Search

In 2018, SafeTREC conducted a survey on transportation mobility issues among older adults in California. A follow-up survey planned for 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic changed life for all residents, was redesigned to assess mobility needs and changes during the Shelter-in-Place order and focused on COVID-19 impacts. Results indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent Shelter-in-Place order have had a major impact on senior mobility. Communications for many were restricted to phone, email, texts, social media and video chats. Among those with a medical problem, just over 60% called a doctor or nurse line or went to a doctor’s office, while 11.2% went to an emergency room, and 8.6% did nothing. A total of 8% of respondents said they had run out of food or other important items during the Shelter-in-Place order. Rates of exercise outside the home dropped 20% between January and June 2020, and while over 60% sought outside entertainment in January 2020, by June 2020, nearly 70% accessed their entertainment online at home. Almost 80% of working respondents feared spreading or contracting COVID-19 because of their work or related transportation. Almost 20% felt a lack of companionship or closeness sometimes or often. Over 30% were worried about their current or long-term finances. A total of 84.5% strongly agreed or agreed that the Shelter-in-Place order was necessary. None of the respondents to the follow-up survey were diagnosed with COVID-19, and 88.2% were not concerned about risk of exposure from any member of their household.

Meeting the mobility needs of an aging population is one of the most substantial challenges facing California in the coming decades. The number of residents age 60 and above will grow to 13.9 million by 2050, representing over 25% of the state population. Meanwhile, the number of residents age 85 and above is expected to increase by over 70% between 2010 and 2030. In 2018, the Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC) at UC Berkeley conducted a survey on transportation mobility issues among older adults in Contra Costa County in California. Results indicated, among other findings, that a majority of seniors are car dependent, that some older adults miss important activities due to mobility limitations, and that most older adults want to “age in place.” A follow-up survey of 302 Contra Costa County seniors ages 60 and above was conducted in June 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic changed life for all residents. The follow-up survey assessed the mobility needs and changes during the Shelter-in-Place order as well as how COVID-19 was impacting other areas of their lives, such as their economic situation, views of government regulatory efforts, feelings of social isolation, and work/employment status. This brief presents findings from the follow-up survey.

Despite decades of education and enforcement campaigns, alcohol-impaired driving persists as a social problem in the U.S. Are there other factors influencing decisions to drive after alcohol consumption that may be amenable to change? We conducted a roadside survey in California in 2012 to assess whether residential accessibility, travel attitudes (indicated by ratings of convenience and safety for travel options), and perceptions of arrest risk affect travel choices made subsequent to alcohol consumption. We conducted hybrid choice modeling for 580 participants. Mode-specific travel attitudes were valid constructs and predictive of travel behavior. Perceived level of service (speed) increased the utility for taxi and getting a ride. Perceiving high risk of arrest affected mode choice through travel attitudes. Not everyone assessed their mode options in the same way. For example, frequent binge drinkers appear to be more willing to consider taxis, men had stronger preferences towards active modes, and younger drivers were less pro-driving in this context. Past drinking and driving behavior affected one's attitude towards driving, while the number of drinks was related to mode choice. While our accessibility measure was not significantly related to attitudes or choice, decreasing urbanicity corresponded with stronger preferences for driving. This pilot study suggests that improving level of service (speed), convenience, and overall safety are considerations for public health in terms of promoting alternatives to drinking and driving. This line of research also has implications for emerging options, such as ride hailing, and how these might be optimized for specific segments of the population.

