Safe Routes to Transit Bus Rapid Transit Planning Guide – Pedestrian Section Overview

SSAFEAFE RROUTESOUTES TTOO TTRANSITRANSIT BUS RAPID TRANSIT PLANNING GUIDE PEDESTRIAN SECTION Nelson Nygaard DPOTVMUJOHBTTPDJBUFT Table of Contents Overview .......................................................................................................................................... 1 Safety ................................................................................................................................................ 2 Key Elements of Pedestrian Safety ...........................................................................................2 Crash History ...............................................................................................................................9 Accessibility .................................................................................................................................. 19 Physical Conditions ..................................................................................................................19 Quality of Pedestrian Experience ............................................................................................21 Connectivity .................................................................................................................................. 25 Service Zones .............................................................................................................................25 Origin-Destination Analysis ....................................................................................................26 Transfers to Other Modes .........................................................................................................28 Appendix A: Documenting Sidewalk Conditions Appendix B: Kansas City Pedestrian Level of Service Model Appendix C: Pedestrian Bridges And Underpasses Page Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates i Overview SAFE ROUTES TO TRANSIT BUS RAPID TRANSIT PLANNING GUIDE – PEDESTRIAN SECTION OVERVIEW A key component of BRT station planning and Project Description design is the provision of safe, convenient and Nelson\Nygaard was retained by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy to update secure access for pedestrians. If it is not con- and augment the Pedestrian Section in their Bus venient or easy to walk to a BRT station, then Rapid Transit Planning Guide. The work was customers will be discouraged from using the funded by the Hewlett Foundation and the Global system. Providing a Safe Route To Transit is Environment Facility and builds on a previous guide therefore the fi rst step to providing an eff ective prepared by the German Technical Assistance BRT service. Agency (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit). The work was completed in While station locations vary by the origin/des- 2005 with Michael King as the principal author. tination pa erns to be served and local context, fundamental pedestrian factors remain con- These qualities are not necessarily always stant. These include: mutually compatible. For example, the most • Safety direct path may involve confl icts with vehicles, • Security or the safest route may imply climbing over a • Directness diffi cult set of stairs. The design challenge is to • Ease of entry fi nd a balance that optimises the total package • Comfort of characteristics. • Aesthetics This section of the manual addresses pedestrian A “safe” pedestrian pathway implies that pedes- access and safety. It is organized according to trians are well protected from road hazards such three broad themes: safety, accessibility and as vehicles. “Security” refers to providing an connectivity. Safety pertains not only to that of environment where pedestrians are not suscep- pedestrians, but to an environment where mo- tible to robberies or other crimes. “Directness” tor vehicles do not dominate the urban fabric. involves a pedestrian path that minimises the For example there are “safe” places with few distance travelled. “Ease of entry” means that vehicle-pedestrian confl icts, but only because the walk to the station does not involve oner- there are few pedestrians. Accessibility covers ous actions, such as walking up steep inclines. not only issues for those in wheelchairs, but “Comfort” refers to the quality of the pathway also the general possibility of walking to the and provisions for protection from inclement BRT station. Security is placed here, for if the weather, such as sun, wind and rain. “Aesthet- route is not secure, then it is not accessible, even ics” imply that the walking environment is with wheelchair ramps. Connectivity discusses pleasing to the eye and inspires a person to use the placement of the station within the larger public transport. context of the urban fabric. Page Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates 1 SAFETY The notion of safe foot access to a BRT station Pedestrian Injury Severity Risk is not an isolated concern. Many of the issues are neither pedestrian nor transit specifi c. The 100% following elements have universally applica- 90% 80% tion yet can be tailored to this subject. 