Pedestrian Safety and Transit Corridors

Abstract

This research examines the relationship between pedestrian accident locations on state-owned facilities (highways and urban arterials) and the presence of riders loading and alighting from bus transit. Many state facilities are important metropolitan transit corridors with large numbers of bus stops users, resulting in increased exposure of pedestrians to traffic and in increased numbers of collisions. The research also examines the association between pedestrian collisions and other travel generators (concentrations of retail activity and housing) as well as environmental conditions (wide roadways, high traffic volumes, and high speed limits).Based on a retrospective sampling approach and logistic regression models, the study shows that bus stop usage is associated with pedestrian collisions along state facilities. Less strong, but significant associations exist between retail location and size, traffic volume, and number of traffic lanes, and locations with high levels of pedestrian-vehicle collisions. The findings suggest that facilities with high numbers of bus riders need to accommodate people walking safely along and across the roadway. They support the development of state DOT programs for multimodal facilities, which integrate travel modes in major regional facilities within local suburban communities and pay specific attention to the role of transit in shaping the demand for nonmotorized travel on the facilities.