This study examines data from the California EMS Information System (CEMSIS) to identify factors that influence prehospital time for EMS events related to motor vehicle collisions (MVCs). While only 19 percent of the United States population resides in rural areas, over half of all traffic fatalities involve rural motor vehicle collisions. Rural and urban MVCs result in similar injury severities, however relative inaccessibility of trauma centers and prehospital EMS time (activation, response, and transport time) likely contribute to the generally higher mortality rate in rural areas. For the present study, 24 CEMSIS data variables were requested, many of which involved missing data, which severely restricted the potential analysis of the impact of EMS response times. However, the findings did show that average overall EMS time (including response, scene and transport time) were approximately twice as long for collisions in rural zip codes compared with urban zip codes. Several limitations influence the interpretation of these results. Data on prehospital EMS times is missing for much of the state—even for zip codes with records of EMS events, data is likely incomplete. In addition, zip code level location data is insufficient for adequate study of the effects of the built environment and road network on prehospital time. Furthermore, according to the National EMS Information System (NEMSIS) User Manual, the national dataset suffers from selection and information bias, which are likely also present in the CEMSIS data. Although the present study cannot analyze the effect of longer prehospital times on patient outcome, other research has found that longer prehospital times may negatively impact patient health. Recommendations for reducing time from injury to appropriate medical care in rural areas include improving cell phone coverage, compliance of rural 911 center with FCC wireless, use of GPS technology, and integration of automatic vehicle location and computer aided navigation technologies into all computer-aided dispatch systems. In addition, CEMSIS should improve the coverage of their dataset and ensure that all EMS activities are recorded. To expand the type of analyses that can be conducted using CEMSIS data, EMS records must include fields that allow them to be linked to hospital and police datasets. When such data becomes available, research must be conducted to determine whether prehospital time is significantly related to patient outcome following motor vehicle collisions.

The mobility needs of an aging population is one of the most substantial challenges facing California in the coming decades. The number of residents age 65 and older is expected to double between 2012 and 2050, and the number age 85 and above is expected to increase by over 70% between 2010 and 2030. Declines in physical function related to age may reduce mobility options dramatically. A survey of 510 residents age 55 and older in Contra Costa County was conducted to determine mobility patterns and limitations related to age and other factors. Results of the survey indicate that a majority of seniors are car dependent. However, some older adults miss important activities due to mobility limitations associated with increasing age, poorer health, living alone, not having a licensed driver in the household, and having a disability. Mobility options are also limited in some geographic areas and demographic groups. Importantly, older adults want to “age in place.” Based on these findings and those in related studies, the travel options and the quality of life for older adults, now and in the future, can be greatly enhanced if efforts are made to develop mobility solutions beyond use of private vehicles. The findings support the recommendations of recent regional plans such as the Coordinated Public Transit–Human Services Transportation Plan (2018), adopted by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) of the San Francisco Bay Area, which recommends supporting a range of mobility options centered around shared mobility and accessibility for populations at risk for limited mobility.

A significant proportion of fatalities from motor vehicle collisions (MVC) could be prevented through better emergency medical service (EMS) care. Despite a lack of conclusive research, there is a consensus that prehospital time (the time between the MVC and the patient’s arrival at the hospital) must be reduced as much as possible. Many studies use response time (the time between EMS dispatch and arrival at the scene) as an indicator of overall prehospital time and a metric of EMS performance. However, there are other components of prehospital time that may be equally important, including the discovery time between the collision and EMS notification, the on-scene time, and the transport time from the scene to the hospital. In rural MVCs, the discovery time can be substantial if there are no witnesses or survivors capable of calling emergency services. Technologies that automatically detect MVCs can shorten discovery times in such circumstances. Transport times depend on the distance between the crash scene and the hospital; this time could be reduced by increasing access to trauma centers, especially in rural areas. On scene time is a component of the total time, however there is a trade-off between minimizing scene time to reduce total time and providing optimal on-scene care. Increasing capacity of EMS personnel and/or utilizing technology such as telemedicine should be considered as part of this trade-off. Future research is needed to determine the relative benefits and costs of reducing any of these segments of prehospital time.

Traffic safety decisions are based predominantly on information from police collision reports. However, a number of studies suggest that such reports tend to underrepresent bicycle and pedestrian collisions. Underreporting could lead to inaccurate evaluation of crash rates and may under- or overestimate the effects of road safety countermeasures. This review examined ten studies that used data linkage to explore potential underreporting of pedestrian and/or bicyclist injury in police collision reports. Due to variations in definitions of reporting level, periods of study, and study locations, it was difficult to directly compare the studies. Even among the six studies using the hospital link definition, estimates of reporting levels ranged from 44 to 75 percent for pedestrian crashes, and from 7 to 46 percent for bicycle crashes, suggesting a severe underreporting problem. However, few of the studies provided estimates of the error around their reporting level estimates, and as a result, it is difficult to determine the true level of underreporting. It may be that bicycle and pedestrian crashes appear in both police and hospital datasets but are less likely to be linked. Due to linkage error, link rate can only be used to estimate reporting level. Without the variance of that estimate, the effect of underreporting on traffic safety analyses cannot be accurately determined. Future studies should include estimates of the error present in their data linkage process for greater accuracy of the underreporting in police data. Datasets should be designed for easier linkage with hospital data and other datasets.

