Effects of traffic calming measures in different urban areas

Gonzalo-Orden, Hernán; Pérez-Acebo, Heriberto; Unamunzaga, Alaitz Linares; Rojo, Marta

doi:10.1016/j.trpro.2018.10.079

Cited by 34 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Each year, more than 270,000 pedestrians lose their lives on the world's roads, and they constitute two thirds of all road traffic deaths [1]. Despite the reduction of fatalities in European countries in recent years, an increase in fatalities in urban areas has been recorded [2][3][4][5]. As a consequence, traffic engineers and urban planners have increased their focus on vulnerable road users [6][7][8][9][10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Over the years, different systems have been adopted to reduce the risk of vehicle-pedestrian collisions, especially in urban areas. Speed control undulations (SCUs) are traffic-calming units that aim to increase pedestrian safety, as well as reduce noise and pollution from traffic in residential areas.Undulations are usually installed on residential, local, or collector roads; at any rate, these urban roads should not have buses, emergency traffic or, in general, heavy traffic, and should have an administrative speed limit of 20 or 30 km/h [5,17]. A warning sign with an adequate speed limit sign should be installed before an undulation [1,18].…”

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confidence: 99%

“…RPCs could be more suitable also to mitigate the severity of risks associated with powered two-wheelers (PTWs) when approaching intersections due to fast riding habits, although studies on PTW accidents [23,24] stress the need to advance knowledge in this field.A broad range of traffic-calming units have been installed in urban areas recently. Vehicle restrictions, warning signs, gateways, speed tables, median islands, channelization islands, speed humps, rumble strips, mini-circles, roundabouts, special pavements and markings, central hatching, warning signs, radar clocked traffic speeds displayed to drivers, lane narrowing, horizontal shifts, and speed control units such as raised pedestrian crossings, speed bumps, or speed humps [5,25,26] are the most frequently adopted systems. On the other hand, RPCs encourage drivers to yield to pedestrians: Signed and marked facilities provide a continuous route for pedestrians at the same level as the sidewalk.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Undulations are usually installed on residential, local, or collector roads; at any rate, these urban roads should not have buses, emergency traffic or, in general, heavy traffic, and should have an administrative speed limit of 20 or 30 km/h [5,17]. A warning sign with an adequate speed limit sign should be installed before an undulation [1,18].…”

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confidence: 99%

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Raised Pedestrian Crossings: Analysis of Their Characteristics on a Road Network and Geometric Sizing Proposal

Loprencipe¹,

Moretti²,

Pantuso³

et al. 2019

Applied Sciences

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In urban areas traffic-calming strategies and pedestrian friendly measures are often adopted to reduce the adverse impacts of motor vehicles on vulnerable users. This study surveyed 24 raised pedestrian crossings (RPCs) to examine their geometrical and functional characteristics. Geometric characteristics, location, administrative and effective vehicle speed, and the whole-body vibration acceleration induced to vehicle occupants while they are passing over, were considered. In addition to the analysis of the field data, geometrical and functional criteria to design RPCs were carried out. Particularly, two design approaches have been considered. In the first one, RPC provides a designated route across a carriageway raised to the same level, or close to the same level, as the sidewalks that provide access to the pedestrian crossing. In such condition, an RPC is not a traffic-calming device and its design should satisfy geometrical and comfort criteria for designing roads. The results from the surveys demonstrated that less than 10% of RPCs guarantee ride comfort. According to the second design approach, an RPC acts both as a marked pedestrian feature and as a traffic-calming device (i.e., it is trapezoidal in shape with sharp edges). The analysis of the vertical accelerations on vehicle occupants reveal that more than 90% of the surveyed RPCs comply with geometrical and dynamic criteria for speed tables. Extreme variations concerning the observed geometrical characteristics of RPCs and the modelled dynamic performances have been observed: It results in noneffective treatments. Therefore, the results of this study would contribute to providing geometric best practices for overcoming the regulation gap in this subject, and designing RPCs according to international standards. pedestrian infrastructures is increasing [15,16]. Over the years, different systems have been adopted to reduce the risk of vehicle-pedestrian collisions, especially in urban areas. Speed control undulations (SCUs) are traffic-calming units that aim to increase pedestrian safety, as well as reduce noise and pollution from traffic in residential areas.Undulations are usually installed on residential, local, or collector roads; at any rate, these urban roads should not have buses, emergency traffic or, in general, heavy traffic, and should have an administrative speed limit of 20 or 30 km/h [5,17]. A warning sign with an adequate speed limit sign should be installed before an undulation [1,18]. When 15% of traffic exceeds the speed limit by 8-16 km/h the enforcement band is not effective [19], and the road manager could evaluate the installation of SCUs and/or other traffic-calming systems.Raised pedestrian crossings (RPCs) are used in urban areas to increase the walkability of neighborhoods [20] and to reduce the probability of pedestrian injuries and fatalities after a crash, either within specific traffic-calming programs, or more generally within Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans, with increased road safety being one of the main priorities in th...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Raised Pedestrian Crossings: Analysis of Their Characteristics on a Road Network and Geometric Sizing Proposal

Loprencipe¹,

Moretti²,

Pantuso³

et al. 2019

Applied Sciences

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“…Besides, solutions for shortening the length of the pedestrian crossing are also useful for reducing the risk of pedestrian falls caused by the rush to cross the street. Ewert (2012) notes that older pedestrians are afraid of falling, they mostly look to the ground when crossing and as such pay less attention to surrounding traffic. An integrated set of conditions leading to critical conditions for pedestrian traffic at crossings is observed considering the factors listed above.…”

