1 Cycling Road Safety Audits Paul de Leur, PhD, P.Eng. 9th Annual Interna?onal Conference on Urban Traffic Safety, Banff, 2017
2 Presenta?on Outline 1) Cycling as a Viable Transporta?on Alterna?ve 2) Safely Accommoda?ng Cyclists 3) Road Safety Risk Assessment 4) Edmonton Downtown Bike Network RSA 5) Observa?ons
3 Cycling Cycling / Cycling Demand is Increasing Cri?cal Element in a City s Transporta?on Planning E.g., Edmonton long term plans for bike friendly city (2009) Examina?on of Poten?al Ridership Current and Future Prac?cal U?liza?on of infrastructure
4 Cycling Benefits beyond transporta?on Health Economic Environmental Many cycling benefits but need to recognize road safety risk Vulnerability = Risk
5 Safe Accommoda?on of Cyclists Wide range of facili?es offering very different level of accommoda?on (Safety vs. Mobility)
6 Safe Accommoda?on of Cyclists Many planning, design and opera?on guides available Effec?ve and thorough guidance Aware of limita?ons / applica?on bias Analogous to Modern Roundabout Implementa?on MassDOT FHWA NACTO TAC
7 Road Safety Risk Assessment Most road safety interven?ons / investments target exis?ng safety problems (e.g., a high-crash loca?on) Objec?ve: REDUCE frequency / severity of collisions (Reac)ve) Safe Systems Approach suggests that it is also necessary to target high-risk / low crash loca?ons Objec?ve: PREVENT collisions from occurring (Proac)ve) A Proac?ve Approach is par?cularly important for cyclists and pedestrians (VRUs) Difficult to jus?fy improvements because of the lack of clustering of VRU collisions 9th Annual Interna?onal Conference on Urban Traffic Safety, Banff, 2017
8 Understanding Road Safety Risk The magnitude of the road safety risk is not always clear Road safety risk not not be readily apparent
9 Understanding Road Safety Risk The magnitude of the road safety risk is not always clear Road safety risk not not be readily apparent Viewed differently, road safety risk become more evident
10 Assessing Road Safety Risk Road safety risk is expressed as a func?on of three elements: 1) Exposure: Extent of the opportunity for conflict/collisions No road users = SAFE More road users = LESS SAFE 9th Annual Interna?onal Conference on Urban Traffic Safety, Banff, 2017
11 Assessing Road Safety Risk Road safety risk is expressed as a func?on of three elements: 2) Probability: Likelihood of encountering roadway hazards Greater separa?on = SAFER Less Separa?on = LESS SAFE 9th Annual Interna?onal Conference on Urban Traffic Safety, Banff, 2017
12 Assessing Road Safety Risk Road safety risk is expressed as a func?on of three elements: 3) Consequence: Severity of outcome if hazard is encountered Off-Road Consequence = LOW Risk Off-Road Consequence = HIGH Risk 9th Annual Interna?onal Conference on Urban Traffic Safety, Banff, 2017
13 Risk Elements for Cycling Amount of conflic?ng traffic: vehicles / cyclists / pedestrians Conflict points: Intersec?ons, driveways, access, con?nuity / connec?vity Visibility and Sightlines Parking, street furniture, trees, ligh?ng, Opera?ons / Speed / Behavior vehicle / cyclist 9th Annual Interna?onal Conference on Urban Traffic Safety, Banff, 2017
14 Edmonton Downtown Bike Network Context: Downtown Growth increased conges?on / safety concerns Vision Zero Accommodate VRUs (high % of serious collisions) Edmonton City Council approved construc?on of a 7.1 km bike network for the downtown core Feasibility study completed by Stantec in 2016 Implementa?on by summer 2017
15 Edmonton Downtown Bike Network Feasibility study provided Route assessment and recommenda?ons Design considera?ons / recommenda?ons Available road width Design criteria for bike lanes / travel lanes / parking Intersec?on design / traffic control Opera?onal considera?ons (1-way or 2-way opera?on)(parking)
16 Edmonton Downtown Bike Network Edmonton City staff prepared the designs for the Downtown Bike Network 2-Way Bike Lane System on 2-Way Street System A Road Safety Audit (RSA) was completed on the proposed design to understand the safety impacts for all road users One-Way vs. Two-Way opera?ons for Bike Lanes System-Wide Safety Issues Loca?on-Specific Safety Issues 9th Annual Interna?onal Conference on Urban Traffic Safety, Banff, 2017
17 Downtown Bike Network RSA Results System Wide Issues: Vehicles Backing into Bike Lakes Lek-turning vehicles across bike lanes With high volumes (cars, bikes, peds) With adjacent on-street parking Opera?on of bike boxes Limited storage Right-turn thru bike boxes
18 Downtown Bike Network RSA Results Addi?onal signing for lek-turns across bike lanes Lek-turning traffic across bike lanes at intersec?ons Risk thresholds from design guide may impact opera?ons Dedicated signal phase or leading signal phase required Could lead to high-level of non-compliance / poor driver behavior
19 Downtown Bike Network RSA Results Need for bike detec?on or push bulons for bike actua?on Dynamically respond to cycling and traffic demand to improve opera?onal performance of intersec?on Restricted cross-sec?onal widths for Bike Lanes and Buffer Very minor issue as all cycling facili?es are very close to the recommended design standard
20 Downtown Bike Network RSA Results Poten?al for conflicts between cyclists and pedestrians on the cycling facili?es along 104 Avenue High pedestrian demand due to MacEwan University Campus and transit stops on 104 Avenue High pedestrian demand near Rogers arena will make cycling opera?ons difficult Alternate route proposed
21 Summary / Observa?ons Cycling and cycling infrastructure is cri?cal component to an effec?ve urban transporta?on system The vulnerability of cycling means that it is extremely important to consider the safety of these road users By explicitly evalua?ng road safety risk {Risk = Fn (E, P,C)}, it is possible to iden?fy and priori?ze road safety issues A Cycling RSAs allow for the examina?on of design features that can adversely impact the safety of all road users Cycling RSA for Edmonton s Downtown Bike Network was beneficial as it iden?fied safety issues and suggested mi?ga?on measures to improve safety
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