Related Links

"Pedestrian/Bicycle Safety in a SMART Corridor," description of the research project on the TSC Web site.
 

"The Risks and Needs of Pedestrians in/around Multi-modal Corridors" (.ppt) PowerPoint Presentation made June 27, 2003 by TSC Director David Ragland.
 

East Bay Smart Corridors Program home page

 
Ride the Rapid, an AC Transit Web page describing the Rapid Bus in the San Pablo SMART Corridor, with video.

Walk & Roll California 2005, home page of the Ventura, CA, Walk & Roll Conference.

San Pablo SMART Corridor Designs for Multiple Mode Users
 

Gains in moving people more swiftly and efficiently on arterials and similarly busy surface streets through corridor-wide traffic and transit coordination are now within reach, by they can come at the expense of pedestrian and bicyclist safety, unless safety-enhancing countermeasures are in place.  

The UC Berkeley Traffic Safety Center (TSC) is helping develop such countermeasures in the San Pablo Avenue SMART Corridor in the San Francisco East Bay. It is part of the East Bay SMART Corridors Program, which is intended to more efficiently manage the flow of transit vehicles, cars, trucks, and emergency services vehicles by means of coordinated use of intelligent technologies such as wireless communications, dynamic message signs, traffic cameras, and dynamic signal controls.   

(Click on map to go to larger view.) The TSC has carried out observations and analysis of interactions between motorized and non-motorized users in the 20-mile corridor, which runs from the foot of the Bay Bridge in Oakland through six cities to Hercules in the north corridor. The TSC is also assessing potential steps to reduce conflicts when they occur.  
 

How Much Speed Kills  

As vehicles move at greater speeds, they become much more dangerous in crashes. For example, some 95 percent of pedestrians struck by a vehicle traveling 20 miles per hour will survive. (For children and the elderly, the numbers are worse because they are more likely to suffer serious injuries—because of their size, in the case of children, and frailty, in the case of the old.) However, when a person is hit by a vehicle moving at 50 miles per hour, the survival rate is nearly zero.

Under contract with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), TSC researchers started by making an assessment of the existing knowledge about pedestrian safety measures in high-volume traffic corridors with an eye to presenting an outreach program targeting affected municipalities and other stakeholders. Information included studies by the Federal Highway Administration, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and the 2004 pedestrian design guide issued under the auspices of the Americans with Disabilities Act.  

Next, researchers used California Highway Patrol crash data and GIS-based zone analysis to identify areas of high rates of conflicts between motorized traffic and pedestrian and bicycle users in a three-quarter-mile proximity to San Pablo.
 

Conflicts as Stand-Ins for Collisions

Of the 1,000 total yearly traffic injuries in the municipalities through which the corridor passes, some 70 to 80 were suffered by pedestrians and bicyclists. Due to such low numbers for actual injuries, researchers used conflicts as proxies for crashes. A conflict can be a pedestrian running or changing direction to avoid getting hit, or a vehicle stopping suddenly or swerving to miss a pedestrian.

Fifteen key zones were identified based on clusters of crashes, share of total crashes, the mix of business and residential traffic, and the neighborhood fabric. Researchers then made field observations to collect data for each of the zones.  

They measured characteristics such as:

• traffic lanes,
• ADA curb ramps,
• the presence of on-street parking,
• pedestrian volumes,
• crossing violations,
• crossing patterns,
• vehicle conflicts with pedestrians,
• vehicle volumes and turning.  

Field observations occurred during afternoon peak hours between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., the high point of vehicle, pedestrian, and bike traffic. Observation days were narrowed down to Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays–the heart of the work week. 

With two observers staged at opposite corners of key intersections, researchers took 30 minutes to an hour to assess each major variable, including recording all pedestrians walking toward and away from them, noting their direction and crosswalk used, as well as all crossing movements, including directions crossed. They also observed and recorded all bicycle traffic. Halfway through their shift, observers switched positions to get a fresh perspective. 

Researchers formulated a series of countermeasures specific to the 15 zones, which included steps like improving signage and repaving crosswalks to denote pedestrian areas more vividly. Upgrades to curb ramps, bus stop placement adjustments, and changes to the programming of the SMART corridor technologies were also implemented. 

The TSC has presented its findings to Caltrans and various representatives from cities along the corridor. Researchers also shared their knowledge at the Walk & Roll pedestrian safety conference in Ventura, CA, in September 2005.

Related Links

"Pedestrian/Bicycle Safety in a SMART Corridor," description of the research project on the TSC Web site.
 

"The Risks and Needs of Pedestrians in/around Multi-modal Corridors" (.ppt) PowerPoint Presentation made June 27, 2003 by TSC Director David Ragland.
 

East Bay Smart Corridors Program home page

 
Ride the Rapid, an AC Transit Web page describing the Rapid Bus in the San Pablo SMART Corridor, with video.

Walk & Roll California 2005, home page of the Ventura, CA, Walk & Roll Conference.

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