University of Thessaly Department of Civil Engineering Road Safety Audit Tools in Urban Areas Athanasios Galanis Nikolaos Eliou Adjunct Lecturer Professor

Road Safety Audit  Road crashes are caused by various factors:  Roadway Environment (geometry, construction, maintenance, traffic management, weather condition, street lighting etc)  Vehicle (technical characteristics etc)  Road User (physical and mental characteristics, social activity etc)  Human is the weakest link in this system, so the road design should be around human needs.  Road Safety Audits (RSAs) are valuable tools used to evaluate road safety issues and to indentify opportunities for improvement.  RSA is a formal safety performance examination of an existing or future road segment or intersection from an independent, multidisciplinary team. 2

Road Safety Audit  Benefits of RSA or Road Safety Inspection:  Reduces the number and severity of crashes  Examines conditions in detail that may pose safety hazards to all road users  Consider safety from a human factors point of view and multimodal issues  Do not require large financial investment  When to conduct RSA?  Planning, scoping, feasibility  Preliminary (draft )design  Detailed design  Work zones  Pre-opening  Existing roads 3 Early Stage Construction Post-construction More Major Issues Addressed by RSA Less Opportunity for Changes Planning/Scoping Preliminary Design Detailed Design Pre-Opening Better Redesign the Road in PC than Reconstruct a Road Network

Road Safety Audit Process  RSA Process 4 RSA Team 1 Identify Project 2 Select RSA Team 7 Prepare Formal Response 8 Incorporate Findings 3 Conduct Start-up Meeting Road Owner 4 Perform Field Reviews 5 Conduct Analysis and Prepare Report 6 Present Findings to Project Owner Responsibilities

Road Safety Audit Cycle  What do we want to change?  Infrastructure and behaviour.  What is our goal?  Safe and sustainable transportation.  How can we achieve this change?  Tools, case studies and multidisciplinary work. 5

Sustainable Transportation  Main features of a sustainable transportation friendly city – built environment:  Road infrastructure design and maintenance based on physically disabled citizens  Road and personal safety of the built environment  Accessibility to numerous destinations in urban and suburban areas using alternative to automobile transport modes  Architecture and aesthetics of the built environment  Physical activity among citizens 6 Personal SafetyRoad Safety AccessibilityAttractiveness Convenience Sustainable Transportation Friendly Built Environment

Sustainable Transport Modes Built Environment Audit Tools  Systematic Pedestrian and Cycling Environmental Scan (SPACES), (2002)  Walking and Bicycling Suitability Assessment Instrument (2003)  Walkable Places Survey (WPS), (2003)  Saint Louis University Audit Tool (SLU), (2004)  Global Walkability Index (2006)  Pedestrian Environmental Data Scan (PEDS), (2006)  U-Maryland (2006)  Irvine – Minnesota Inventory (I-M), (2006)  Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale (NEWS), (2006) 7

Sustainable Transport Modes Built Environment Audit Tools  Evaluation of sustainable transport modes (pedestrians, bicyclists) built environment features using audit tools:  Analytic audit tools (extended version)  Checklists (short version)  Implementation from properly trained auditors or citizens with low level of training or expertise  Application in micro and macro urban form:  Neighborhoods, arterials  Road segment, intersection or bus stop area  Neither audit tool or methodology is designed to evaluate all features of the pedestrians or bicyclists built environment! 8 Selection of a transport mode is influenced from urban built environment characteristics!

Sustainable Transport Modes Built Environment Audit Tools  Audit tools could be implemented either in paper sheets (print version) or using “Personal Digital Assistant” (PDA) tools (electronic version)  PDAs are compatible with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Global Position Systems (GPS) and photo cameras, thus importing pictures and complete checklists in the data base in real time! 9 Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) Pedestrian Safety Audit Tool Print Version

Sustainable Transport Modes Built Environment Audit Tools 10

Sustainable Transport Modes Built Environment Audit Tools 11

Pedestrian Road Safety Audit  Pedestrian Road Safety Audit is a formal safety examination of a future roadway plan or project of an existing facility and is conducted by an independent, multidisciplinary team.  Target of Pedestrian RSA is the evaluation of pedestrian built environment and improvement of the quality and safety of facilities that support the pedestrian mode of travel. 12 RSA Zones Pedestrian Facilities Traffic Traffic Control Devices Topic Streets Street Crossings Parking Areas & Adjacent Developments Transit Areas

Methodology of Pedestrian Road Safety and Mobility Audit PRSA Team: Selection & Training 1.2. Street: Assignment & Coding Pedestrian Infrastructure Topographic Charting (CAD or GIS) 2.2. Pedestrian Built Environment Picture Collection Audit Tool Implementation: Road Segment Checklist 3.2. Audit Tool Implementation: Crosswalk Checklist 3.3. Pedestrian Behaviour: Walking across the sidewalk Walking across the street Crossing outside designated sites Grading Features of Pedestrian Built Environment: Road Segment Crosswalk

Methodology of Pedestrian Road Safety and Mobility Audit 14

15 Pedestrian RSA Checklist (sample)

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Methodology of Bikeway Road Safety and Mobility Audit BRSA Team: Selection & Training 1.2. Street: Assignment & Coding Bikeway Network Topographic Charting (CAD or GIS) 2.2. Bikeway Built Environment Picture Collection Audit Tool Implementation: Road Segment Checklist 3.2. Audit Tool Implementation: Crosswalk Checklist 3.3. Bicyclist Behaviour: Bicycling across the bikeway Bicycling across the street Crossing outside designated sites Grading Features of Bikeway Built Environment: Road Segment Crosswalk

Methodology of Bikeway Road Safety and Mobility Audit 19

Bikeway RSA Checklist (sample) 20 1Road Type11Bikeway Lane: Pavement Material 1.1Main Arterial11.1Asphalt 1.2Collector Arterial11.2Concrete Plates 1.3Local Street11.3Bricks (Concrete or Stone) 1.4Traffic Calming Street11.4Earth 1.5Pedestrian Street11.5Else 2Bikeway Lane: Type12Bikeway Lane: Maintenance Problems 2.1Type I (Raised Bikeway)12.1Shoving 2.2 Type ΙΙ (Bikeway Line even to Pavement Surface) 12.2Collapse 2.3 Type ΙΙΙ (Mixed Bicyclists-Motorists Traffic Lanes) 12.3Remaining Water 3Bikeway Lane: Location12.4Remaining Earth 3.1Off Street12.5Litter 3.2On the Sidewalk12.6Else 3.3On the Street13Bikeway Lane: Permanent Obstacles 4Bikeway Lane: Continuous13.1Traffic Sign Pile 4.1Yes13.2Traffic Signal Pile 4.2No13.3Street Lighting Pile

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RSA & Sustainable Transportation  The issue of road safety and sustainable transportation is important in urban areas due to the following reasons:  High rate of car ownership and use  Insufficient transport infrastructure and traffic management  Improper relationship between urban land use and transportation system  Investment in automobile infrastructure and motorists’ traffic management faces the traffic congestion problem only in short term.  Implementation of Road Safety Audit Tools enhances not only road safety but also sustainability of urban and suburban transportation projects. 23

“Road Safety Audit Tools in Urban Areas” Thank you for your attention! Ви благодариме за вашето внимание Athanasios Galanis Nikolaos Eliou Adjunct Lecturer Professor 24