynn D., Pepper, David R., Parks, Steven N., Lemaster, Deborah M., and Townsend, Richard N. “Aggressive Traffic Enforcement: A Simple and Effective Injury Prevention Program.” The Journal of Trauma, Injury, Infection, and Critical Care. 60.5 (2006): 972-977.
“California’s Safe Routes to School Program: Impacts on Walking, Bicycling, and Pedestrian Safety” (2005)
• This study evaluates and assesses 10 Safe Routes to School traffic improvement projects in terms of expected outcomes for pedestrian and bicycle safety as well as for amount of walking.
• Upon the completion of thorough data collection and analysis, this study recommends considering the following when planning and funding projects:
o Projects that would fill sidewalk gaps near schools with moderate to high amounts of walking should be supported.
o Supported projects should include traffic control devices to regulate yielding at intersections where large volumes of vehicle and pedestrian traffic intersect
o Construction funding along may be insufficient for schools with low levels of walking or bicycle travel. Implementation of SR2S may be more effective if construction is coupled with education campaigns to encourage student to walk or bicycle to school
o Schools should be encouraged to leverage fund for traffic improvements by providing education that encourages students to walk and bicycle safely to and from school.
Boarnet, Marlon G., Day, Kristen, Anderson, Craig L., McMillan, Tracy and Alfonso, Mariela. “California’s Safe Routes to School Program: Impacts on Walking, Bicycling, and Pedestrian Safety.” Journal of the American Planning Association. 71.12 (2005): 301-317.
“A Review of Evidence-Based Traffic Engineering Measures Designed to Reduce Pedestrian-Motor Vehicle Crashes” (2003)
• This review uses the Transportation Research Information Services database to identify studies on engineering to reduce speed, separate pedestrians from vehicles, and increase visibility of pedestrians.
• Single-lane roundabouts, sidewalks, exclusive pedestrian signal phasing, pedestrian refuge islands, and increased intensity of roadway lighting yield the most effective increase in pedestrian safety.
• Results report that modifications of the built environment can substantially reduce the risk of pedestrian-vehicle crashes.
• More research is needed in the field of traffic engineering measures and effects on pedestrian safety.
Retting, Richard A., Ferguson, Susan A., and McCartt, Anne T. “A Review of Evidence-Based Traffic Engineering Measures Designed to Reduce Pedestrian-Motor Vehicle Crashes.” American Journal of Public Health. 93.9 (2003):1456-1463.
“Safety in Numbers: More Walkers and Bicyclists, Safer Walking and Bicycling” (2003)
• This study examines the relationship between the number of people walking or bicycling and the frequency of collisions between motorists and walkers or bicyclists.
• Results report that the likelihood that a person walking or bicycling will be hit by a motorist varies inversely with the amount of bicycling or walking. This pattern is consistent across communities of varying size, varying cities and countries and across time periods.
• A motorist is less likely to collide with a person walking and bicycling if more people walk or bicycle.
• An individual’s risk while walking in a community with twice as much walking will reduce to 66%.
• This implies that policies increasing the number of people walking and bicycling appear to be an effective route to improve the safely of people walking and bicycling.
Jacobsen, Peter Lyndon. “Safety in Numbers: More Walkers and Bicyclists, Safer Walking and Bicycling.” Injury Prevention. 9.3 (2003):205-209.
“Promoting Safe Walking and Cycling to Improve Public Health: Lessons from the Netherlands and Germany” (2003)
• Walking and cycling are dangerous ways to get around American cities. Walking and cycling can be made safer, demonstrated by the lower fatality and injury rates in the Netherlands and Germany.
• Benefits of safer cities include reduced risk of death and injury from walking and cycling, providing valuable exercise options, mobility, independence and even fun.
• This study urges Americans to address the safety issue by public campaigns emphasizing the direct impacts on individuals, their families, and their friends
Pucher, John and Dijkstra, Lewis. “Promoting Safe Walking and Cycling to Improve Public Health: Lessons From The Netherlands and Germany.” Public Health Matters. 93.9 (2003): 1509-1516.
Motor Vehicle and Roadway Factors in Pedestrian and Bicyclists Injuries: An Examination Based on Emergency Department Data” (1999)
• This study analyzed information on 2558 persons treated for injured incurred while bicycling or walking from eight hospital emergency departments in California, New York, and North Carolina.
• Results report that over 70% of the reported bicycle injury events and 64% of the reported pedestrian events did not involve a motor vehicle.
• 31% of the bicyclists and 53% of the pedestrians injured were in non-roadway locations such as sidewalks, parking lots, or off-road trails.
• Researchers suggest increased bicycle and pedestrian safety education as well as improving the conditions of the sidewalks for pedestrians and bicyclists to decrease injury rates.
Stutts, Jane C., and Hunter, William W. “Motor Vehicle and Roadway Factors in Pedestrian and Bicyclists Injuries: An Examination Based on Emergency Department Data.” Accident Analysis and Prevention. 31.5 (1999): 505-514.
“Vehicle Travel Speeds and the Incidence of Fatal Pedestrian Crashes” (1997)
• This study aims to estimate the likely effect of reduced travel speeds on the incidence of pedestrian fatalities in Adelaide, Australia.
• A scenario in which the speed was reduced from 60 to 50 km/hr suggests a 32% reduction in fatalities and 10% of fatal accidents being avoided altogether.
• The results of the study predict that a small reduction in traveling speed is likely to result in large reductions of impact speed in pedestrian collisions, often to the extent of collision prevention.
Anderson, R., McLean, A., Farmer, M., Lee, B., and Brooks, C. “Vehicle Travel Speeds and the Incidence of Fatal Pedestrian Crashes.” Accident Analysis and Prevention. 29.5 (1997): 667-674.
|
