Pedestrians

Are Traffic Safety Rules and Experience Sufficient to Make Children Safe Pedestrians?

Rouse, J
Smith, R
Sessions, M
Combs, T
Rodriguez, D
Sisiopiku, V
Schwebel, DC
2015

Pedestrian injury is among the top causes of death in North American children ages 5-12 (NCIPC, 2014). Research documents a wide range of factors that contribute to child pedestrian injury risk, but many contributing factors remain unknown and unevaluated. This study considered two such factors: institution of safety rules by parents and children’s experience crossing streets. We hypothesized both presence of parental rules about traffic safety and greater child pedestrian experience would be associated with safer pedestrian behavior in children.

Teaching Pedestrian Safety in Virtual Reality: A Community-University Collaboration

Johnston, A
Sisiopiku, V
Rodriguez, DA
Combs, T
Emeira, M
Severson, J
Schwebel, DC
2015

In 2012 the US pedestrian fatality rate increased 6%, with 4,743 deaths occurring that year, equivalent to almost 13 fatalities per day and more than one every two hours. Children aged 5-9 years accounted for 22% of pedestrian fatalities (NHTSA, 2012). Studies suggest young children often negotiate dangerous street environments when travelling unsupervised by adults to and from school (Martin, Lee, & Lowry, 2007) so not surprisingly, community-based initiatives like Walking School Bus and Safe Routes to School are flourishing. A major limitation of such programs, however, is they...

The Influence of Self-efficacy and Perceived Safety in Neighborhood on Children’s Frequency of Walking to/from School

Shen
Sisiopiku, V
Rodriguez, DA
Combs, T
Godbole, M
Schwebel, DC
2015

Walking is among the common transportation methods utilized by children to commute between home and school. Previous research indicates children’s intrapsychic characteristics such as self-efficacy play an important role in their decision to walk to/from school. Few studies have addressed the role of parent self-efficacy in these decisions. Furthermore, environmental factors such as neighborhood safety have mixed effects on children’s decision to walk to/from school

Associations Between Self-Efficacy and Children's Pedestrian Safety Following Training

Wells, H
Rouse, J
Johnston, A
Sisiopiku, V
Rodriguez, D
Combs, T
Schwebel, DC
2015

Pedestrian injury is a leading cause of unintentional pediatric death. Hundreds of deaths related to pedestrian injuries occur every year in children under 18. Virtual reality interventions to teach children safe pedestrian behavior have shown success. Increasing self-efficacy is consistently related to the induction and maintenance of behavior change following a variety of interventions. In children, self-efficacy is associated with intervention-driven changes in health and academic behaviors. Self-efficacy is also linked to child and adolescent pedestrian engagement, with children...

Planning Workshop - Seminar Series

Argote-Cabanero, Juan
Camel, Madonna
Hernandez, Maribel
2016

The University of California Center on Economic Competitiveness in Transportation (UCCONNECT) together with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) organized four seminars in areas of interest to the Division of Transportation Planning (DOTP). UCCONNECT and DOTP collaborated to identify topics and speakers within the consortium who could present their latest research findings on the selected areas. Each session in the series consisted of a 1-2 hour presentation followed by a Q&A discussion moderated by an expert in the field. The title of the first event in the...

Transit Oriented Development and Commercial Gentrification: Exploring the Linkages

Chapple, Karen
Loukaitou-Sideris, Anastasia
Gonzalez, Silvia R.
Kadin, Dov
Poirer, Joseph
2018

As central cities in California continue their renaissance, commercial gentrification is often identified by residents as a concern. For many, commercial gentrification means the intrusion of new businesses that force out a favorite food shop or a longstanding retail store because of higher rents. For others, it means an influx of hip cafés, trendy retail boutiques, and gourmet fast food restaurants - places that change the fabric of their familiar neighborhood, for better or for worse. For many merchants, commercial gentrification can have implications for economic survival, as increased...

Heightening Walking above its Pedestrian Status: Walking and Travel Behavior in California

Blumenberg, Evelyn
2016

People walk a lot—to walk pets, to exercise and recreate, and to access public transit and local shops. Walk trips begin and end almost every journey, even trips made by automobile. Data from the current California Household Travel Survey (CHTS) show that walking occurs more than trips by both transit and bicycle, making it the second most common travel mode in California. Yet outside of select case studies in specific metropolitan areas, we know very little about walking behavior in California. An improved understanding of the determinants of walking will aid efforts to reduce driving and...

A Safe System Approach to Pedestrian High Injury Network Development in Oakland, California

Chen, Angie
2024

As jurisdictions update their High Injury Networks, discrepancies between the initial and updated HINs are to be expected. However, this lack of stability and consistency can negatively impact the prioritization of limited resources. In order to mitigate known issues with crash data underreporting and statistical biases, I examined strategies for utilizing data on underlying roadway characteristics to augment traditional collision analysis. Using the City of Oakland as a case study city, I assessed the stability of the pedestrian High Injury Network across two consecutive five-year periods...

Transportation Network Companies Might Be Pulling Riders from Public Transit, but This Could Change

Shaheen, Susan, PhD
Martin, Elliot, PhD
Stocker, Adam
2023

Transportation Network Companies (TNCs, also known as ridehailing and ridesourcing) have expanded across California over the past decade and changed the way people travel. Using a smartphone, travelers can quickly summon a vehicle from almost anywhere and know what the estimated wait time, travel time, and cost will be before stepping into the vehicle. While TNCs are clearly addressing an unmet need for travelers, their growing popularity has raised a number of policy questions, including if TNCs are shifting people away from public transit and other travel modes (e.g., carshare, walking,...

Where the Crosswalk Ends: Mapping Crosswalk Coverage via Satellite Imagery in San Francisco

Moran, Marcel E.
2022

Marked crosswalks are the primary means of safeguarding pedestrian travel at intersections in American cities. In the face of decades-high pedestrian fatalities nationwide, the provision of adequate cross walks is highly salient. Though, how they are spatially distributed across an entire city, and vary by neighborhood, has drawn little academic scrutiny. Given that, this study utilizes satellite imagery to map the presence of marked crosswalks throughout San Francisco, a dense, walkable city that has struggled to reach its pedestrian-safety goals. For the first time, this allows for a...