70% Fatality 60% 50% Injury Key Elements of Pedestrian Safety 40% Uninjured There are four fundamental aspects to pedes- 30% 20% trian safety along any roadway. These concepts 10% 0% are equally applicable to pedestrian safety 32 48 64 80 when accessing BRT stations, as the physical vehicle speed, km/h factors (sidewalks, etc.) and decision-makers Relationship between Vehicle Speed and Pedestrian Safety Source: “Traffi c Calming Regulations: Traffi c Advisory Leafl et 7/93,” United (walkers, drivers, etc.) are constant in both Kingdom Department of Transport Traffi c Advisory Unit, 1993. environments. • Vehicle volumes. A street with zero cars • Vehicle speed. Vehicle speed is a sig- will see zero auto-related incidents. Every nifi cant determinant of crash severity additional vehicle in the street increases and o en dictates the nature of a street the possibility of incident with pedestri- including the pedestrian facilities and ac- ans, until there are so many vehicles that cessibility to a transit station. As vehicle people are banned, like on an expressway. speed increases, so does risk to drivers and pedestrians; increased speeds must be accompanied by additional physical Vehicle Speeds separations or impact protections. As speed decreases, the range of design The chart above graphs the relationship be- options expands and so do options for tween vehicle speed and pedestrian injuries in pedestrians. the United Kingdom. At 32 km/h about 30% • Pedestrian ‘exposure’ risk. This is the of collisions between vehicles and pedestrians time that pedestrians are exposed to the dangers of traffi c and has both a tem- will result in no injury, 65% in injuries and 5% poral and spatial component. Crossing in fatalities. As vehicle speed increases the distances and crossing times at signal- ized intersections are key indicators of percentage of fatalities increases so that by 80 exposure risk, as are vehicle speeds and km/h all vehicle-pedestrian incidents result in volumes. To reduce the exposure risk is to increase safety. death. • Driver predictability. Drivers are con- Research from Australia suggests that a drop in stantly making decisions, and if other speed of only 5 km/h will result in: street users - drivers, cyclists, or pedestrians - can be er predict those decisions, • 10% fewer pedestrian fatalities; and then the street will be safer. Reducing 1 the number of options for drivers at key • 20% less severe pedestrian injuries. junctures is the simplest way to improve driver predictability. 1 McLean, A. et al., “Vehicle Travel Speeds and the Incidence of Fatal Pedestrian Safe Routes to Transit — BRT Planning Guide — BRT to Transit Routes Safe • Collisions,” Accident Analysis and Prevention, Vol. 29, No. 5, 1997. Page July 2005 2 Safety There are many techniques to lower traffic • Restructuring roads to meander around speeds, from speed limits, to police enforce- trees, planters and medians forces drivers to slow down ment, to physical design. This section highlights • Changing from smooth to rough road a few of the design options, commonly known surfaces or using rumble strips alerts as verkehrsberuhigung, or traffi c calming. drivers to a change in roadway condi- • Speed humps (‘sleeping policemen’) tion slow drivers The images below show techniques which de- • Raised crosswalks slow drivers at desig- crease speeds thereby creating safer conditions nated pedestrian crossing location for pedestrians. • Curb extensions at intersections force slower turning speeds 2 3 Courtesy Michael Ronkin Courtesy Michael Ronkin Curb extension – before Curb extension – after Salem, Oregon (USA) Salem, Oregon (USA) Michael King Michael King Raised crosswalk Speed humps Morogoro Road, Tanzania Mexico City, Mexico Michael King Michael King Fence in center of road keeps drivers from Roundabout swinging wide during turn Cape Town, South Africa Shenzhen, China Page Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates 3 Exposure Risk There are a few fundamental ways to reduce exposure risk when crossing the street. One can narrow the roadway, either overall or at specifi c points via curb extensions. One can add traffi c or pedestrian refuge islands where people may wait in the middle of a two-way street. One can alter traffi c signals to provide additional time for pedestrians to cross the street. One can alter the phasing of a traffi c signal to give walkers priority over vehicles, such as prohibiting right turns on red signals or using an exclusive phase for pedestrians and cyclists

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