Infrastructure

Evaluation of Traffic Data Obtained via GPS-Enabled Mobile Phones: the Mobile Century Field Experiment

Herrera, Juan C.
Work, Daniel B.
Herring, Ryan
Ban, Xuegang (Jeff)
Bayen, Alexander M.
2009

The growing need of the driving public for accurate traffic information has spurred the deployment of large scale dedicated monitoring infrastructure systems, which mainly consist in the use of inductive loop detectors and video cameras. On-board electronic devices have been proposed as an alternative traffic sensing infrastructure, as they usually provide a cost-effective way to collect traffic data, leveraging existing communication infrastructure such as the cellular phone network. A traffic monitoring system based on GPS-enabled smartphones exploits the extensive coverage provided by...

Dual Influences on Vehicle Speeds in Special-Use Lanes and Policy Implications

Jang, Kitae
Cassidy, Michael J.
2011

Slow speeds in a special-use lane, such as a carpool (HOV) or bus lane, can be due to both high demand for that lane and slow speeds in the adjacent regular-use lane. These dual influences are confirmed from months of data collected from all freeway carpool facilities in the San Francisco Bay Area. Both influences hold for other types of special-use lanes, including bus lanes. New US regulation stipulating that most classes of low-emitting vehicles, or LEVs, be banned from slow-moving carpool lanes. While LEVs invariably constitute only about 1 percent of the freeway traffic demand in the...

Performance Measures for Complete, Green Streets: A Proposal for Urban Arterials in California

Sanders, Rebecca
Macdonald, Elizabeth
Anderson, Alia
2010

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans or “Department”) manages more than 15,000 miles of state highways, ranging in scale and function from local streets to interstate highways. Historically, Caltrans has been governed by the principles of highway engineering, which focus on providing mobility to motorized vehicles. Over the past decade, however, the Department has joined in a national movement to better incorporate non-motorized transportation and community-level outcomes into its transportation decision-making framework, embodied by the approach known as "Complete Streets...

Driver and Pedestrian Behavior at Uncontrolled Crosswalks in the Tahoe Basin Recreation Area

Mitman, Meghan Fehlig
Cooper, Douglas
DuBose, Brooke
2010

For more than thirty years, pedestrian safety studies have considered pedestrian-vehicle collision patterns and pedestrian and driver behavior at marked and unmarked crosswalks at uncontrolled crossings. Recent research in this area conducted by the UC Berkeley Traffic Safety Center [aka SafeTREC] on behalf of Caltrans, and summarized in a 2008 Transportation Research Record paper by Mitman et al., “The Marked Crosswalk Dilemma: Uncovering Some Missing Links in a 35-Year Debate,” was designed to fill key gaps in the literature by analyzing driver/pedestrian behavior and knowledge of right-...

Complete Streets: From Policy to Practice in the San Francisco Bay Area

Pande, Swati, M.S.,MPP
Martinez, Martin MPP
2014

This paper describes how regional funding guidelines can affect local adoption of Complete Streets projects. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), the regional Metropolitan Planning Organization for the nine-county Bay Area region in California, has developed a funding approach called the One Bay Area Grant (OBAG) for the allocation of funds for the 2012-2016 Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) and Surface Transportation Program (STP) across the Bay Area. Each jurisdiction receiving funding through OBAG was required to demonstrate compliance with Complete Streets (CS)...

Pre-hospital Care of Road Traffic Injuries in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Brown, Ted R
Geyer, Judy A
Taghavy, Azita
Mitchell, Brian P
Ragland, David R
2004

In many developing countries, transportation infrastructure development lags behind the tremendous growth in motorization. Road traffic injuries cause enormous morbidity and mortality worldwide, placing heavy burdens on global and national economies. .Underdeveloped transportation infrastructures critical to traffic safety include roadway improvement, occupant protection laws, traffic law enforcement, and emergency medical services (EMS). Highlighting one important aspect of lagging infrastructure, this article focuses on emergency medical services. This research study offers a descriptive...

Bicycle Infrastructure that Extends beyond the Door: examining investments in bicycle-oriented design through a qualitative survey of commercial building owners and tenants

Orrick, Phyllis
Frick, Karen
Ragland, David R
2011

This paper presents the results of a qualitative survey of commercial owners, managers, and occupants in the City of Berkeley who have invested in on-site bicycle facilities such as secure parking, showers, changing rooms, and clothing lockers, what we are calling “bicycle-oriented design” (BOD). The sites represent a selection of building types common in the commercial building stock in U.S. cities.The research is designed to answer three questions about the use of BOD: (1) what were motivations behind the decision to invest in BOD (2) what are the challenges and rewards for investing in...

We All Want the Same Thing Results from a Roadway Design Survey of Pedestrians, Drivers, Bicyclists, and Transit Users in the Bay Areav

Sanders, Rebecca L.
Cooper, Jill F.
2012

Pedestrians, bicyclists, drivers, and public transit users all desire similar roadway design features, at least according to findings from a recent intercept survey of 537 people along a major urban corridor in the San Francisco Bay Area. This research was sponsored by the California Department of Transportation to understand traveler preferences for street design that could increase perceived traffic safety, walkability, and bikability along urban arterials, as well as encourage economic vitality through increased patronage of local businesses. In an open-ended question about street...

Oakland Chinatown Pedestrian Scramble: An Evaluation

Bechtel, Allyson K
MacLeod, Kara E.
Ragland, David R.
2003

In 2002, the City of Oakland, California implemented a scramble signal, at the intersection of 8th Street and Webster Street. Scrambles are a type of traffic signal that give pedestrians exclusive access to an intersection by stopping vehicular traffic on all approaches, allowing pedestrians to cross diagonally or conventionally. The primary objective of this evaluation was to determine whether the installation of the pedestrian scramble at this location increased pedestrian safety. An analysis was conducted of pedestrian-vehicle conflicts and pedestrian violations occurring at the...

Collaboration Math: Enhancing the Effectiveness of Multidisciplinary Collaboration

Cohen, Larry
Aboeleta, Manal
Gantz, Toni
Van Wert, Jennifer
2003

Reducing the toll of traffic-related injuries requires a concerted effort, calling on the resources, commitment and expertise of diverse agencies, professionals and community members. Traffic safety is affected by numerous aspects of community life such as how neighborhoods are designed, how fast cars travel and how safe people feel walking or driving to key destinations. Preventing traffic-related injury is a responsibility shared by many. As evidenced by many federal, state and local efforts, partnerships, coalitions and networks have become common ways to address the incidence of...