U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000
http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/pedforum/
Each year pedestrian fatalities comprise about 11 percent of all traffic fatalities and there are approximately 4,600 pedestrian deaths. Another 70,000 pedestrians are injured in roadway crashes annually. Safety is important for all roadway users, and FHWA has established a goal of reducing pedestrian fatalities and injuries by 10 percent by the year 2008. Pedestrian safety improvements depend on an integrated approach that involves the 5 E's: Engineering, Enforcement, Encouragement, Education, and Evaluation. The Pedestrian Forum highlights recent pedestrian safety activities related to the 5 E's that will help reach FHWA's safety goals and save lives.
FHWA awarded a $1.6 million grant to the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center (HSRC) for the National Bicycle and Pedestrian Information Clearinghouse, which is a well-known source of pedestrian and bicycle information and technical assistance in the U.S.
The clearinghouse (funded through the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users), makes available various technical and interactive tools for practitioners to use in receiving customized guidance on their local issues and concerns. In addition, the clearinghouse responds to over 6,000 questions a year by phone and e-mail.
The clearinghouse website, www.pedbikeinfo.org, recently received an award for best planning, design, and development from Planetizen, a planning and development network.
For more information, visit www.pedbikeinfo.org or contact John Fegan at 202-366-5007 or john.fegan@dot.gov
On September 18, New Jersey Governor Corzine announced a five-year, $74 million initiative comprised of a three-pronged approach (engineering, education and enforcement) to improve pedestrian safety. Agencies involved include the New Jersey Department of Transportation, The Department of Law and Public Safety and the Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC).
The initiative includes a pedestrian safety corridor program, Safe Routes to School Program, Safe Streets to Transit Program, pedestrian planning improvements, additional enforcement of pedestrian safety laws, distribution of grants for enforcement of pedestrian laws, establishment of a statewide traffic safety taskforce and a drivers education curriculum, and incorporation of pedestrian safety laws into MVC tests. For more information, look at this link: http://www.state.nj.us/governor/news/news/approved/20060918.html
The FHWA Safety Office just awarded a contract to VHB to develop two information guides to be completed in September 2007. The first will pertain to ways to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety in residential areas. The second information guide will describe ways to improve safety for walkers and bicyclists at transit locations such as at bus stops, and subway entrances.
Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety Information for Communities will offer guidance on the many pedestrian and bicyclist safety problems that occur in residential areas. For some areas, community associations govern neighborhoods, and association members may not know how to address a traffic safety problem. Safety problems may be caused by cut-through traffic, speeding drivers, and lack of pedestrian or bicycle facilities.
In addition, homeowners and community members in general are unlikely to know how to identify or how to solve pedestrian and bicyclist safety problems in their neighborhoods. Because of these factors, FHWA and NHTSA are developing a user-friendly packet of information for communities that would help educate them about pedestrian and bicycle safety matters and help them solve their safety issues, working within the guidelines/framework provided by documents such as the MUTCD, the AASHTO Guide for the Planning Design and Operation of Pedestrian Facilities, and other current design manuals and best practices guides that may be applicable.
The Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety Information Guide for Transit Locations will follow a similar format to the Community guide. The guide will highlight good design practices for locating bus stops, describe the different jurisdictional issues involved at and around transit stops and how transit and transportation agencies should work together, discuss how enforcement programs can help improve safety, and provide pedestrian and bicyclist safety education information. Other issues will include safety at railroad grade crossings. The guide will be designed so that it would be useful to local transit agencies as well as to the general public.
For more information, contact Tamara Redmon at tamara.redmon@dot.gov
PBCAT Version 2.0 can be downloaded from http://www.walkinginfo.org/pc/pbcat.htm
PBCAT Version 2.0:
PBCAT is a software application designed to assist State and local pedestrian and bicycle coordinators, planners, and engineers in addressing pedestrian and bicyclist crash problems. PBCAT accomplishes this goal by enabling users to develop a database of details associated with crashes between motor vehicles and pedestrians or bicyclists. One of these details is crash type, which describes the pre-crash actions of the involved parties. After developing a database of crash information, PBCAT users can analyze the data, produce reports, and select countermeasures to address the problems identified by the software.
Version 2.0 Features
PBCAT Version 2.0 includes significant improvements in functionality and has an enhanced design that makes the software easier to use. Some features of PBCAT Version 2.0 include:
User-friendly environment and improved navigation–PBCAT Version 2.0 operates in a Microsoft® Windows® environment and includes easy-to-use pulldown menus and toolbars.
Form Designer–Users can customize the form for inputting crash data and design it to match the police crash reports used in their community.
Group Crash Typing–An alternative version of crash typing is available for users who do not want the level of detail on crash type offered in PBCAT Version 1.0, which only included the standard version of crash types.
Location Data–Users have the option of recording specific location information, such as approach and travel direction, for pedestrian crashes occurring at intersections.
Crash Reports–PBCAT users can produce single variable and multivariable tables within the application and export the results to Microsoft Excel® for further customization and graphics production.
Countermeasures–PBCAT Version 2.0 provides users with access to detailed descriptions of engineering, education, and enforcement countermeasures that address specific types of crashes. Each countermeasure description includes a purpose, considerations, estimated cost, and real-world case studies.
Expert System Tools–To help users select appropriate countermeasures, PBCAT Version 2.0 includes links to the Web-based Pedestrian Safety Guide and Countermeasure Selection System (PEDSAFE) and the Bicycle countermeasure Selection System (BIKESAFE)
Import/Export Capabilities–The software includes a conversion utility that enables users to import data from PBCAT Version 1.0. In addition, users can export data from PBCAT Version 2.0 in several formats that allow for more sophisticated analyses with other applications, such as Excel and SAS® software.
Information on the Federal Highway Administration University Course on Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation can be obtained at https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/safety/pedbike/06065/
The second edition of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) University Course on Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation, a set of resources designed to provide background materials for an undergraduate or graduate university course on bicycling and walking, is now available from the FHWA. The FHWA distributes this teaching resource to stimulate the development of nationwide university courses on bicycle and pedestrian transportation.
For more information on PBCAT version 2.0 and FHWA University Course on Bicycle and Pedestrian, contact Ann Do at ann.do@dot.gov , or 202-493-3319, or see the latest edition of Public Roads magazine for an article about PBCAT, https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/06jul/04.cfm
Safe Routes to School (SRTS) State Coordinators gathered in Washington, D.C., from July 31 – August 2 for their program's first national meeting. The State Coordinators will oversee the distribution of $612 million over the next five years to fund SRTS programs in the States. Forty-one States and the District of Columbia were represented.
Coordinators discussed program plans, application procedures, evaluation issues, and heard about example programs. The National SRTS Program is administered by FHWA with the assistance of the National Center for Safe Routes to School (NCSRTS), which is led by the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center in partnership with AASHTO, GHSA, ITE, America Walks and Toole Design Group.
For more information, please visit www.saferoutesinfo.org.
Now available online: http://www.trb.org/news/blurb_detail.asp?id=6490
Below is a list of the research project's objectives and key conclusions/recommendations. For technical inquires, please contact Greg Davis, Office of Safety R&D, at 202-493-3367, or greg.davis@dot.gov.
Study One Objective: Evaluate potential for a pavement treatment that would alert pedestrian with visual impairment that vehicles have yielded at roundabout crossings.
Conclusions/Recommendations:
Tested treatment is not appropriate at double-lane roundabout but should be further evaluated for use at single-lane roundabouts.
Study Two Objectives:
Conclusions/Recommendations:
TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) and National Cooperative Highway Research Program have jointly produced and published Improving Pedestrian Safety at Unsignalized Crossings. The product, which can be referred to as TCRP Report 112 or NCHRP Report 562, examines selected engineering treatments to improve safety for pedestrians crossing high-volume and high-speed roadways at unsignalized locations. The report presents the edited final report and Appendix A. TCRP Web-Only Document 30/NCHRP Web-Only Document 91 (Pedestrian Safety at Unsignalized Crossings: Appendices B to O) contains the remaining appendixes of the contractor's final report.
Editors:
Tamara Redmon, tamara.redmon@fhwa.dot.gov
Gabe Rousseau, gabriel.rousseau@fhwa.dot.gov
400 Seventh Street, SW, Room 3407, Washington, DC 20590
