01025974

Component

Arguably, the creation of urban environments that stimulate drivers to drive naturally at lower speeds might in the end be a more effective way of reducing speed and accidents in urban neighborhoods. It raises the question about the nature and strengths of the effect of urban design features on perceived optimal speed. Because such effects are likely very difficult to disentangle in real-world field experiments, this paper discusses the main results of a virtual reality experiment. Subjects were requested to drive at speeds which they felt most natural in a series of street profiles that were varied according to the principles underlying the design of statistical experiments. In particular, a uniform design rather than the more common fractional factorial designs was used to reduce the number of profiles required to estimate some interaction effects in addition to the main effects. Results indicate that urban design features which induce a feeling of safety tend to increase driving speed, whereas features which signal possible risk tend to decrease perceived optimal driving speed.

01020180

06-0516

English

20p

2006

Transportation Research Board 85th Annual Meeting

CD-ROM

Figures (5) ; References (22) ; Tables (5)

City planning; Neighborhoods; Operating speed; Optimization; Speed; Speed control humps; Urban areas; Urban development; Virtual reality

Driving speed

Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Safety and Human Factors; Society; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning; I80: Accident Studies

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2006 Paper #06-0516

TRIS, TRB

Mar 3 2006 10:22AM