NMDOT Pedestrian Safety on Arterials

The objective of this research is to identify and evaluate strategies for improving pedestrian safety on arterial roadways. This will be accomplished through analyses of countermeasures that were installed on Central Avenue in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Countermeasures will include a BRT system, road diet, and HAWK signals. The research team will analyze changes in crash frequency and crash rates for the BRT and HAWK signals, changes in vehicle speeds for the BRT and road diet, changes in pedestrian behavior for the HAWK signals, and changes to vehicle exposure for the BRT and road diet. The team will consider treatments in different land use and road design contexts so that the findings may be extrapolated to other arterials in other cities across the state, region, and country. The deliverable from this project will be a final report detailing traffic safety best practices for pedestrians and other road users relative to specific countermeasures, land use configurations, and roadway design configurations. The potential implementation of this research is high as this project has developed results that can be used immediately by departments of transportation (DOTs) to avoid pedestrian and other motor vehicle collisions. The exploration of solutions to the recent increase in pedestrian injuries and fatalities provides new knowledge to the field of transportation. This project is a collaborative project with the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) because they are providing cost share for the Center for Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety (CPBS). This NMDOT project will be a Year 2 extension of a project for which the team has already completed Year 1 and will consist of an analysis of APD data regarding alcohol and drug arrests, an analysis of police reports for speeding and turning-related crashes, changes to street lighting along critical corridors and how those changes related to safety outcomes, research into APD's definition of 'Failed to Yield Right of Way', exploration of bi-directional BRT lanes, and investigating crashes involving parked vehicles. Findings will then be applied to state roads across New Mexico and recommendations will be made for project prioritization and design interventions. The expected deliverables are a final report and a policy brief (that will allow for easy interpretation of results by cities, regions, and states). The team will pare the final report into at least three academic papers. The final report, policy brief, and any published papers will be published on the CPBS website and on TRID. The team will also disseminate findings through the social media accounts of CPBS and the PIs. The team will provide the deliverables to NMDOT so they can also share widely.

• Record URL:
  http://www.pedbikesafety.org/23unm01

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $120000
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3552348336

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Center for Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety

  University of New Mexico
  Albuquerque, NM  United States  87131
• Project Managers:

  Melendrez, Carman

  Stearns, Amy

• Performing Organizations:

  University of New Mexico, Albuquerque

  Department of Civil Engineering
  Albuquerque, NM  United States  87131-0001
• Principal Investigators:

  Ferenchak, Nicholas

• Start Date: 20230601
• Expected Completion Date: 20240531
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Arterial highways; Before and after studies; Countermeasures; Crash rates; Highway design; Pedestrian safety; Traffic signals
• Geographic Terms: New Mexico
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01890248
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Center for Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety
• Contract Numbers: 69A3552348336
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Aug 20 2023 3:28PM