83 research outputs found
An intelligent pedestrian device: social, psychological and other issues of feasibility
An Intelligent Pedestrian Device (IPD) is a new concept in pedestrian safety. It is defined as a microprocessor based information device which detects the approach of oncoming vehicles and informs the pedestrian whether or not it is safe to cross. IPDs could be portable or fixed to a roadside station. They could help reduce pedestrian accidents, which cost £2681 million in the UK in 1994. This study aims to assess whether the concept is socially acceptable and what the design criteria might be. A study of social acceptance involved group interviews of 5-10 participants with 84 pedestrians in five categories: adults aged 18-60, elderly aged 65+, visually restricted, parents of children aged 5-9 and children aged 10-14. The results suggest that vulnerable pedestrians are more positive about the device than the more able-bodied. Theories that may help explain this are discussed and it is concluded that, with education and marketing, the IPD could gain a degree of social acceptance. Observation of more than 900 pedestrian crossing movements at four different sites showed a range of behaviours, and that people often take risks in order to reduce delay. IPDs will require pedestrians to change some of their behaviours, especially those that are risky. Legal acceptance will demand high levels of costly product research and development, and a portable device will not be technologically feasible until well into the next century. However, the wider social benefits of IPDs may be worth the costs. An outline of design criteria for basic and sophisticated portable IPDs is given, and alternative functions are suggested. It is recommended that further work concentrate on developing software and hardware for fixed modes of IPD. It is concluded that, ultimately, acceptance will probably depend on whether Government decides that the IPD has a place in the road environment of the future
Architectural and urban atmospheres: shaping the way we walk in town
This contribution contains the results of research funded by France's National Research Agency (ANR) on walking in towns. Research focussed on two cities: Geneva (Switzerland) and Grenoble (France). Starting from a simple question - what prompts us to walk in town? - and an innovative methodological protocol we call the three-person walk - the author queries the implicit relations between the act of walking and atmospheres. How and to what extent do architectural and urban atmospheres affect our decisions when walking in town and influence a pedestrian's gait? By constituting two lexicons - one describing sensory configurations that are more or less favourable to walking, the other describing the types of relation possible between pedestrians and the city - the author makes two contributions to the debate on urban walking: first that there are many ways of walking; and secondly that we adapt our gait to suit - it is perhaps even shaped by - architectural and urban atmospheres
Virtual Reality based Study to Analyse Pedestrian Attitude towards Autonomous Vehicles
What are pedestrian attitudes towards driverless vehicles that have no human driver? In this paper, we use virtual reality to simulate a virtual scene where pedestrians interact with driverless vehicles. This was an exploratory study where 15 users encounter a driverless vehicle at a crosswalk in the virtual scene. Data was collected in the form of video and audio recordings, semi-structured interview and participant sketches to explain the crosswalk scenes they experience. An interaction design framework for vehicle-pedestrian interaction in an autonomous vehicle has been suggested which can be used to design and model driverless vehicle behaviour before the autonomous vehicle technology is deployed widely
Space networks: towards hodological space design for urban man, starting with a cognitive / perceptual notation
The main purpose of this thesis on Space Networks is to make a contribution
to urban design0A iming at the level of the urban designer's or architect's prestructure (after the site has been seen,and before any plan/section/elevation drawings are done),it is meant for those designers involved
in res earth themselves,and who accept the idea that they are,in a way, the
first users of what they design.The additional purpose is to provide a sociological,
psychological,and spatial scale context for dynamic design.
Space is looked upon as a network.Where the space-of-possible- movement (taking
the shortest/most agreable/most energy demanding/etc way, depending
whether you are in a hurry/strolling/exercising yourself/etc respectively)
is called Hodological Space.Movement --through-space-with-intention is used
as a generator for design.We start with a proposed cognitive/perceptual notation
of four spatial conceptual components: First with Section-Perspective
(by which we do away with the facades,and considering the building not in
isolation ---in the form of an endless isometric). Then the Tube (employing
the anticipation,cognitively,of the projecting brain of man for his path
of action),and also the Sequential (progressive sequences) and Binary (visual
contrasts of 'wholes')- -these perceived as man moves through his Hodological
space.There are six Chapters and an Appendix.Chapter I is introductory,and its
three parts are extended in the Chapters that follow: Movement Through
Space in Chapters 3 and 4,Space- Movement Notation in Chapters 5 and 6,and
the Intended Fieldwork And Pilot Questionnaires in the Appendix.In Chapter
2 the clarifying distinction is made between space for activity and space
for profit.Which issue,far from a refinement,shifts the problem back to
where it belongs: the society values --of which the designer himself partakes.
