Paper Details

TRB 91st Annual Meeting (January 22-26, 2012)

Event Number:	653
Event Title:	Planning for Pedestrians
Event Date:	Jan 24 2012 7:30PM- 9:30PM
Event Location:	Marriott, Salon 2
Event Description:
Event Agenda:

The Built Environment and Incidence of Pedestrian and Cyclist Crashes (12-1542)

This study applied negative binomial regressions to understand how the characteristics of the built environment may affect the incidence of crashes involving pedestrians and cyclists. Arterial thoroughfares, big box stores, and strip commercial uses were all associated with increased risk for pedestrians and cyclists alike. Unlike earlier studies on pedestrian and cyclist crash risk, however, this study hypothesized that it was the configuration of commercial and retail uses that mattered, rather than the uses themselves. To test this, this study included a variable indicating the number of pedestrian-scaled retail uses in a community in the models. And indeed, while strip commercial uses and big box stores were a safety problem, this variable had a negative, though statistically-insignificant effect on crash incidence, suggesting that road users were modifying their behavior in these environments in a manner that prevented these crashes from occurring. Further, while earlier studies have asserted that population density was a risk factor for pedestrians and cyclists, this study found it to have a positive but weak effect on total pedestrian crashes, and no statistically-meaningful effect on pedestrian killed-or-severely-injured (KSI) crashes, nor on total or KSI crashes involving cyclists. Finally, this study found that while four-leg intersections were associated with increased numbers of pedestrian and cyclist crashes, 3-leg intersections had no effect, or even a negative effect, on crash incidence involving pedestrians and cyclists. This finding suggests that 3-leg intersections may be a desirable means for increasing local street connectivity for pedestrians and cyclists without simultaneously increasing their exposure to traffic related crashes, injuries, or deaths.

Authors
     Dumbaugh, Eric , Florida Atlantic University
     Li, Wenhao , Texas A&M University
     Joh, Kenneth , Texas A&M University