research >>pedestrian safety >>san francisco pedsafe
completed
A joint endeavor between the Traffic Safety Center and San Francisco Department of Parking and Traffic, the study focused on seven of the highest pedestrian injury-prone zones in San Francisco and involved six key steps:
- Developing a comprehensive crash picture of the city as a whole,
- Conducting a zone analysis to determine areas of greatest interest for this study's purposes,
- Conducting a crash analysis utilizing the Pedestrian and Bicycle Crash Analysis Tool (PBCAT),
- Conducting observations at intersections within the study zones,
- Reviewing available countermeasures, both traditional and "intelligent,"
- Developing recommendations and a countermeasure plan.
This study presented an opportunity for the City of San Francisco to initiate a citywide pedestrian master plan, identifying and characterizing "hot spot zones" (neighborhoods or districts) that should be highest priority for intensive study. This zoning analysis considers the concentration of pedestrian injuries most amenable to prevention and also the resources available.
Potential engineering countermeasures include curb extensions, speed humps or tables, more visible signs and crosswalks, Americans with Disability Act (ADA) improvements, median island improvements, roadway lighting, infra-red pedestrian detection, pedestrian countdown signals, and flashing in-pavement crosswalk lights. Engineering countermeasures will be integrated with outreach and education.
in progress
The Traffic Safety Center and SFDPT are currently undertaking evaluations of ITS countermeasures already implemented at numerous intersections in San Francisco, as part of Phase II of this study. Countermeasures evaluated include the pedestrian scramble device and pedestrian countdown signals.
TSC Resources
"Evaluation of Countermeasures: A Study on the Effect of Impactable Yield Signs Installed at Intersections in San Francisco." TSC Research Report. April 2007.
"Toward 'Healthier' (Safer) Pedestrianism: Four-Year San Francisco PedSafe Project Now in Evaluation Phase." TSC Newsletter. Winter 2005-2006.
"An Intensive Pedestrian Safety Engineering Study Using Computerized Crash Analysis." Ragland, DR. Markowitz, F. MacLeod, KE. TSC Research Report. 2003.