News and Events
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Previous items featured in the Center's News section and Previous Seminars (in their own section): (See also Previous Conferences)
May 2008: From the press release issued by the Safe Routes to School National Partnership:
Health Evaluation Consultant Hired for Local School Project/UC Berkeley leads the team on evaluations in 10 states
In each of the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) National Partnership's ten State Network jurisdictions, we are facilitating a SRTS Local School Project at an elementary or middle school. These community-based programs will be led by the State Network Organizer or by a local Technical Service Provider. In order to evaluate the success of the programs from a health perspective, we have received funding from Kaiser Permanente to contract with a Health Evaluation Consultant.
After a nationwide search, we are pleased to announce that the University of California-Berkeley Traffic Safety Center and PPH Partners team has been selected as our Health Evaluation Consultant; they began work in May 2008 and the final report will be completed by December 2009. The team has conducted SRTS evaluations in California, numerous bicycle and pedestrian safety studies, and helped to develop evaluation tools for the National Center for SRTS.
April 24: Kitae Jang Wins ITE "Sustainable Living in the Suburbs" Student Paper Grand Prize.
March 24: "Reducing bike deaths on Bay Area roads/Going green - and going safe," Traffic Safety Center Director David Ragland's Op-Ed in the San Francisco Chronicle....I'm sure every bicyclist in the Bay Area is thinking twice before heading out on rides in the wake of the deaths of two cyclists and injury to one more in a crash with a sheriff's deputy's car on the Peninsula March 9. For those of us, like me, who are involved in traffic safety and efforts to promote more walking and biking, the deaths remind us of the imperative to act on broader issues related to this and other tragedies like it.
As a society, we are working to cope with major and inter-related threats: global warming, the energy crisis, and illness and disability related to inactivity and obesity. You could call these the three horsepersons of the Apocalypse...."
January 18: PDFs of TSC presentations at TRB Annual Meeting January 13-17, 2008: Traffic Safety Center staff presented four papers and five posters at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, in Washington, D.C., the world's largest gathering of transportation professionals and academics.
Courses for Spring 2008: "Pedestrian and Bicycle Transportation," (PDF of course announcement) a course under the auspices of the Department of City and Regional Planning. Pedestrian and Bicycle transportation planning links issues of mobility, access, air quality, global warming, and public health.
"Planning for Traffic Safety and Injury Control" (PDF of course announcement).
TSC Online Newsletter: Volume 4, Number 3: Winter 2007-08
A Tale of Two Cities—and an Island Resort—in Asia: Hazards Grow for Pedestrians and Bicyclists: Walking into the Tsunami: the Need to Balance Sustainability, Multimodalism, and Traffic Safety; A Traffic Safety Experiment in Salinas Valley.
December 19: Sobriety Checkpoint Minigrant Part of DUI Winter Hoilday Crackdown
Rhianna Babka, a graduate student researcher at TSC, has been awarded one of two newly-created annual fellowships by the Easter Seals Project ACTION (ESPA).
"Driver/Pedestrian Understanding and Behavior at Marked and Unmarked Crosswalks:" an extensive study of pedestrian and driver knowledge of right-of-way laws. Several statistically significant differences in marked versus unmarked crosswalks were identified. Includes research and recommendations and analyses of countermeasures to improve pedestrian crosswalk safety. (See also TSC research page on Crosswalks.)
"High Collision Concentration Location: Table C Evaluation and Recommendations:" related to regularly published Caltrans reports, so-called Table C, that are used to screen for and investigate locations within the California State Highway System that have collision frequencies significantly greater than the base or expected numbers when compared to other locations. (See also TSC research page on High-Crash Locations.)
(Originally posted July 2007)
(June 2007)
11th World Conference on Transport Research, on the UC Berkeley campus, June 24 through 28: the Traffic Safety Center coordinated the traffic safety sessions, Track C3. Topics selected for presentation include risk models for intersections and highways, modeling crash data, pedestrian safety, truck safety, human factors in highway safety, and motorcycle safety. (June 2007)
Traffic Safety Center issues report to the Legislature on Safe Routes to School, 2000-2006 (March 2007)
California Bicycle Coalition's 3rd Biennial walk/bike California 2007 Conference, September 11-17, 2007 Submittal deadline: Friday, March 16, 2007. Hosted by the California Bicycle Coalition in association with California Walks. The Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP)'s Professional Development Seminar will be held concurrently.More information here on the conference Web site>>
TSC at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board: Go to the TSC Presentations Page for fuller descriptions and links to the TRB Web Site. Or go here for the full schedule of TSC appearances. (January 2007)
is a professor at U.C. Berkeley who was commissioned by the agency to conduct the $300,000 study, specifically on the safety of High Occupancy Vehicle—or HOV—lanes." (December 2006)
TSC Research Presented at Annual Meeting of American Public Health Association "Bias from the application of unconditional regression models to data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System," Presented by Tom Rice, TSC Research Epidemiologist, and Craig Anderson, Center for Trauma, University of California, Irvine. (December 2006) More>>
TSC's Jill Cooper on CBS Channel 5 Vasco Road Report: speaking about value of new enforcement efforts. Click on photo to see video courtesy CBS Channel 5 (October 2006).