BackgroundTo evaluate Complete Street implementations that covary, the present paper aims to: 1) explore the development of typologies of intersections; and 2) examine how these typologies relate to traffic safety.MethodsThe study site is a five-mile segment in Los Angeles County, California. Multiple indicators of environmental features were collected in 2012 and were included in a latent analysis. Latent classes were then analyzed as a predictor of the number of pedestrian injuries/fatalities and injuries/fatalities for all modes in separate models using negative binomial regression and controlling for exposures. Injuries/fatalities represent the most recent 3 years of crash data available surrounding the environmental data collection (2009-2014). We also examined the role of alcohol.ResultsFor a relatively short segment of an urban corridor, we identified two distinct classes of intersections. One class was more complete with respect to pedestrian features but was also associated with indicators of increased potential conflict and was predictive of higher overall injuries/fatalities for all modes. This class also had higher pedestrian volumes but was not predictive of higher pedestrian injuries/fatalities in the final models. The alcohol involvement in crash injuries at these locations did not differ by intersection class but was positively associated with injuries/fatalities for all modes and with severe/fatal injuries for pedestrians in the final models.ConclusionsIdentifying typologies can be used to understand the combination of features and prioritize locations for treatment. While Complete Streets may help counter pedestrian injury trends, the efforts captured in this data are insufficient for municipalities aiming for Vision Zero. Ideally, future research can examine these intersections after the implementation of additional improvements in order to isolate treatment effects. These findings suggest additional intersection countermeasures are needed, in addition to efforts to address social problems such as alcohol use and traffic safety.

ObjectiveAddressing drinking and driving remains a challenge in the United States. The present study aims to provide feedback on driving under the influence (DUI) in California by assessing whether drinking and driving behavior is associated with the DUI arrest rates in the city in which the driver lives; whether this is due to perceptions that one can get arrested for this behavior; and whether this differed by those drivers who would be most affected by deterrence efforts (those most likely to drink outside the home).MethodsThis study consisted of a 2012 roadside survey of 1,147 weekend nighttime drivers in California. City DUI arrest rates for 2009-2011 were used as an indicator of local enforcement efforts. Population average logistic modeling was conducted modeling the odds of perceived high arrest likelihood for DUI and drinking and driving behavior within the past year.ResultsAs the DUI arrest rates for the city in which the driver lives increased, perceived high risk of DUI arrest increased. There was no significant relationship between either city DUI arrest rates or perceived high risk of DUI arrest with self-reported drinking and driving behavior in the full sample. Among a much smaller sample of those most likely to drink outside the home, self-reported drinking and driving behavior was negatively associated with DUI arrests rates in their city of residence but this was not mediated by perceptions.ConclusionThe results of the present study suggest that perceptions are correlated with one aspect of DUI efforts in one's community. Those who were more likely to drink outside the home could be behaviorally influenced by these efforts.

Background: Older adults in rural areas have unique transportation barriers to accessing medical care, which include a lack of mass transit options and considerable distances to health-related services. This study contrasts non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) service utilization patterns and associated costs for Medicaid middle-aged and older adults in rural versus urban areas. Methods: Data were analyzed from 39,194 NEMT users of LogistiCare-brokered services in Delaware residing in rural (68.3%) and urban (30.9%) areas. Multivariable logistic analyses compared trip characteristics by rurality designation. Results: Rural (37.2%) and urban (41.2%) participants used services more frequently for dialysis than for any other medical concern. Older age and personal accompaniment were more common and wheel chair use was less common for rural trips. The mean cost per trip was greater for rural users (difference of $2910 per trip), which was attributed to the greater distance per trip in rural areas. Conclusions: Among a sample who were eligible for subsidized NEMT and who utilized this service, rural trips tended to be longer and, therefore, higher in cost. Over 50% of trips were made for dialysis highlighting the need to address prevention and, potentially, health service improvements for rural dialysis patients.

