Traffic Calming in India : Report on the theory of Traffic Calming and empirical trials in the city of Jaipur

The pedestrian safety problem is huge in all developing countries. The main aims of the project are therefore: 1/To understand pedestrian safety problem in a developing country, 2/To identify feasible traffic calming measures. International experiences were complemented by field studies at seven sites in the city of Jaipur. A wide range of field studies were made, out of which traffic conflict studies were most important. The main conclusion of the studies is that there is an urgent need for Traffic Calming measures in Indian cities. Pedestrians are extremely exposed and vulnerable, and the speeds are too high to allow a safe and proper communication. One main problem is that road users are not offered any comfortable and safe crossing options e.g. existing pedestrian crossings are not suited for pedestrians. The conclusion from this is that there is a “chaos” that has to be dealt with. The proposed measures are “standardised Traffic Calming measures”, primarily by introducing humps at both entrances and exits to intersections and to introduce raised footpaths in all corners to see to it to make the approaches for pedestrians as comfortable and safe as possible by preventing cars from being able to use that space. Pedestrian crossings are located close to the intersections so that pedestrians do not have to make large detours to use them. The measures that are proposed are simple which is the whole idea. Without simplicity and low costs there will never be any large scale use. Unfortunately no measures are taken yet in Jaipur, which of course will be next and very important step. When this is done, and after studies carried out, it is time to decide on studies for studying the validity of the results in other parts of Indi

Deliverable No. 2 – Review of Literature and Experience on the Application of Conflict Studies to Rural Roads. Working report within the project Conflict Study – Application in HA (Highway Agency) Road Safety Management

This report reviews the literature and practical experience with assessing the safety performance of rural road locations using the traffic conflicts technique. It provides an overview of the development of conflict studies, which have overwhelmingly been applied at urban locations. It also discusses the current state of the art in the application of automated video analysis for the detection of conflicts. Recommendations are made on the data collection methods and conflict definitions that should be employed for applying conflict studies at rural locations. Project financed by HRC (Highways Research Group

Safety at cycle crossings : The relationship between motor vehicle drivers’ yielding behaviour and cyclists’ traffic safety

With a high share of motor vehicles yielding to crossing cyclists, cyclists’ waiting time decreases and their level of service increases. The main aim of this paper is to study how this propensity to yield is connected to the traffic safety situation for cyclists at cycle crossings in a Swedish context. In a previous study, motor vehicle drivers’ yielding behaviour was studied at 65 cycle crossings with different signage. In the present study, seven of these crossings were selected and yielding data at these locations were complemented with accident data, studies of traffic conflicts, and cycle flow. In addition, a questionnaire on road users’ perceptions of yielding rules at cycle crossings was distributed. The analyses showed that the conflict frequency per crossing cyclist decreased with increased propensity to give way i.e. cyclists’ traffic safety increases with motor vehicle drivers’ propensity to yield. The analyses further showed that motor vehicles drivers’ propensity to give way increased with increased cycle flow and that the conflict frequency per crossing cyclist decreased with increased cycle flow. A conclusion from the analysis is that signage alone at cycle crossings does not likely affect the traffic safety situation at the location, but it is rather the combination of signage, type of location, cycle flow, yielding behaviour, and motor vehicle speed, where some factors most likely covary, that is important. An interesting indication that should be researched further is that the perceived unclear rules at cycle crossings might contribute to an increased propensity to yield and thus an increase in traffic safety

Bicycle planning – A literature review

Increased bicycling is of great importance for a sustainable transport system. This report is the result of a literature study concerning how different factors associated with bicycle planning influence the propensity to choose the bicycle for transportation. The literature study was carried out in the search engine GoogleScholar and only scientific papers, articles and books were included. Through this literature review, knowledge has been gathered concerning bicycleplanning, policies and other factors that influence the use of the bicycle in daily transport. Through the literature study it became evident that the attractiveness of the bicycle should be seen in relation to the car. If it is more attractive to use motorised modes of transport (e.g. through parking norms, costs, level of service) it will be hard to convince people to use the bike instead of the car. It also became clear that there are big differences in how research concerningbicycling and bicycle planning is conducted and there is e.g. no research based on before- and after studies. Despite this, the results are often very consistent. For instance, the results show that the bicycle infrastructure is of great importance. This implies that if appropriate infrastructure is build people tend to use the bicycle more often. In terms of policy, the time factor seems to be an important issue. This in turn implies, with policies and strategies being consistent over longer time intervals, the impact on the use of the bicycle increases