Grant To Fund Increased Enforcement On Vasco Road: The Brentwood and Livermore police departments received a two-year grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety to step up traffic enforcement on Vasco Road, a 15-mile stretch of highway that Contra Costa County Supervisor Gayle Uilkema referred to as "Blood Alley" last week because of its reputation for fatal accidents (October 2006). More>>
TSC Featured in NewsBITS: the Center is the lead item in the Fall 2006 issue of the quarterly online magazine of the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Berkeley. (October 2006). More>>
TSC Featured in New Publication on Traffic Safety for Spanish Speakers Guidelines published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (September 2006)
"Teens and Driving in California": New Publication from the TSC (August 2006)
TSC Sobriety Checkpoint Program Featured On Berkeley Research Web Site. Sponsored Projects Office Spotlights TSC. Go to SPO Spotlight>>
New on the Links Page: WHO Road Safety Legislation Database This database provides information on road safety legislation in countries around the world. Information on countries' lead agencies for road safety is also provided.
Berkeley Crosswalk Survey Go to project summary>>>
Ted Cohn Dies One of the founding faculty members of the Traffic Safety Center and a longtime supporter; researcher and a leading thinker in signal detection theory and design (May 2006). Obituary from Berkeley NewsCenter>>>
TSC Graduate Student Researcher Wins Eisenhower Fellowship Meghan Mitman, a TSC graduate student researcher pursuing dual Master's degrees in City and Regional Planning and Transportation Engineering, was awarded an Eisenhower Fellowship in 2006 (April 2006). More about Mitman's award>>>
Previous Seminars (most recent first)
June 25: "Alameda County Pedestrian and Bicycle Counting Project" (PDF of PPT. slides), Presented by Robert Schneider, TSC GSR, and Lindsay Arnold, TSC Research Associate. Download seminar flyer.
Abstract: With an increasing number of California communities adopting pedestrian and bicycle plans, conducting walking and bicycling safety audits, and emphasizing the need for cost-effective, low-emission transportation options, there is a greater need for pedestrian and bicycle data. In response to this need, the UC Berkeley Traffic Safety Center has gathered counts at 50 intersection locations throughout Alameda County to quantify pedestrian and bicycle activity and gain a more accurate understanding of pedestrian and bicycle crash risk. This pilot study demonstrates data collection and modeling methods that could be applied to California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) roadways statewide. The study has followed a rigorous scientific process, including gathering fine-grained land use and transportation infrastructure data in GIS; selecting representative locations for sample counts; collecting data through manual and automated methods; developing daily, weekly, and seasonal adjustment factors; accounting for differences in daily patterns of pedestrian activity by land use area; and estimating appropriate statistical models.
This research project is being conducted by the UC Berkeley Traffic Safety Center for the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the Alameda County Transportation Improvement Authority.
May 28: "A comprehensive approach to geocoding collisions from the California Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS)," presented by John Bigham, MPH, GSR at the UC Berkeley Traffic Safety Center.
April 15, Noon-1 p.m. Discussion 1-1:30 p.m. Michael Jerrett on "Built Environment Influences on the Development of Obesity in Childhood" in the ITS Harmer E. Davis Transportation Library, 412 McLaughlin Hall.
Wednesday, March 19, Noon,"The Relationship between Vehicle Weight, Size and Safety (and Fuel Economy)" Presented by Tom Wenzel, Technology, Evaluation, Modeling and Assessment Group, Energy Analysis Department, EETD.
Friday, March 7, Noon, Room 601A Wurster Hall, on the UC Berkeley Campus. Dr. Rajiv Bhatia, Director of Occupational & Environmental Health for the San Francisco Department of Public Health, and an assistant clinical professor of medicine at UCSF, speak about "The Struggle for Sustainable Transportation: What Can Public Health Contribute?" Open to the public and free. Download PDF of flyer.
Tuesday, November 27: Noon-1:30, in the Harmer E. Davis Transportation Library, 412 McLaughlin Hall. Understanding Non-Motorized Modes in Asia: Three Case Studies, presented by Allie Thomas, PhD student in City and Regional Planning, and Wendy Tao and Brittany Montgomery, students in the Joint Master of Science/Master of City and Regional Planning in Transportation.TSC takes part in the California Bicycle Coalition's 3rd Biennial walk/bike California Conference, September 11-17, 2007.
"Estimating Pedestrian Accident Exposure (three reports with links in following paragraph):" defining pedestrian exposure and evaluating methods for measuring it within the state of California. 1. "Automated Pedestrian Counting Devices Report"; 2. "Protocol Report; and 3. "Approaches to a Statewide Pedestrian Exposure Database." (March 2007) (See also TSC research page on Pedestrian Exposure.)
Friday, February 23: TSC Director David Ragland Presents the ITS Berkeley Transportation Seminar, "The Role of Driver Behavior in Traffic Collisions." While it is likely true that driver behavior is the most important immediate, or proximal, factor in traffic crashes, there are several important qualifications.
Richard Jackson on the Built Environment "Syndemic" What's good for the planet is good for our children, the pediatrician and adjunct Professor of City and Regional Planning told students and staff during a February Traffic Safety Center Research Seminar. More>>
Traffic Safety Research Seminar Series May 31, 2006, noon to 1:30 pm, ITS Library, 4th Floor, McLaughlin Hall (UC Berkeley campus) The Safety Impacts of Raised Speed Limits on High-Speed Roads Presented by Kara Kockelman, PhD, PE Associate Professor & William J. Murray Jr. Fellow, Department of Civil, Architectural & Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin.