Road User Behavior

Investigating the Associations Between Road Network Structure and Non-motorist Accidents

Zhang, Yuanyuan
Bigham, John M.
Ragland, David R.
Chen, Xiaohong
2014

Road networks channel traffic flow and can impact the volume and proximity of walking and bicycling. Therefore, the structure of road networks—the pattern by which roads are connected—can affect the safety of non-motorized road users. To understand the impact of roads’ structural features on pedestrian and bicyclist safety, this study analyzes the associations between road network structure and non-motorist-involved crashes using data from 321 census tracts in Alameda County, California. Average geodesic distance, network betweenness centrality, and an overall clustering coefficient...

Alcohol Consumption and Incidence of Workers' Compensation Claims: A 5-Year Prospective Study of Urban Transit Operators

Ragland, David R.
Krause, Niklas
Greiner, Birgit A.
Holman, Barbara L.
Fisher, June M.
Cunradi, Carol B.
2002

Numerous studies have linked alcohol impairment on the job to occupational injury. Few studies have looked at the association of nonwork drinking and occupational injury. This study examines first workers' compensation claims after a baseline assessment of alcohol consumption and other occupational variables in 1836 transit operators participating in a medical examination for driver's license renewal. A proportional hazard model was used for the analysis.

Individuals with higher alcohol consumption were more likely to be male, have more years of driving, and have a higher job-...

Traffic Volume and Collisions Involving Transit and Nontransit Vehicles

Ragland, David R.
Hundenski, Ronald J.
Holman, Barbara L.
Fisher, June M.
1991

This study reports an analysis of collisions occurring between public transit vehicles operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway System (Muni), the public transit agency for the City of San Francisco, and nontransit vehicles. The analysis, focusing on weekday collisions during 1987, demonstrated a strong association between hourly transit collisions rates and hourly traffic volume. The collision rate varied from 0.01 per 1,000 Muni vehicle-hours of operation during the interval 5 a.m. to 6 a.m., a time of very low traffic...

Automated Assessment of Safety-Critical Dynamics in Multi-modal Transportation Systems

Medury, Aditya
Yu, Mengqiao
Bourdais, Cedric
Grembek, Offer
2016

Recent mobility trends reveal that travel is becoming increasing multi-modal in nature. Given the increase in the emphasis on multi-modal mobility there is a need to efficiently account for the multi-modal safety challenges it introduces. In light of this, it is of immense concern that the corresponding improvements made to traffic safety have not been commensurate across all modes. In this regard, one of the major challenges associated with efficiently designing and planning for a safe multi-modal environment is a limited understanding of multi-modal traffic behavior as explained by...

Estimation of Pedestrian Risk Exposure in Urban Areas : Case studies in the US and in France

Do, Minh-Tan
Grembek, Offer
Cerezo, Veronique
2013
The paper deals with the estimation of pedestrian risk exposure in urban areas. The approach proposed is based, on the one hand, on a spatial analysis technique called Space Syntax that characterizes the street integration - how streets are connected to each other - which gives rise to a natural movement of persons, and on the other hand, on land-use which acts as a multiplier or a divider of the original flows. Street integration is weighted by factors related to land use to better captures the heterogeneity of street-blocks. The method is applied to two radically different urban spaces: the...

Do All Roadway Users Want the Same Things?

Sanders, Rebecca L.
Cooper, Jill F.
2013

This paper presents findings from a recent study on roadway design preferences among pedestrians, drivers, bicyclists, and public transit users along a major urban corridor in the East San Francisco Bay Area. Sponsored by the California DOT, the research focused on exploring design preferences that could increase perceived traffic safety, walkability, bikability, and economic vitality along urban arterials. Results from an intercept survey showed that all user groups desire similar roadway design features along the test corridor, which carries 25,000-30,000 motorists bi-directionally...

Teens and Driving in California: Summary of Research and Best Practices

Bui, Huong
Arnold, Lindsay S.
Cooper, Jill F.
Ragland, David R.
2006

The purpose of this guide is to present the major risk factors associated with teen driving in California and to highlight policy and program strategies that may be influential in reducing risk.

Driver Behavior at Rail Crossings: Cost-Effective Improvements to Increase Driver Safety at Public At-Grade Rail-Highway Crossings in California

Cooper, Douglas L.
Ragland, David R.
2007

This report examines conditions affecting vehicle-train collisions at rail crossings in California, and recommends effective countermeasures and implementation strategies. In doing so, the report helps meet California’s goal of efficiently utilizing state and federal funding available through SAFETEA-LU for increasing the safety at public atgrade rail-highway crossings.

Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Evaluation for the City of Emeryville at Four Intersections

Johnson, Emily S.
Ragland, David R.
Cooper, Jill F.
O'Connor, Terri
2005

The City of Emeryville is small in area (1.2 square miles) and population (7,000), but it is one of the most regionally connected cities in the Bay Area (California). Emeryville is situated at the eastern end of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, contains the intersection of Interstate Highway 80 (I-80) with several regional and other interstate highways, and has extensive transportation access by Amtrak Rail, Alameda County (AC) Transit and heavy cargo facilities at the nearby Port of Oakland. The city has many large employers and several large shopping areas, and the daytime...

The Association Between Health Problems and Driver Status Among Older Adults

MacLeod, Kara E.
Geyer, Judy A.
Satariano, William A.
Ragland, David R.
2004

Many health problems, especially those associated with older age, can have an impact on an individual’s mobility. This paper addresses how specific functional limitations and medical conditions may be associated with driving status, while controlling for age and gender. This paper uses baseline data (N=2025) from a longitudinal survey of adults, ages 55 and older, the Study of Physical Performance and Age-Related Changes in Sonomans (SPPARCS). For the 35 selected medical conditions and functional limitations, this report presents the prevalence, the relative “risk” ratio (i.e., the risk...