The Role of Built Environment Factors in Enhancing Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety: A Comprehensive Analysis and Policy Implications

Despite recent efforts to achieve Vision Zero goals in the US, pedestrian and bicycle safety remains a critical issue that affects individuals and communities. The nearly 7,500 pedestrian fatalities annually and 1,000 bicyclist fatalities in recent years highlight the urgent need to address pedestrian and bicycle safety, particularly in urban, suburban, and rural areas where exposure and crash risks are changing. Importantly, the role of the built environment in such environments is changing, e.g., disadvantaged communities, including low-income neighborhoods and communities of color, can face higher risks of pedestrian and bicycle crashes. This project focuses on enhancing pedestrian and bicycle safety through a detailed analysis of built environment features at the neighborhood level. As part of the Center for Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety's (CPBS's) priorities on Safety Design, it explores the impact of factors such as street lighting, sidewalk availability, road design, land use type/mix and density, and traffic volumes on pedestrian and bicycle crashes frequency and their severity. With a particular emphasis on safety disparities in disadvantaged communities, this research utilizes a variety of data sources, including police crash reports, census data, land use data, and the Equitable Transportation Community (ETC) data released by the US Department of Transportation. The study will employ both traditional statistical methods and explainable artificial intelligence techniques to analyze data and identify key contributors to crash occurrences and severity during both day and night. Techniques such as negative binomial models, ordered probability models and structural equation modeling will be used to understand the direct and indirect effects of built environment features on safety outcomes. Special attention will be given to the role of these features in disadvantaged communities, aiming to develop targeted interventions to reduce crashes and enhance pedestrian and bicycle safety.

• Record URL:
  • https://www.pedbikesafety.org/projects/24utk02

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $126000
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3552348336

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  Department of Transportation
  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  Department of Transportation
  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  Stearns, Amy

• Performing Organizations:

  University of Tennessee, Knoxville

  Center for Transportation Research (CTR)
  Knoxville, TN  United States  37996
• Principal Investigators:

  Appleyard, Bruce

  Khattak, Asad

• Start Date: 20240601
• Expected Completion Date: 20250531
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Built environment; Crash analysis; Crash severity; Cyclists; Pedestrian safety; Pedestrian vehicle crashes; Transportation disadvantaged persons
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01923818
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Center for Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety
• Contract Numbers: 69A3552348336
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Jul 8 2024 2:54PM