scholarly journals A New Pedestrian Crossing Level of Service (PCLOS) Method for Promoting Safe Pedestrian Crossing in Urban Areas

Author(s):  
Tufail Ahmed ◽  
Mehdi Moeinaddini ◽  
Meshal Almoshaogeh ◽  
Arshad Jamal ◽  
Imran Nawaz ◽  
...  

Crosswalks are critical locations in the urban transport network that need to be designed carefully as pedestrians are directly exposed to vehicular traffic. Although various methods are available to evaluate the level of service (LOS) at pedestrian crossings, pedestrian crossing facilities are frequently ignored in assessing crosswalk conditions. This study attempts to provide a comprehensive framework for evaluating crosswalks based on several essential indicators adopted from different guidelines. A new pedestrian crossing level of service (PCLOS) method is introduced in this research, with an aimto promote safe and sustainable operations at such locations. The new PCLOS employs an analytical point system to compare existing street crossing conditions to the guidelines’ standards, taking into account the scores and coefficients of the indicators. The quantitative scores and coefficients of indicators are assigned based on field observations and respondent opinions. The method was tested to evaluate four pedestrian crosswalks in the city of Putrajaya, Malaysia. A total of 17 indicators were selected for the study after a comprehensive literature review. Survey results show that the provision of a zebra crossing was the most critical indicator at the pedestrian crossings, while drainage near crosswalks was regarded as the least important. Four indicators had a coefficient value above 4, indicating that these are very critical pedestrian crossing facilities and significantly impact the calculation of LOS for pedestrian crossings. Four crosswalks were evaluated using the proposed method in Putrajaya, Malaysia. The crosswalk at the Ministry of Domestic Trade Putrajaya got the “PCLOS A”. In contrast, the midblock crossing in front of the Putrajaya Corporation was graded “PCLOS C”. While the remaining two crosswalks were graded as “PCLOS B” crosswalks. Based on the assigned PCLOS grade, the proposed method could also assist in identifying current design and operation issues in existing pedestrian crossings and providing sound policy recommendations for improvements to ensure pedestrian safety.

Author(s):  
John S. Miller ◽  
Jeremy A. Bigelow ◽  
Nicholas J. Garber

Unlike the case with airport terminals or the central business district, the quality of suburban pedestrian facilities is most likely affected less by congestion and more by safety, the walking environment, and aesthetics. Because the Highway Capacity Manual does not explicitly capture such factors when measuring pedestrian level of service (LOS), researchers have proposed innovative rating scales that do. These scales use either measurable characteristics, such as walkway width, median openings, and signalization parameters, or user perceptions, such as continuity and convenience, to rate a pedestrian facility. Unfortunately, the results of these scales are not always easy to interpret. For example, in a scaling system for pedestrian facilities in which a raised curb median counts 6 points and a blinking pedestrian-crossing signal counts 3 points, the developers of the scale believed that the median would be twice as valuable to pedestrians as the crossing signal. But would pedestrians agree? A scaling system was developed for pedestrian LOS and calibrated using visualization (computer-aided modeling techniques consisting of still shots and animations). Subjects’ perceived ratings of a pedestrian facility after they viewed still pictures and animations of the facility were compared with the computed rating of the facility from an LOS scale. The chief value of this method is that it helps ensure that pedestrian crossing needs are systematically considered and that engineers, planners, and the public agree on the calibration of a pedestrian LOS scale. The methodology is also applicable in urban areas where pedestrian needs beyond physical capacity are to be explicitly considered. The approach is original in that visualization as a simulation and data analysis tool was used to calibrate a pedestrian LOS scale.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 2751-2755