ln Chapter 3 man is not seen from the stimulus -response,but the
cognitive psychology side: not passive,but projecting his intentions into his
environment --and if it goes a bit too far in that direction it is in compensation
for the opposite view.ln Chapter 4 a comprehensive classification
of space,into Hodological,Ambient,and Personal,is made for the designer's
understanding and use.All three spaces are more fundamental to him than Euclidean
space which is significant only in relation to them.ln Chapter 5 the
four-component Notation is a rticulated into the cognitive /perceptual anthropological
model of cognitive anticipation (see Tube),and perceptual experience
(see Sequential and Binary),together with a comparative discussion
of the other notatorst work,ranging between the scales of landscape design
(Halprin) and microspace behaviour (Hall),In Chapter 6 the proposition of
using the present anthropological model of a cognitive /perceptual notation
of design-for-movement has been taken up as a process employed in experimental
design.The program of designing for Hodological space --as well as for
Ambient space which accompanies progress through Hodological space --links
psychological research to design for the pedestrian
Analysis of Pedestrian Performance by Integrating both Quantitative and Qualitative Factors
The importance of non-motorized movements, explicitly walking, and its corresponding impact on social, economic, and environmental aspects has always been overlooked due to the convenience brought by motorized vehicles. An automobile-dependent society mirrors the rise and worsening of several transportation problems, such as road-wide traffic congestion, massive fuel consumption, and excessive CO2emissions. In response to these aggravating situations and in support of various national and international calls, the main objective of this study was to extract the significant factors influencing the pedestrian level of service and walkability and to subsequently develop a predictive mathematical model for evaluating pedestrian conditions. Factors influencing the pedestrian level of service and walkability were initially identified through an extensive review and evaluation of existing studies, literature, and other relevant resources. A cause-and-effect analysis was used to develop an Ishikawa Diagram tackling pedestrian performance. The finalized factors were incorporated into the development of the Pedestrian Performance Assessment Questionnaire (PPAQ), which was utilized for data acquisition. Survey responses were then subjected to factor analysis after satisfying several tests for assumptions and suitability to extract the root causes influencing pedestrian performance. The validated root causes were then integrated to form the Pedestrian Performance Audit Tool (PPAT), a tool used in evaluating pedestrian areas in Tarlac City, Philippines. Data was analyzed through ordinal regression analysis to develop the multi-objective pedestrian performance prediction model. Results showed that there are six critical predictors of pedestrian performance unified in the final mathematical model: Pedestrian Space (PS), Official’s Intervention (OI), Ambiance (A), Vibrance (V), Street Vendors (SV), and Trash Bins (TB), and is the most significant contribution of the study. The model's validity was ascertained through a confusion matrix, which resulted in an acceptable rating. The comparison between calculated and perceived values together with the use of odds ratios served as the basis for the interpretation of some of the key results and findings. Finally, recommendations were also presented which can be a basis for the development of sustainable programs and interventions for the improvement of the pedestrian system. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2022-08-06-02 Full Text: PD
Child development and the aims of road safety education
Pedestrian accidents are one of the most prominent causes of premature injury, handicap and death in the modern world. In children, the problem is so severe that pedestrian accidents are widely regarded as the most serious of all health risks facing children in developed countries. Not surprisingly, educational measures have long been advocated as a means of teaching children how to cope with traffic and substantial resources have been devoted to their development and provision. Unfortunately, there seems to be a widespread view at the present time that education has not achieved as much as had been hoped and that there may even be quite strict limits to what can be achieved through education. This would, of course, shift the emphasis away from education altogether towards engineering or urban planning measures aimed at creating an intrinsically safer environment in which the need for education might be reduced or even eliminated. However, whilst engineering measures undoubtedly have a major role to play in the effort to reduce accidents, this outlook is both overly optimistic about the benefits of engineering and overly pessimistic about the limitations of education. At the same time, a fresh analysis is clearly required both of the aims and methods of contemporary road safety education. The present report is designed to provide such an analysis and to establish a framework within which further debate and research can take place
Pedestrian and cyclist crashes in the Adelaide Metropolitan Area
Datasets employed. In-depth at-scene investigations of motor vehicle road crashes in the Adelaide Metropolitan Area were conducted in the period April 2002 to October 2005. The database from that study is used to throw light upon pedestrian and pedal cyclist crashes. The database of routinely-reported crashes is also utilised in respect of pedestrian and cyclist fatalities. Results. As pedestrian casualties are more numerous than cyclist casualties, the majority of results concern the former. In the 81 cases in the in-depth series, many different types of pedestrian accident can be identified. Of the 40 pedestrian fatalities in 2003-2006, 29 fell into at least one of the following three categories: at night, pedestrian was drunk, or pedestrian was elderly. Two points to note about this contrast between the two series are that (1) the in-depth study concentrated on crashes in normal working hours, and thus nighttime crashes are underrepresented, and consequently so is drunkenness, and (2) it is an open question whether there really are only three types of central story that cover the majority of pedestrian fatalities, or whether this finding is a consequence of the lack of detail in routine police data. Countermeasures. Taking the several series of crashes together, seven issues are prominent, and are discussed from the point of view of possible countermeasures: nighttime; drunkenness of pedestrians; visual obstruction by traffic; visual obstruction by roadside objects; possible improvements to other details of the road; trucks (visibility from the cab, and side protection); speed. There is also consideration of the competing needs for space of environmentally-friendly modes and motorised modes of transport: perhaps users of power-assisted cycles (slow motorcycles) are a potential natural ally of pedestrians and pedal cyclists in the demand for urban space.TP Hutchinson and VL Lindsa
Ergonomic standards for pedestrian areas for disabled people: literature review and consultations
As part of the project for the Transport and Road Research
Laboratory concerned with the development of design guidance for
pedestrian areas and footways to satisfy the needs of disabled
and elderly people, a thorough examination of the literature was
required. In addition the literature search was to be
complemented by a wide-ranging series of discussions with local
authorities, organisations representing the interests of elderly
and disabled people, and other interested agencies. This Working
Paper sets out the findings of this exercise.
The objective of the literature review and the consultations was
to identify the key impediments for elderly and disabled people
when using pedestrian areas and footways. The current guidelines
and standards relating to footways, pedestrianised areas and
access to buildings were to be identified and their adequacy
commented upon, as were the conflicts such recommendations raise
between various groups of disabled people and with able-bodied
people. The consultations were intended to provide greater
insights into what the literature highlighted, and to suggest
possible solutions.
The literature review produced over 400 key references and a list
of 35 impediments. A more detailed examination of the literature
and the consultations reduced this list to six key impediments
namely: parking; public transport waiting areas; movement
distances; surface conditions; ramps, and information provision.
The type and scale of problem created by the above impediments
for various groups of disabled and elderly people are discussed,
together with their measurement and assessment. The type and
adequacy of existing design standards and guidance relating to
these impediments are also outlined
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