01587815

Component

https://doi.org/10.3141/2586-03

Recent developments in the field of urban street design have seen the emergence of the concept of "shared space," a term that refers to a range of streetscape treatments aiming at creating a better public realm by asserting the function of streets as places and designing more to a scale aimed at easier pedestrian movement and lower vehicle speeds. In light of this shift in focus toward the pedestrian, an examination was done on the aspect of pedestrian gap acceptance behavior and how this may have changed as a result of the implementation of street layouts with elements of shared space. With the use of video data from London’s Exhibition Road site during periods before and after its conversion from a conventional dual carriageway to a layout featuring a number of elements of shared space, the study looked at changes in key gap acceptance variables, such as waiting time, crossing time, crossing speed, and critical gap. The effects of several traffic- and pedestrian-specific attributes on gap acceptance were also investigated by means of binary logistic regression modeling. Results suggest that pedestrians felt more comfortable and confident in their interaction with vehicles post-redevelopment of the site because they not only tended to accept shorter gaps in traffic but also appeared to be more at ease when crossing. In particular, elderly people and pedestrians traveling with children seemed to benefit the most, no longer appearing to be any less comfortable when crossing the road than other pedestrians.

01595162

16-3989

English

pp 17–27

2016

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board

9780309441322

Print

Figures (3) ; Maps; Photos; References (37) ; Tables (2)

Aged; Gap acceptance; Logistic regression analysis; Pedestrian movement; Pedestrians; Preschool children; Streetscape; Urban design

Street design

London (England)

Design; Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 12 2016 5:45PM

• Adaptive Walk Intervals
• Analysis of Road User Behavior and Safety During New York City’s Summer Streets Program
• Countdown Pedestrian Signals With and Without the Flashing Hand: Field Study
• Effect of Distractions on a Pedestrian’s Waiting Behavior at Traffic Signals: Observational Study
• Effectiveness of Changes in Street Layout and Design for Reducing Barriers to Walking
• Facility-Demand Models of Peak Period Pedestrian and Bicycle Traffic: Comparison of Fully Specified and Reduced-Form Models
• How Far Is Too Far? Providing Safe and Comfortable Walking Environments
• Multiobjective Evaluation of Midblock Crosswalks on Urban Streets Based on TOPSIS and Entropy Methods
• Panic That Spreads Sociobehavioral Contagion in Pedestrian Evacuations
• Pedestrian Crosswalk Safety at Nonsignalized Crossings During Nighttime: Use of Thermal Video Data and Surrogate Safety Measures
• Road User Behaviors at Pedestrian Hybrid Beacons
• Road, Traffic, and Human Factors of Pedestrian Crossing Behavior: Integrated Choice and Latent Variables Models
• Variables Influencing Efficacy of Gateway In-Street Sign Configuration on Yielding at Crosswalks