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Bicycles/Pedestrians

Safety Toolbox: Problem identification

Examples

Following are examples of projects that involved detailed pedestrian and bicyclist-involved collision analyses:

Annual reporting using PD Data


Bicyclist and pedestrian collision analysis, 2002-2003, City of San Jose. To collect data, San Jose manually reviewed Traffic Collision Reports (TCR) completed by public safety officers at the collision scene. Though more labor intensive than obtaining summary collision information from the California Highway Patrol's (CHP) Statewide Integrated Traffic Reporting System (SWITRS) database, manually reviewing TCR's served the following two purposes: avoided the one-year delay in obtaining data from SWITRS; and allowed analysis of additional information in TCR's that is not included in SWITRS. Collisions were mapped using Crossroads and Intersection Magic standard software.

Findings:

  • Bike-Motorist collisions
    • Bicyclists were more often at fault (71% v. 29%)
    • Most common Bicyclist violation: Wrong Way Riding (46%)
    • Most common Motorist violation: Failure to Yield, Left or Right Turn (48%)
  • Ped-Motorist collisions
    • Motorist were more often at fault (53% v. 47%)
    • Most common Pedestrian violation: Jaywalking (73%)
    • Most common Motorist violation: Failure to Yield, Left or Right Turn (50%)
  • Collisions were not concentrated at a specific location
    • No single intersection or location accounted for more than 1% of collisions
  • Citywide walking and bicycling trip counts are needed to establish collision rates
  • TCR's did not always contain adequate information to draw conclusions about fault or roadway conditions

Annual reporting using hospital data

The biannual San Francisco Profile of Injury (Profile) uses public data sources, such as death data from the Office of Health Information and Research at the California Department of Health Services and hospital discharge data from the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD), to report all fatalities and hospitalizations due to unintentional or intentional injuries in San Francisco County in a one-year (or sometimes two-year) period. It demonstrates that, by combining existing data sources, a more comprehensive understanding of major injury mechanisms can be developed. With numerous maps, tables and graphs, the Profile is a good resource for pedestrian and bicycle collision data and injury data for San Francisco County. The data from the Profile has often been used by local public agencies and community organizations to design new prevention and intervention efforts as well as to evaluate the success of existing programs. Furthermore, it can be used as a model for similar efforts in other counties or on a statewide level.

The first chapter of the 2004 Profile focuses on motor vehicle and traffic-related (MVT) injuries and presents data on the MVT injury problem in a variety of ways:

  • A demonstration of the number of vehicles in San Francisco as an example of the density of traffic;
  • Graphs drawing upon data from SWITRS and hospital discharge record systems;
  • Maps indicating where MVT injuries are occurring throughout the city;
  • Costs associated with MVT injury.
The San Francisco Profile of Injury is a joint effort of the San Francisco Injury Center and the San Francisco Department of Public Health. It is free to the public and available on the websites of both organizations. The San Francisco Profile of Injury is available online at http://www.surgery.ucsf.edu/sfic/profile05.pdf.

Pedestrian master planning

The City of Oakland's Pedestrian Master Plan was adopted as part of the Land Use and Transportation Element of the General Plan. The Plan had five goals:

  • Safety: Create a street environment that strives to ensure pedestrian and safety
  • Access: Develop an environment throughout the City, with priority routes to school and transit, that enables pedestrians to travel freely and safely.
  • Streetscaping: Provides pedestrians facilities and promote land use that enhances public spaces and neighborhood commercial district.
  • Education: Educate citizens, community groups, business associations and developers on the safety and health and civic benefits of walkable communities.
  • Implementation: Integrate pedestrian considerations based on federal guidelines into projects, policies, and City’s planning process.

Highlights from the Plan include a Pedestrian Network that incorporates Safe Routes to School, Safe Routes to Transit, and a Downtown Pedestrian District.  The Plan also includes policy direction and a section on Design Elements. The Design Elements chapter describes Sidewalk Guidelines, Crossing Treatments, and Traffic Calming measures.  It does not present prescriptive standards but presents best practices and available measures, in order to allow engineers and other city staff flexibility in determining the appropriate treatment for various conditions. See Chapter 2, Existing Conditions, for a detailed collision analysis.

For additional information: Oakland Pedestrian Master Plan.

Bicycle master planning

MTC's 2001 Regional Bicycle Plan contains ten years (1990-2000) of historical bicycle collision data in the Bay Area. Collision data was used to conduct a Safety Analysis of the Nine Bay Area Counties by MTC Superdistrict. The primary source of collision data was SWITRS. The data on bicycle trip and bicycle miles traveled were generated using MTC's Travel Demand Model. Data were extracted from the 1998 Validation Model Run, which was in turn based on US Census Data and the 1995 Bay Area Travel Survey.

In the Safety Analysis, Figures 1 through 3 compare the average annual injury rates within the 34 superdistricts in the Bay Area over ten years. Figure 1 uses collisions per 100,000 bicycle trips; Figure 2 uses collision per bicycle miles traveled; and Figure 3 uses collisions per capita. The three maps show simiar high collision rate areas.

For additional information: MTC's 2001 Regional Bicycle Plan.

Institutional planning

MTC's Regional Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety Technical Assistance Program (Safety TAP) was a pilot program aimed at institutionalizing pedestrian and bicyclist considerations into city policies and practices by 1) creating a portion of this Toolbox to increase public agency awareness and 2) developing a comprehensive, multidisciplinary pedestrian and bicyclist safety program that was specifically tailored to the needs, resources, and priorities within the participating jurisdictions.

Pilot agencies included Fremont, Napa, Santa Rosa, and Sunnyvale. The Program began with the formation of a working group, which consisted of various city staff from the planning, public works, police, and parks and recreation departments. For each agency, deliverables included:

  • Comprehensive collision analysis and findings;
  • Summary of existing programs, policies, and procedures relating to pedestrian and bicyclist safety;
  • Detailed list of recommended and prioritized safety initiatives; and
  • Evaluation of high-incidence locations.

For more information: SafetyTAP Program Summary (~1.3 Mb).