Access and utilisation of primary health care services comparing urban and rural areas of Riyadh Providence, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has seen an increase in chronic diseases. International evidence suggests that early intervention is the best approach to reduce the burden of chronic disease. However, the limited research available suggests that health care access remains unequal, with rural populations having the poorest access to and utilisation of primary health care centres and, consequently, the poorest health outcomes. This study aimed to examine the factors influencing the access to and utilisation of primary health care centres in urban and rural areas of Riyadh province of the KSA

TRAFFIC CIRCLES--A VIABLE FORM OF INTERSECTION CONTROL?

East Lansing, Michigan, is home to Michigan State University and about 40,000 students that bus, walk, and drive cars on campus. Although most intersections are controlled by two-way stop signs or signals, three major intersections are controlled by traffic circles. A study was initiated to address operational problems at one of the six major intersections. The purpose of the study was to determine the feasibility of changing right-of-way control and to evaluate alternatives to the existing traffic circles. Results indicate that accidents (vehicle, bicycle, and pedestrian) at traffic circles were less severe and less frequent. Data also showed that measures of effectiveness, such as fuel consumption, delay times, and emissions, were more efficent at the traffic circles. Overall, the capacity and operation of all the two-way stop intersections could be improved by converting them to traffic circles

Effectiveness of Consistency Measures in Crash Prediction Models for Two-Lane Highways in Palestine

Crash prediction models (CPMs) are important tools to predict the safety performance of highways based on their operational and geometric characteristics. Most of these models use geometric design characteristics to predict the number of crashes. However, few studies have identified the effectiveness of geometric design consistency measures in explaining crash occurrence probability and crash prediction. Crash prediction models that incorporate design consistency measures for rural two-lane, two-way roadways in the West Bank of Palestine have been developed. This study compares the effectiveness of the resulting models with those which rely on geometric design characteristics only. Approximately 118�km length of two-lane rural highways in the West Bank was selected covering a variety of highway classifications, locations, and characteristics. Different design consistency measures were considered in the developed CPM. The generalized linear regression modeling approach was used, and different mathematical forms were tested. The research presents a quantitative comparison between CPMs that explicitly consider design consistency with the Highway Safety Manual models, which use geometric design characteristics. The study proposes an approach to identify geometrically inconsistent locations using the safety-consistency factor. The results indicate that geometric consistency measures could provide more reliable crash prediction models, thus predicting collision potential more accurately. � 2018, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals.Scopu

Assessment of Parking Demand in the Central Business District of Lahore

With the increase in motorization, parking problems have become a major issue particularly in urban areas. Lahore is the second most populated city in Pakistan and it is expanding haphazardly. According to the Lahore Urban Transport Master Plan, trip generation would increase up to 48% from the year 2010 to 2030. Road occupation by parking is found to be 25–50%, where there is a commercial activity in Lahore. The increase in traffic volume leads to serious parking problems; hence more parking spaces are required in the city. Currently, it is essential to estimate the parking demand and statistics for the better development of parking facilities. The focus of this study is to calculate the parking statistics for the selected locations in the Central Business District (CBD) of Lahore