Musculoskeletal injuries are a common cause of morbidity after road traffic injury (RTI) in motorizing countries. District hospitals provide front-line orthopedic care in Uganda and other sub-Saharan African nations. Improving care at the district hospital

BackgroundAlcohol-impaired driving accounts for substantial proportion of traffic-related fatalities in the U.S. Risk perceptions for drinking and driving have been associated with various measures of drinking and driving behavior. In an effort to understand how to intervene and to better understand how risk perceptions may be shaped, this study explored whether an objective environmental-level measure (proportion of alcohol-involved driving crashes in one's residential city) were related to individual-level perceptions and behavior.MethodsUsing data from a 2012 cross-sectional roadside survey of 1147 weekend nighttime drivers in California, individual-level self-reported acceptance of drinking and driving and past-year drinking and driving were merged with traffic crash data using respondent ZIP codes. Population average logistic regression modeling was conducted for the odds of acceptance of drinking and driving and self-reported, past-year drinking and driving.ResultsA non-linear relationship between city-level alcohol-involved traffic crashes and individual-level acceptance of drinking and driving was found. Acceptance of drinking and driving did not mediate the relationship between the proportion of alcohol-involved traffic crashes and self-reported drinking and driving behavior. However, it was directly related to behavior among those most likely to drink outside the home.DiscussionThe present study surveys a particularly relevant population and is one of few drinking and driving studies to evaluate the relationship between an objective environmental-level crash risk measure and individual-level risk perceptions. In communities with both low and high proportions of alcohol-involved traffic crashes there was low acceptance of drinking and driving. This may mean that in communities with low proportions of crashes, citizens have less permissive norms around drinking and driving, whereas in communities with a high proportion of crashes, the incidence of these crashes may serve as an environmental cue which informs drinking and driving perceptions. Perceptual information on traffic safety can be used to identify places where people may be at greater risk for drinking and driving. Community-level traffic fatalities may be a salient cue for tailoring risk communication.

This report summarizes the information gained from two community forums held in Latino communties in California, provides an analysis of trends in injury and demographic data, and reviews best practices for increasing safety and preventing injury in Latino populations. It highlights pressing traffic safety needs and presents recommendations. It is our goal that this report will serve as a prototype for policy, enforcement and program development to address traffic safety issues for Latinos in California.

This methodological and analysis report outlines the procedures and findings for the fifth annual wave of the “Observational Survey of Cell Phone and Texting Use among California Drivers Study, ”conducted by Ewald & Wasserman Research Consultants (E&W) on behalf of the    California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) and the Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC) at the University of California, Berkeley.

ObjectiveThis study assesses the impact of health problems on driving status (current driver vs. ex-driver) among older adults to identify which of those health problems have the greatest individual and population impact on driving cessation.MethodsData were from baseline and 5 year follow-up waves of a longitudinal survey of adults age 55 years and older (N=1,279). The impact of several health problems on driving status was assessed using a relative risk ratio and a population attributable risk percent. Analyses controlled for age, gender, and the presence of additional baseline health problems.ResultsMany health conditions were not associated with driving cessation. Functional limitations, cognitive function, and measures of vision were significant predictors of driving cessation. Self-care functional limitations were associated with the highest risk for driving cessation, while visual function was associated with the highest attributable risks.DiscussionIn order to effectively address healthy aging and mobility transitions, it is important to consider the implications of targeting individuals or populations who are most at risk for driving cessation. The risk ratio is relevant for evaluating individuals; the attributable risk is relevant for developing interventions in populations.