Separation between pedestrians and bicyclists

In the effort to separate pedestrian and bicycle traffic from motorised traffic the solution often is to let the pedestrians and bicyclists share space. However, combined pedestrian and bicycle paths lead to problems for both pedestrians and bicyclists; for pedestrians it is a security and safety problem and for bicyclists a mobility problem. Seniors and visually impaired pedestrians are especially concerned as they often feel insecure when cyclists pass close to them, especially as they neither can see nor hear cyclists coming from behind. The safety problem is primarily linked to pedestrians walking on the bicycle side of the tracks. Designing the tracks so that the pedestrians and bicyclists keep to their side respectively is important to improve the situation. Field studies were performed at over 100 pedestrian and bicycle tracks and the results were analysed with respect to materials, separation line, flow, signs, dimensions, road markings and surroundings. The results show that the design has a great impact on whether the road users keep to their side of the pedestrian and bicycle tracks or not. The most efficient design seems to be a difference in material, asphalt on the bicycle side and tiles on the pedestrian side, together with a separation of the two sides, e.g. by paving stones or curbs. Signing has no impact at all whereas the road markings has a great impact, which is interesting both from a perceptional view point and also from the point of view that Swedish rules do not support the use of markings but signing

Yielding behaviour and interaction at bicycle crossings

The main purpose of this study was to learn more about how bicyclists and motor vehicle drivers in some Swedish cities interact at intersections and how the yielding rules, different intersection designs, vehicle flows and speed affect the behaviour. Field studies were performed at 25 crossings for six hours each. Cycle crossings on links, at three- and four-armed intersections as well as at roundabouts were studied. Preliminary results show that yielding rules are not enough to make road users behave as intended; even when there are yielding signs and markings before the bicycle crossing, 30% of the motor vehicle drivers do not yield to bicyclists. Fewer yield to bicyclists when motor vehicle speed is higher, when motor vehicle flow is larger and when bicycle flow is smaller. Speeds below 30 km/h seem to produce quite favourable conditions for an interaction with a high degree of equity, efficiency and safety for both road users no matter whether car drivers have to yield according to the rules or not. Motor vehicle drivers are most likely to give way to bicyclists when the bicycle crossing is next to a roundabout and least likely to give way when it is situated on a link. The conclusion is that there is a certain amount of drivers that do not obey the yielding rules and presumably rely on their larger mass and better protection. It is therefore very important that the road design allows for active interaction between the road user groups to get a more equal situation between motor vehicle drivers and bicyclists as well as safe and secure bicycle crossings. Speed is obviously the key issue

Råd och riktlinjer för cykelinfrastruktur – en litteraturstudie med avseende på korsningspunkter mellan cyklande och motorfordonstrafik

Denna rapport är resultatet av en litteraturstudie kring råd och riktlinjer för utformning av cykel-infrastruktur med avseende på korsningspunkter med motorfordonstrafik. Referenser har hämtats från handböcker i främst Sverige, Danmark, Nederländerna, Storbritannien och Tyskland samt från relevant forskning där sådan funnits tillgänglig. Studien visar att fokus i dessa råd och riktlinjer ligger på att åstadkomma trafiksäkra utformningar för cykeltrafiken. Om detta verkligen är vad som också erhålls kan denna studie tyvärr inte svara på då referering i de flesta handböcker är bristfällig. I dessa handböcker saknas ofta, med några undantag, cykelflödets betydelse för ut-formningen, råd och riktlinjer för att öka cyklandes framkomlighet samt betydelsen av olika grupper av cyklande för utformningen

Vilka egenskaper hos elcykeln attraherar dess användare och hur kan denna kunskap användas för en ökad spridning?

