Safety

Strategies for Reducing Pedestrian and Bicyclist Injury at the Corridor Level

Grembek, Offer
Zhang, Yuanyuan
Yavari, Afsaneh
Yang, Zhao
Ragland, David
2013

A systemic approach for identifying potential safety countermeasures and implementing them across groups of locations sharing the same risk characteristics has been developed for pedestrian-vehicle collisions. This study was funded by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to develop methods for identifying sites where there is potential for significant reductions in pedestrian and bicyclist injury. Data collected between 1998 and 2007 from a 16.5-mile section of San Pablo Avenue (SR 123) in the San Francisco East Bay was used as the study area. A database containing all...

Pedestrian Safety Improvement Program

Grembek, Offer
Bosman, Crakg
Bigham, John M.
Fine, Sara
Griswold, Julia B.
Medury, Aditya
Sanders, Rebecca L.
Schneider, Robert J.
Yavari, Afsaneh
Zhang, Yuanyuan
Ragland, David R.
2014

The Pedestrian Safety Improvement Program is an effort of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to identify and address systemic problems with regard to pedestrian safety in California, with the long-term goal of substantially reducing pedestrian fatalities and injuries in California. The efforts and findings presented in this report reflect the work of a team of experts in transportation engineering, transportation planning, public health, geographic information systems, and urban design from the UC Berkeley Safe Transportation Research & Education Center.

Compliance, Congestion, and Social Equity: Tackling Critical Evacuation Challenges through the Sharing Economy, Joint Choice Modeling, and Regret Minimization

Wong, Stephen D.
2020

Evacuations are a primary transportation strategy to protect populations from natural and humanmade disasters. Recent evacuations, particularly from hurricanes and wildfires, have exposed three critical evacuation challenges: 1) persistent evacuation non-compliance to mandatory evacuation orders; 2) poor transportation response, leading to heavy congestion, slow evacuation clearance times, and high evacuee risk; and 3) minimal attention in ensuring all populations, especially those most vulnerable, have transportation and shelter. With ongoing climate change and increasing land development...

Understanding Evacuee Behavior: A Case Study of Hurricane Irma

Wong, Stephen
Shaheen, Susan, PhD
Walker, Joan, PhD
2018

In September 2017, Hurricane Irma prompted one of the largest evacuations in U.S. history of over six million people. This mass movement of people, particularly in Florida, required considerable amounts of public resources and infrastructure to ensure the safety of all evacuees in both transportation and sheltering. Given the extent of the disaster and the evacuation, Hurricane Irma is an opportunity to add to the growing knowledge of evacuee behavior and the factors that influence a number of complex choices that individuals make before, during, and after a disaster. At the same time,...

Improving California’s Bay Area Rapid Transit District Connectivity and Access with Segway Human Transporter and Other Low-Speed Mobility Devices

Shaheen, Susan
Rodier, Caroline
Eaken, Amanda
2005

To evaluate the potential for low-speed modes to improve transit access, the EasyConnect field test will offer shared-use Segway Human Transporters (HT), electric bicycles, and bicycles linked to a Bay Area Rapid Transit District station and surrounding employment centers in California. Because of safety concerns, research was conducted to understand the risks associated with these modes and potential risk factors. A review of the safety literature indicates that user error is the major cause of low speed mode crashes, and significant risk factors are poor surface conditions and...

Going My Way? Understanding Curb Management and Incentive Policies to Increase Pooling Service Use and Public Transit Linkages in the San Francisco Bay Area

Darling, Wesley
Broader, Jacquelyn
Cohen, Adam
Shaheen, Susan, PhD
2023

Despite lower user costs, only 20% to 40% of transportation network company (TNC) users select a pooled, or shared, ride option. Why are existing TNC users not selecting the pooled option or using TNCs to connect to public transit, and what role do built environment features and incentives play in their decision? This study explores the factors that influence TNC user decisions through a multi-method approach comprising photovoice small group discussions and a workshop. Between March 2021 and May 2021, 15 San Francisco Bay Area TNC users shared photographs they took of TNC pick-up...

Bikesharing in Europe, the Americas, and Asia: Past, Present and Future

Shaheen, Susan A.
Guzman, Stacey
Zhang, Hua
2010

Growing concerns over global motorization and climate change have led to increasing interest in sustainable transportation alternatives, such as bikesharing (the shared use of a bicycle fleet). Since 1965, bikesharing has grown across the globe on four continents including: Europe, North America, South America, and Asia (including Australia). Today, there are approximately 100 bikesharing programs operating in an estimated 125 cities around the world with over 139,300 bicycles. Bikesharing’s evolution is categorized into three generations: 1) White Bikes (or Free Bike Systems); 2) Coin-...

Bridging the Gap Between Evacuations and the Sharing Economy

Wong, Steven D.
Walker, Joan L.
Shaheen, Susan A.
2020

This paper examines the opportunities for addressing evacuations by leveraging the sharing economy. To support this research, we use a mixed-method approach employing archival research of sharing economy actions, 24 high-ranking expert interviews, and a survey of individuals impacted by Hurricane Irma in 2017 (n=645). Using these data, we contribute to the literature in four key ways. First, we summarize sharing economy company actions in 30 U.S. disasters. Second, we discuss results from 24 expert interviews on 11 sharing economy benefits (ranging from resource redundancy to positive...

Virtual Commercial Vehicle Compliance Stations: A Review of Legal and Institutional Issues

Rodier, Caroline J.
Shaheen, Susan A.
Cavanagh, Ellen
2006

In the past five years, commercial vehicle travel has increased 60 percent on California’s highways, without a corresponding increase in compliance inspection station capacity or enforcement officers. Commercial vehicles that do not comply with regulations impose significant public costs including, for example, pavement and structure damage to roads and catastrophic crashes. In response to these problems, the California Department of Transportation is investigating the potential application of detection and communication technology in virtual compliance stations (VCS) to cost-effectively...