walking is considered as one of the most important modes of transportation in India. But it is observed that the facilities for the pedestrians are ignored during design, planning and maintenance stage. But these days due to increase in population in urban areas, traffic congestion has become a major problem for safe pedestrian crossing. It is necessary to objectively quantify how well roadways accommodate pedestrian travel. Estimation of pedestrian level of service (PLOS) is the most common approach to assess quality of operations of pedestrian facilities. Due to more urbanisation and also large distance between the successive intersections people are forced to cross at their respective midblock. This paper aims in understanding pedestrian characteristics or pedestrian behaviour which is a fundamental in pedestrian planning process and finding the level of service for the pedestrians (PLOS) at selected signalised midblock. Pedestrian data required was collected using video graphic technique during two peak hours in a day at Kukatpally and Nizampet signalised midblocks in Hyderabad city. The factors considered for the calculation of PLOS are their delay, crossing time, speed, density and volume of pedestrians. Greenshields’s macroscopic model was used to resolve important parameters like free speed (vf ) and jam density (kj ) by plotting their respective graphs. Finally, regression analysis is carried in R software to calculate pedestrian LOS using the above factors considered. Clustering technique is used to obtain the LOS scores for the collected pedestrian data. LOS calculated from model outputs is compared with the values in Indo HCM 2017.


Author(s):  
José van

Platformization affects the entire urban transport sector, effectively blurring the division between private and public transport modalities; existing public–private arrangements have started to shift as a result. This chapter analyzes and discusses the emergence of a platform ecology for urban transport, focusing on two central public values: the quality of urban transport and the organization of labor and workers’ rights. Using the prism of platform mechanisms, it analyzes how the sector of urban transport is changing societal organization in various urban areas across the world. Datafication has allowed numerous new actors to offer their bike-, car-, or ride-sharing services online; selection mechanisms help match old and new complementors with passengers. Similarly, new connective platforms are emerging, most prominently transport network companies such as Uber and Lyft that offer public and private transport options, as well as new platforms offering integrated transport services, often referred to as “mobility as a service.”


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 2308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Can Bıyık

The smart city transport concept is viewed as a future vision aiming to undertake investigations on the urban planning process and to construct policy-pathways for achieving future targets. Therefore, this paper sets out three visions for the year 2035 which bring about a radical change in the level of green transport systems (often called walking, cycling, and public transport) in Turkish urban areas. A participatory visioning technique was structured according to a three-stage technique: (i) Extensive online comprehensive survey, in which potential transport measures were researched for their relevance in promoting smart transport systems in future Turkish urban areas; (ii) semi-structured interviews, where transport strategy suggestions were developed in the context of the possible imaginary urban areas and their associated contextual description of the imaginary urban areas for each vision; (iii) participatory workshops, where an innovative method was developed to explore various creative future choices and alternatives. Overall, this paper indicates that the content of the future smart transport visions was reasonable, but such visions need a considerable degree of consensus and radical approaches for tackling them. The findings offer invaluable insights to researchers inquiring about the smart transport field, and policy-makers considering applying those into practice in their local urban areas.


Author(s):  
Ramanujan Jagannathan ◽  
Joe G. Bared

Although concepts of the continuous flow intersection (CFI) have been around for approximately four decades, minimal or no literature describing studies that have analyzed pedestrian traffic performance at these intersections is available. Several studies have reported on the qualitative and quantitative benefits for the vehicular traffic performance of CFIs in comparison with the benefits for the vehicular traffic performance of conventional intersections but have provided minimal or no discussion about pedestrian traffic performance. As a novel intersection design, many important considerations are required to design pedestrian accesses and crossings at CFIs without compromising pedestrian safety and vehicular traffic performance. In this paper, the design methodologies for providing pedestrian access and related pedestrian signal timings are discussed. Modeling was conducted on three typical geometries for CFIs with base signal timings optimized for vehicular traffic performance. The results indicate an acceptable pedestrian level of service of B or C on the basis of the average delay per stop experienced by any pedestrian for pedestrian crossings at the typical CFI geometries modeled. All pedestrians served at the CFIs are accommodated within two cycles for a typical signal cycle length ranging from 60 to 100 s.


