Improving Safety for Pedestrians and Bicyclists Accessing Transit

Regardless of how a person began their trip; they walk, roll, or bicycle to access transit. Because of this, agencies should understand pedestrian and bicyclist characteristics and needs when planning and designing transit systems. This guide is intended for transit agencies, State and local roadway owners, and regional organizations involved with planning and designing transit stops and the roadway, pedestrian, and bicycle facilities that provide access to transit. The guide contains wide ranging topics related to pedestrian and bicyclist safety and access to transit

Interchange Comparison Safety Tool User Guide

DTFH6116D00040This user guide is intended for use alongside the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) report Safety Comparisons Between Interchange Types (forthcoming) and the spreadsheet tool FHWA Interchange Configuration Safety Comparison Tool. (1,2) This user guide provides an overview of the data needs and workflow for using the spreadsheet tool. Additionally, it provides information on the interchange configurations for which this tool can be used and the ranges of characteristics to which it applies. Further, this guide provides an overview for finding results within the tool

Safety Comparisons Between Interchange Types

DTFH6116D00040Documentation of potential safety performance impacts is required for Interchange Justification Reports (IJRs) to validate the need for new or modified interchanges.(2) Typically, IJRs are written early in the project planning and design process, with details generally consistent with conceptual design. As such, the design details required for using the Highway Safety Manual (HSM) Part C predictive models may not be known, only the general form of the interchanges.(1) Without these details, using the HSM models to develop an accurate prediction of crash frequency and severity of the design is difficult. In addition, aggregating site-by-site predictions may not fully capture the safety performance impacts when considering the project location as a whole. The Federal Highway Administration sought to develop planning-level models and tools to predict crash frequency and severity for an existing or proposed interchange to further explore and address an IJR application. This predictive model estimates crash frequency and severity for service interchange configurations comprising more than 75 percent of those typically considered in IJRs. The safety performance function includes freeway and crossroad annual average daily traffic (AADT) per lane, ramp AADT, and interchange configuration. The base estimate is adjusted for freeway lanes, crossroad lanes, area type, interchange skew, a nearby adjacent interchange gore, managed lanes, the number of crossroad left-turn lanes at terminals, and variation in ramp volumes

Improving Intersections for Pedestrians and Bicyclists Informational Guide

DTFH61-16-D-00005Intersections are critical points of access to local and regional destinations for all roadway users. When designed with pedestrians and bicyclists explicitly in mind, all types of intersections can facilitate safe, accessible, convenient, and comfortable walking and bicycling. The purpose of this guide is to inform the state of the practice concerning intersection planning and design to implement solutions that help achieve the goal for zero fatalities and serious injuries while improving mobility for bicyclists and pedestrians. The primary intersection types discussed in this guide include traditional signalized intersections, roundabouts, Median U-Turn (MUT) intersections, Reduced Crossing U-Turn (RCUT) intersections, Quadrant Roadway (QR) intersections, Displaced Left Turn (DLT) intersections, and Diverging Diamond Interchanges (DDI). This guide also includes discussion about stop-controlled and uncontrolled intersection crossings for bicyclists and pedestrians. This guide illustrates integration of bikeways and pedestrian pathways at and across traditional and alternative intersections, describes countermeasures applicable to pedestrian and bicyclist crossings at intersections, and summarizes the application of intersection analysis methods for the safety and mobility of pedestrians and bicyclists. This guide serves as a supplement to the Federal Highway Administration\u2019s (FHWA\u2019s) series of intersection informational guides and makes direct connections to other FHWA bikeway and pedestrian facility selection guides. Part I presents three foundational principles for planning and designing intersections for pedestrians and bicyclists. Part 2 presents design concepts for each of the intersection types discussed in this guide and illustrates options and design flexibility for incorporating a variety of pedestrian and bicycling facility types. This guide is intended to supplement, but not replace, design guidance, traffic control standards, and countermeasure selection criteria

Jurisdiction Speed Management Action Plan Development Package

DTFH61-10-D-00022The Jurisdiction Speed Management Action Plan Development Package includes four separate resources: 1) a Speed Management Action Plan Template, developed to provide a model for State and local agencies to use in developing jurisdiction-specific speed management safety action plans; 2) a Speed Management Toolkit document, which includes a comprehensive speed management bibliography, tables of speed management countermeasures with expected crash or speed effects; and tip sheets for communications programs; 3) the Speed Management Action Plan for Randolph County, an example of a local jurisdiction action plan; and 4) Alabama Speed Management Action Plan, an example of a statewide action plan. The plan template guides the user to develop particular actions, safety goals and a plan for countermeasures implementation through a systematic process, as well as to address larger speed management issues that often limit program effectiveness and durability. The Toolkit provides information on countermeasures effects and other resources. The other documents provide more information and examples to help local agencies develop their own action plans

Pedestrian Lighting Primer

DTFH61-05-D-00024Lighting of pedestrian facilities plays a key role in increasing the safety performance of the road network for all users. Effective pedestrian lighting installations are a means of addressing the vulnerability of pedestrians during dark conditions and improving safety and security of all road users spanning different ages and abilities, including wheelchair and other mobility device users. Lighting not only makes it easier for drivers to see pedestrians, but also improves pedestrians\u2019 abilities to see their surroundings and detect trip hazards. It increases pedestrians\u2019 perceived levels of safety and security associated with the use of pedestrian facilities. Lighting may also increase pedestrians\u2019 confidence in performing certain tasks, such as assessing and selecting appropriate gaps at uncontrolled crossings and monitoring vehicles approaching and making different movements through signalized intersections. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) published this primer to be a resource for transportation practitioners interested in the safety and security benefits of pedestrian lighting as well as lighting design considerations at locations with existing or future pedestrian activity

Safety Comparison of Interchange Configurations [techbrief]

DTFH6116D00040This project identified interchange configurations that account for at least 75 percent of those considered in Interchange Access Requests (IARs). The project team surveyed Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) division offices to determine the most common interchange configurations considered and constructed and the planning-level factors considered in the safety analysis. Additional questions revealed that most IARs focus on urban applications and service interchanges

A Safe System-Based Framework and Analytical Methodology for Assessing Intersections [techbrief]

693JJ318F000100In the United States, the Safe System approach represents a paradigm shift in how road safety is addressed. Foundational to the Safe System approach is that no person should be killed or seriously injured when using the road system, and that it is a shared responsibility by all parties involved to ensure this becomes reality. From a roadway infrastructure perspective, a Safe System approach involves managing the circumstances of crashes such that the kinetic energy imposed on the human body be kept at levels that are tolerable in terms of survivability and degree of harm. At an intersection, this challenge is characterized through managing speed and crash angles, as well as considering risk exposure and complexity. This project developed a Safe System for Intersections method that can be applied at a project level and be incorporated into an Intersection Control Evaluation alternatives screening process to provide another metric for safety