This project evaluates the feasibility of developing a pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure database and volume database for the California state highway system. While Caltrans currently maintains such data for motor vehicles in the Traffic Accident Surveillance and Analysis System - Transportation System Network (TASAS-TSN) database, the agency does not keep records on pedestrian or bicycle facilities. This information is crucial for improving the safety of these vulnerable road users. This project developed a proposed database structure and corresponding data collection methodology. It is recommended that the databases be linked to TASAS using the connection ID instead of incorporating them directly into the existing database. The volume and infrastructure databases will be constructed separately to accommodate different data collection procedures. In particular, volume data should be updated more regularly than infrastructure data. Volume data must be collected during field visits either manually or using automated collection methods, while infrastructure data can be collected remotely using mapping services or in the field during field visits. The research team tested the structure and collection methodology by populating the database for 100 miles of state highway across two districts. Parallel to testing the consistency and integrity of the database, the team also generated a time-cost estimate for data collection for different facilities across the state highway system. The research team estimates that collecting the data in the field for the entire state highway system will require approximately 9,000 hours, while remote (computer-based) data collection will require about 4,000 hours.

This report presents the results from a multiyear effort to develop and test performance measures for evaluating the impact of landscaping and roadside features on pedestrian and bicyclist safety and mobility and economic vitality for Caltrans’ urban arterial network.  The first phase of the study was a literature review, and the second phase focused on developing performance measures. The third and fourth phases focused on testing the proposed performance measures consisting of an infrastructure analysis, policy review, safety analysis and a pedestrian and bicyclist intercept survey on two urban corridors in California. The results of the fieldwork indicate that the majority of the proposed performance measures are valid and ready for adoption by Caltrans.   The remainder of the measures require additional testing to produce conclusive results. The study also revealed that drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users all request similar roadside design features to improve their perceptions of traffic safety, suggesting that transportation agencies maybe able to target a few specific improvements for maximum benefit to all user groups. Finally, the study found that the cities with the most developed pedestrian and bicyclist policies and plans seemed to have commensurate pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure on the ground, suggesting that the policies and plans have a tangible impact on eventual development.

Large college campuses generate considerable volumes of traffic in a variety of modes, and in greater numbers, than found in most U.S. settings. This setting presents a unique study opportunity, as well as a significant potential for conflicts between motorized and non-motorized users of the transportation system, surrounded as most campuses are by mixed-use environments  e.g. retail, restaurant, entertainment and high-density residential facilities such as apartments and dorms. At the same time, university campuses are also typically characterized by a central core area where most trips are made by bicycle or on foot in larger volumes than off campus. This study examines the campus cores and peripheries of the University of California, Berkeley, the University of California, Los Angeles, and California State University, Sacramento, in order to compare safety risks for pedestrians and bicyclists among the three locations. Together, they comprise a wide number of characteristics in terms of setting, size, mode share and layout. The primary goal of the study is to identify possible relationships between pedestrian and bicycle crashes and the environments where these crashes occur, in terms of urban form, traffic characteristics and more. Using approaches from public health, planning, engineering and urban design, crash data (both police-reported and self-reported) and urban form data from all three campuses were examined, and the spatial and temporal distribution of pedestrian and bicycle crashes in each campus were studied. In order to account for under-reporting of pedestrian and bicycle crashes, an online survey was developed to solicit self-reported data from campus travelers about their crash experiences and perceptions about safety. This information was subsequently analyzed to identify collision hotspots reported by travelers on the three campuses, as well as hotspots indicated by reported crash data. The hotspots were studied in detail to identify the characteristics of the built environment that contributed to the incidence of pedestrian and bicycle crashes, and to suggest areas where design changes would be most likely to improve pedestrian and bicycling safety.

The Pedestrian Safety Improvement Program is an effort of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to identify and address systemic problems with regard to pedestrian safety in California, with the long-term goal of substantially reducing pedestrian fatalities and injuries in California. The efforts and findings presented in this report reflect the work of a team of experts in transportation engineering, transportation planning, public health, geographic information systems, and urban design from the UC Berkeley Safe Transportation Research & Education Center.