I flera andra europeiska länder har antalet elektriska cyklar ökat kraftigt de senaste åren. En liknande ökning förväntas också i Sverige. Hittills har kunskapen om attityder hos elcyklister i Sverige varit begränsade. Denna studie består av intervjuer med 39 personer från hela Sverige för att få en bättre förståelse för varför de har valt att cykla en elcykel, och vad de tror kan göras för att få fler människor att välja elcykel. Dessutom genomfördes en webbenkät med 41 kommuner för att se hur förberedda de är på en ökning av elcyklar. Resultatet av intervjustudien pekar på att de som inledningsvis kan gå före och göra elcykling mer populärt är människor som älskar att cykla. Elcyklisterna i studien lyfte fram hur roligt de tyckte det var att cykla elcykel. De uppskattade att det var ett snabbt och smidigt transportmedel, samtidigt som de fick bättre kondition och gjorde en insats för miljön. En avgörande förutsättning för att kunna cykla elcykel var sammanhängande cykelvägar utan ojämnheter och tvära kurvor som inte delades med långsammare cyklister och gående. Många valde av den anledningen att cykla på bilvägen i stället. Bättre parkeringar nämndes också, framför allt cykelställ där ramen kunde låsas fast. Av webbenkätens resultat gick det också att se att kommunerna genomgående hade höga ambitioner för att förbättra infrastrukturen för cyklar, men det gick inte att läsa ut hur långt det arbetet hade kommit. Ungefär hälften av kommunerna i studien hade haft kampanjer för att öka elcykling. Slutsatsen av studien är att det krävs en kombination av insatser för att nå en ökad användning av elcyklar, och att det allra viktigaste är att förbättra cykelvägnätet. En lösning som föreslås är en breddning av vägrenen till avgränsade cykelfält på bilvägar

ARTISTS - Arterial streets for people : Guidance for planners and decision makers when reconstructing arterial streets.

Conventional guidance on the design and management of urban roads and streets has tended to focus on either arterial roads or local access streets. There is currently a lack of a clear, consistent approach to the design of arterial streets, which combine both significant through traffic and urban place functions. This report aims to address this gap, by setting out an approach to the design and management of arterial streets - from a people-oriented perspective. This means that:• As users of the street, people – rather than vehicles - are taken as the startingpoint for the analysis and redesign of street-space; and• As local stakeholders, people are taken into account and included in the design and management process.In addressing people’s use of streets for a diversity of urban functions – and not just motor traffic movement - the aim is to achieve streets that offer a more positive contribution to sustainability, in all its economic, social and environmental dimensions.This report encourages new ways of thinking about how arterial streets areconceptualised, designed and managed, as part of the overall street system. This requires a rethinking of how the various functions of the arterial street are reconciled and provided for; and involves addressing the processes by which street-space is allocated, the ways in which design options are generated, and how options are selected for implementation.A series of ways of addressing the ‘arterial streets for people’ theme arerecommended, including:• Recognising that arterial streets satisfy the needs of both ‘through users’ and‘locale users’;• Developing a functional classification of street sections based on twoindependent dimensions: ‘link status’ and ‘place status’;• Incorporating public participation at each stage of the redesign process,including contributions to functional classification, visioning, generatingdesigns, and option selection; and• Suggesting a process for problem identification, objective setting, optiongeneration and assessment.The guidance in this report is based on experience and research from the European Commission project ARTISTS (Arterial Streets Towards Sustainability). This project has drawn on a series of street case studies in seven European countries, as well as learning from research and practice elsewhere.The report is aimed primarily at city authorities and other policy makers, practitioners and consultants with responsibility for the design and management of streets. It gives general guidance on concepts and techniques, which may be adapted to fit the relevant national or city context

I vilken utsträckning kan elcyklar (och elmopeder) ersätta dagens biltrafik?

Gruppen om använder elcykel är enligt datamaterialet främst män med tillgång till bil. Innehavet är ganska jämnt fördelat över 35 år. Elcyklisterna är teknikintresserade samtidigt verkar miljöintresset vara ett drivande motiv till varför elcykel införskaffades. Minskad restid verkar ha en viss betydelse speciellt för den yngre åldersgruppen. Majoriteten av de svarande instämmer i påståendet att elcykeln medför mindre fysisk ansträngning speciellt för den äldsta åldersgruppen. Resultatet visar på att främst bilresor har ersatts med elcykel. Å andra sidan vet vi inte hur representativa de personer är som vi fångat i enkätstudien vilket i sin tur kan leda till att vi överskattar eller underskattar effekterna vad gäller ersättning av bilresor och användning av elcykeln. Baserat på antagande om utveckling av elcykelanvändande till 2030 har en potential beräkning gjorts. Beräkningen visar på att det finns stora energivinster att göra. Vi har vidare gjort en potentialberäkning för användande av elcykel för tjänsteresor i kommunalverksamhet. Beräkningen visar på att det finns relativt stor potental att spara energi genom att ersätta bilresor med elcykel