Author(s):  
Dmitriy Ya. Rozhko

In urban areas, the transport sector is one of the main sources of significant energy consumption and carbon emissions. Although diesel and gasoline are still the main sources of energy used in urban transport, more and more attention is now being paid to alternative and transitional sources of energy, as they are renewable and have less negative impact on the environment. However, the successful use of alternative energy sources can be hindered by various technical, economic and political factors. This article discusses the latest literature on alternative and transitional energy sources in order to understand the possibility of their use in urban transport at present, as well as the possibility of introducing these sources in the future


2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 15-21
Author(s):  
Yugendar Poojari ◽  
E. Prashanth ◽  
D. Divya ◽  
M. Kalyani

Abstract In general, pedestrians want to cross a road at a mid-block section instead of intersections because it is the shortest route. According to an Indian scenario, most of the crosswalks in urban areas are not signalised and controlled. In this study, the crossing behaviour of pedestrians in terms of speed at a midblock section was studied by considering several parameters. Statistical tests such as ANOVA and Pearson correlation tests were performed in order to know the effect of parameters on the crossing speed of a pedestrian. The pedestrian’s age and gender, crossing type, pattern, time, number of stops, number of two wheelers, three wheelers, light and heavy commercial vehicles, and groups significantly affect their crossing speed. A multiple linear regression model was developed by considering the most significant parameters. The mean absolute percentage error, root mean square error, and R2 values were calculated to validate the models.


Author(s):  
L. Ros-McDonnell ◽  
M.V. De-la-Fuente ◽  
D. Ros-McDonnell ◽  
M. Cardós

<p>The European Union, its member states and local authorities have been working for long time on the design of solutions for future sustainable mobility. The promotion of a sustainable and affordable urban transport contemplates the bicycle as a mean of transport. The reasons for analysing the cycling mobility in urban areas, has its origin in the confrontation with motorized vehicles, as a sustainable response to the environment. In this context of sustainable mobility, the research team has studied the use of bicycles in Mediterranean cities, specifically in coastal tourist areas.  The present work shows the development of a mobility index oriented to the bicycle, transport that competes with the private vehicle. By means of a survey methodology, the research group proceeded to collect field data and the subsequent analysis of them, for the development of a mobility index adapted to bicycle mobility, and with possibilities to adapt to urban environments.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-13
Author(s):  
Jelena Simićević ◽  
Vladimir Molan ◽  
Nada Milosavljević

Sustainable parking management in central urban areas typically involves implementation of restrictive parking measures. Discouraged by parking measures users seek for an alternative option. Some of them self-initiatively found a way not to completely abandon driving: they drive and park outside the central area and reach the final destination by public transport. This travel pattern is known as “informal Park-and-Ride“ (PnR), and should be estimated as relatively positive because the critical “last mile” is travelled by public transport. As PnR demand grows, policy-makers should consider its formalisation and integration into the urban transport policy. This paper aims to identify informal PnR users in Belgrade and to investigate their motives, requests and preferences towards this option. The findings should be of importance when planning and developing formal PnR sites, which can largely increase user willingness to accept restrictive parking measures, i.e. to adopt more sustainable travel behaviour.


2019 ◽  
Vol 296 ◽  
pp. 01006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana AL- Nabulsi ◽  
Khair Jadaan

It is now well established that crash occurrences at roadway segments or intersections are associated with a large variety of factors. Safety Performance Functions (SPF) are statistical models developed to predict crash frequencies for various design variables. In Jordan, almost half of all road crashes occur at intersections, mostly in urban areas. There is a significant number of roundabouts throughout Amman which is increasing without evaluating their safety performance. To assess safety benefits of this kind of intersections, transportation professionals need the powerful statistical tool; the SPF. This study aims to develop SPFs for roundabouts in Amman. The models consider the crash frequency, traffic volume and geometric features of all the studied 20 roundabouts. The developed SPFs were statistically significant (R^2 = 0.91) .The findings of the study revealed that crash frequency has a strong relation with the AADT, roundabout entry angle-degrees, entry path radius, splitter radius, pedestrian crossing structure, inscribed diameter, central diameter, circulating width, entry width, number of circle legs. The developed SPFs are evaluated through a comparison with others from developed countries.


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