California was the first state to legislate a Safe Routes to School (SR2S) program under Assembly Bill AB 1475 (1999). SR2S funds construction projects that make it safer for children to walk/bicycle to school and encourage a greater number of children to choose these modes of travel for the school commute. The main goal of this project was to assess the long-term impact of program-funded engineering modifications on walking/bicycling levels and on safety. Evaluation of improvements was determined using a targeted method of determining the countermeasures to result in safety and mode shift. Major results indicate that safety of pedestrians increased within 250 feet of an infrastructure improvement, such as a sidewalk. There was also evidence of mode shift near improvements, as well. Positive results for safety and mobility, as well as improved data collection for funded programs, should make Safe Routes to School programs competitive among other transportation needs.

Road deaths are forecast to double by 2020, with the burden falling most heavily on low- and middle-income countries and, within those countries, on the most vulnerable and poorest road users. Half of the 1.2 million people killed and 50 million injured in road crashes each year are pedestrians, motorcyclists, bicyclists, and users of unsafe public transport; and more than 90 percent are from low- and middle-income countries. Because these are the areas where rapid motorization is taking place, the issue of safety in increasingly multi-modal environments is now of critical importance, particularly for pedestrians and bicyclists, since as vulnerable road users (VRU), they comprise a large proportion of injuries and deaths, and similar strategies for prevention of injuries and fatalities for these two groups are available. Although a great deal of additional research is needed to determine the costs and benefits of various proposed solutions, some basic principles can be identified to guide roadway and infrastructure design for improved pedestrian and bicyclist safety. The three broad but separate strategies for reducing the probability of an injury or fatality are: (i) reducing exposure, (ii) reducing the probability of a collision given exposure, and (iii) reducing the probability of injury given a collision. The purpose of this paper is to describe and illustrate these principles, discuss issues related to each one, and discuss the benefits—indeed, imperativeness—of the application of these principles by planners and traffic engineers.

The only way to absolutely prevent all drivers from going around lowered gates at level rail-highway crossings is to make it physically impossible, or at least very difficult, for them to do so. While there are various options to accomplish this (constructing a separation of grade, closing the crossing, or deploying an impenetrable concrete barrier), most have high monetary or social costs. Alternative approaches—such as channelization devices and long-arm gates—while not 100 percent effective, can be used to prevent deaths and injuries while remaining economically feasible. Research has shown that the addition of channelization devices can dramatically reduce the number of violations at level rail-highway crossings. While long-arm gates appear to be effective, additional study is needed to determine their suitability for individual locations. Unfortunately, even when overall rail crash totals for the country or for a given state are high, crashes at specific crossings are relatively rare events, making it extremely difficult to show that the addition of a safety treatment at a particular site prevented a crash. However, based on the efficacy of channelization devices—75 percent—in addition to the experiences of various transportation agencies, these devices appear to be a viable, low cost safety upgrade for at-grade crossings.

This methodological report describes survey research and data collection methods employed for the second Observational Survey of Cell Phone and Texting Use among California Drivers study conducted in 2012. This study was conducted by Ewald & Wasserman Research Consultants (E&W) on behalf of the California Office of Traffic Safety and the Safe Transportation Research and Education Center at University of California at Berkeley. The survey’s goal was to obtain a statewide statistically representative observational sample of California’s cell phone use behaviors, focusing on mobile device use and compare it to 2011 survey data. Vehicle drivers were observed at controlled intersections, such as traffic lights and stop signs, using a protocol similar to the National Occupancy Protection Use Study methodology published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The sample frame included a total of 5,664 vehicle observations from 129 sites. The total percentage of distracted driving by electronic devices (holding a phone to the ear, manipulating a hand-held electronic device while driving, or talking on a hand-held device) observed increased to 6.2% in 2012 from 4.2% in 2011. California’s baseline level of cell phone use and driving will be a critical metric over the years as traffic safety stakeholders mobilize to conduct high visibility enforcement campaigns, explore newpolicies, expand educational programs, and engineer countermeasures to increase safety on the roads.