Section: Results and Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of Older Pedestrian Accidents: A Case Study of Lithuania

Jasiūnienė

Čygas

2020

BJRBE

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However, for several decades, Europe has been witnessing demographic ageing. As a result of these changes, a more significant number of elderly road users will be involved in future traffic, and therefore safe mobility management of the older will become an increasingly important issue. Various physical, sensory, and cognitive constraints affecting elderly road users lead to a rise in the likelihood of an accident, which, due to the increased physical vulnerability, cause more serious consequences of road accidents. The findings reported by the authors of an in-depth analysis of accidents for four years have demonstrated that the risk of road fatalities for elderly road users is by one fifth more significant than the average of all age groups, and the pedestrian plays the most critical role in road traffic. To adequately compensate for the observed age-related physiological changes, the authors discuss actions and road safety measures to ensure appropriate conditions for older pedestrians on the streets.

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Effectiveness of road safety interventions: An evidence and gap map

Goel,

Tiwari,

Varghese

et al. 2024

Campbell Systematic Reviews

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BackgroundRoad Traffic injuries (RTI) are among the top ten leading causes of death in the world resulting in 1.35 million deaths every year, about 93% of which occur in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs). Despite several global resolutions to reduce traffic injuries, they have continued to grow in many countries. Many high‐income countries have successfully reduced RTI by using a public health approach and implementing evidence‐based interventions. As many LMICs develop their highway infrastructure, adopting a similar scientific approach towards road safety is crucial. The evidence also needs to be evaluated to assess external validity because measures that have worked in high‐income countries may not translate equally well to other contexts. An evidence gap map for RTI is the first step towards understanding what evidence is available, from where, and the key gaps in knowledge.ObjectivesThe objective of this evidence gap map (EGM) is to identify existing evidence from all effectiveness studies and systematic reviews related to road safety interventions. In addition, the EGM identifies gaps in evidence where new primary studies and systematic reviews could add value. This will help direct future research and discussions based on systematic evidence towards the approaches and interventions which are most effective in the road safety sector. This could enable the generation of evidence for informing policy at global, regional or national levels.Search MethodsThe EGM includes systematic reviews and impact evaluations assessing the effect of interventions for RTI reported in academic databases, organization websites, and grey literature sources. The studies were searched up to December 2019.Selection CriteriaThe interventions were divided into five broad categories: (a) human factors (e.g., enforcement or road user education), (b) road design, infrastructure and traffic control, (c) legal and institutional framework, (d) post‐crash pre‐hospital care, and (e) vehicle factors (except car design for occupant protection) and protective devices. Included studies reported two primary outcomes: fatal crashes and non‐fatal injury crashes; and four intermediate outcomes: change in use of seat belts, change in use of helmets, change in speed, and change in alcohol/drug use. Studies were excluded if they did not report injury or fatality as one of the outcomes.Data Collection and AnalysisThe EGM is presented in the form of a matrix with two primary dimensions: interventions (rows) and outcomes (columns). Additional dimensions are country income groups, region, quality level for systematic reviews, type of study design used (e.g., case‐control), type of road user studied (e.g., pedestrian, cyclists), age groups, and road type. The EGM is available online where the matrix of interventions and outcomes can be filtered by one or more dimensions. The webpage includes a bibliography of the selected studies and titles and abstracts available for preview. Quality appraisal for systematic reviews was conducted using a critical appraisal tool for systematic reviews, AMSTAR 2.Main ResultsThe EGM identified 1859 studies of which 322 were systematic reviews, 7 were protocol studies and 1530 were impact evaluations. Some studies included more than one intervention, outcome, study method, or study region. The studies were distributed among intervention categories as: human factors (n = 771), road design, infrastructure and traffic control (n = 661), legal and institutional framework (n = 424), post‐crash pre‐hospital care (n = 118) and vehicle factors and protective devices (n = 111). Fatal crashes as outcomes were reported in 1414 records and non‐fatal injury crashes in 1252 records. Among the four intermediate outcomes, speed was most commonly reported (n = 298) followed by alcohol (n = 206), use of seatbelts (n = 167), and use of helmets (n = 66). Ninety‐six percent of the studies were reported from high‐income countries (HIC), 4.5% from upper‐middle‐income countries, and only 1.4% from lower‐middle and low‐income countries. There were 25 systematic reviews of high quality, 4 of moderate quality, and 293 of low quality.Authors' ConclusionsThe EGM shows that the distribution of available road safety evidence is skewed across the world. A vast majority of the literature is from HICs. In contrast, only a small fraction of the literature reports on the many LMICs that are fast expanding their road infrastructure, experiencing rapid changes in traffic patterns, and witnessing growth in road injuries. This bias in literature explains why many interventions that are of high importance in the context of LMICs remain poorly studied. Besides, many interventions that have been tested only in HICs may not work equally effectively in LMICs. Another important finding was that a large majority of systematic reviews are of low quality. The scarcity of evidence on many important interventions and lack of good quality evidence‐synthesis have significant implications for future road safety research and practice in LMICs. The EGM presented here will help identify priority areas for researchers, while directing practitioners and policy makers towards proven interventions.

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Effects of traffic calming measures in different urban areas

Cited by 34 publications

References 5 publications

Raised Pedestrian Crossings: Analysis of Their Characteristics on a Road Network and Geometric Sizing Proposal

Raised Pedestrian Crossings: Analysis of Their Characteristics on a Road Network and Geometric Sizing Proposal

Analysis of Older Pedestrian Accidents: A Case Study of Lithuania

Effectiveness of road safety interventions: An evidence and gap map

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