This project examined the safety and demand issues for pedestrians and bicyclists at multi-lane roundabouts through a literature review, case studies, in-field counts and surveys, focus groups, and video analysis. This document presents research findings, synthesizes current information on best practices, and makes recommendations to assist local agencies planning and designing safer multi-lane roundabouts. These findings should help local agencies and Caltrans create roundabouts that better and more safely address the needs of bicyclists and pedestrians. The current literature is referred to throughout the document to augment the research team’s findings, especially for issues that were beyond the scope of this project. Key findings in the areas of pedestrian and bicyclist avoidance of, behavior around, and collisions at multi-lane roundabouts are presented along with recommendations for geometric design, design speed, sight distance, width of lanes, signage and pavement markings, and operational recommendations.

The high level of pedestrian, bicycle, and transit activity on city-owned streets surrounding the UC Berkeley campus creates a dynamic social environment and gives Berkeley much of its charm. But the streets around the campus (henceforth called the campus periphery) are also places where pedestrians and bicyclists have been injured or killed in collisions with automobiles. This creates liability for drivers, the City, and the University—and worse, causes suffering for crash victims and their families.Everyone has an interest in reducing the frequency and severity of pedestrian and bicycle crashes within the campus periphery. This document, developed by the UC Berkeley Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC), recommends short- and long-term actions to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety on and near the campus.

Non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) can prevent emergency care as a result of delayed or missed medical appointments. Medicaid provides NEMT for low income individuals who have no other means of transportation and this is a critical component of the health care delivery system. This study examined cancelled trips in Medicaid adults age 65+ to explore whether barriers persist for a growing segment of the population who face particular challenges of age-related declines in health and function. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted using transportation brokerage data for Delaware members who intended to travel during 2008-2010, modeling the odds of all cancellations and then these mutually exclusive types: (1) client cancelled; (2) client obtained alternative transportation; and (3) client cancelled due to health. Over half of the cancelled trips were attributed to client reasons. Black race was associated with client canceling (OR=1.4) and canceling due to alternative transportation (OR=1.9). Compared to dialysis, trips for other medical care were more likely to be cancelled for client and health reasons (ORs ranged 1.6-7.9). Higher levels of service increased cancelling for health reasons (OR=2.9 stretcher; OR=1.8 wheelchair). Finally, pre-scheduled or subscription trips were less likely to be cancelled and client factors differed for the cancellation of trips that were not regularly scheduled. The results of this initial study confirm that for this population additional transportation services are often not available and that more support for utilizing NEMT may be needed. Future research should evaluate persistent barriers, service delivery, and long-term outcomes.

At-grade rail crossings provide different levels of warnings and/or barriers to alert drivers to the potential dangers presented by approaching trains. For some drivers, an activated warning system, rather than being a signal to stop, merely serves as a cue for the need to make a decision whether or not to cross. In California, for the ten-year period from 2001 to 2010, the result was 1,033 trainvehicle crashes resulting in 157 deaths and 458 injuries. The best solution to rail crossing crashes is to remove the need for the driver to engage in a potentially faulty decision-making process by making it impossible, or at least very difficult, for the driver to bypass lowered gates. Two low-technology, low-cost, low-maintenance methods: median separators and long-arm gates, have been deployed in many locations and have been shown to prevent deaths and injuries while remaining economically feasible. Highway-railway grade crossing collisions tend to be spread over a vast number of sites, with few (if any) occurring at any given site in any given year. To improve safety at all 6,443 grade crossings in California to some uniform standard would be prohibitively expensive and impractical. Therefore, any comprehensive safety program must begin by first identifying crossings where the risk of collision is unacceptably high, and where safety countermeasures are most warranted. Predicting the degree of safety present at highway-railroad grade crossings using accident prediction models is a common approach. These models are usually developed using a highwayrailroad grade crossing database (primarily that maintained by the Federal Railroad Administration using data supplied by each state) consisting of crossing characteristics and accident data for a given period of time. From the perspective of the California Division of Rail, however, the search for the ideal formula or ranking system is immaterial given the current state of its rail crossing inventory database (which is the responsibility of the California Public Utilities Commission) with its often inaccurate as well as incomplete information. At present, the only meaningful statistic for which there is data is crash history, which leads to the difficult question of what constitutes a dangerous rail-highway crossing. If a crossing has an incident every twenty years, it would be hard to argue that the crossing is dangerous. But what if a crash occurs there every ten years, or every five years? At what point does a crossing become dangerous and in need of remedial action? An examination of gated sites with multiple crashes between 1986 and 2010 shows that the median time between crashes ranges from 6.1 years at sites with two crashes to 2.75 years at sites with five crashes. Also of interest is the length of time it took each site to accumulate its crashes. These range from 5 days to 24 years for sites with two crashes to 8 to 23 years at sites with five crashes. Certainly a crossing with five incidents over the course of eight years can be labeled as dangerous, but what about those crossings with incidents spread out over twenty or more years? If a crossing is truly dangerous and in need of remedial action, how do so many vehicles make it safely across resulting in several years passing without an incident? Since so much depends on the accuracy of our state’s inventory database, bringing it up to date and putting it into a readily accessible format should be the top priority for all involved in California rail. Once that is accomplished, crossings will be able to be properly evaluated by looking for commonalities at sites where crashes have occurred in the past.

Methods for identifying sites with potential for preventing traffic fatalities and injuries have been developed for vehicle-vehicle collisions. This study was funded by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to develop methods for identifying sites where there is potential for significant reductions in pedestrian and bicyclist injury. Data from 1998-2007 from a 16.5-mile section of San Pablo Avenue (SR 123) in the San Francisco East Bay was used as a study area. Several approaches for identifying sites with high potential for reducing pedestrian and bicyclist injury were evaluated and compared, a framework was developed for conducting benefit-cost analyses, and a prototype was developed for a training protocol for conducting analyses of pedestrian and bicyclist safety in a corridor or network. The basic principle followed is that sites with the most potential for reducing injury are those sites where the most injuries can be prevented per dollar spent. Everything else being equal, these sites are the ones with the highest expected number of injuries if nothing is done. Prior history is typically used to make this estimate, but this may not be sufficient, especially if the underlying rates are low. Several approaches to developing statistically stable estimates are explained and compared: (i) extend the number years for both the baseline and follow-up periods, (ii) expand the size of the target sites considered, and (iii) apply Bayesian methods to include a modeled estimate of risk in the calculation. Strengths and weaknesses of each of these approaches are discussed with illustrations from the study area.

This paper presents the results of a qualitative survey of commercial owners, managers, and occupants in the City of Berkeley who have invested in on-site bicycle facilities such as secure parking, showers, changing rooms, and clothing lockers, what we are calling “bicycle-oriented design” (BOD). The sites represent a selection of building types common in the commercial building stock in U.S. cities.The research is designed to answer three questions about the use of BOD: (1) what were motivations behind the decision to invest in BOD (2) what are the challenges and rewards for investing in BOD? and (3) what types of BOD were chosen? The survey was carried out through structured interviews and by site visits.This research builds on the growing literature on bicycle facilities by exploring the concept that bicycle infrastructure does not stop at the door. We find a number of motivations and challenges shared across a variety of settings, and the insights derived from the study can be applied to broader situations. Operational needs and a desire for “green” image-building and marketing are important contributors. Space costs, especially the cost of interior space, posed challenges. Solutions at some sites suggest strategies that could be applied in other settings. The results also indicate that many decisions on specific BOD components were made on an ad hoc basis, indicating a potential need for an authoritative source of information and guidelines about BOD because much of the information is scattered across different agencies and sources.

We found that broader government policies such as infill zoning exemptions and energy-saving directives made BOD more feasible. A comprehensive survey of existing BOD requirements, guidelines, and best practices of BOD design elements would be useful to policymakers, local officials, and developers as they confront decisions on how or if to encourage BOD. More broadly, additional research on the potential relationship between BOD and mode choice of building tenants could lead to a greater understanding of what benefits are derived from these investments as well as constraints. Finally, an examination of BOD in the residential context, particularly for infill and TOD projects, could "close the circle" on the commute trip by identifying the opportunities and challenges of incorporating BOD into residential projects

This paper reports on research conducted by the Safe Transportation Research and Education Center and sponsored by the California Department of Transportation (“Caltrans”) to establish performance measures for pedestrian and bicycle safety and mobility along urban arterials. Although historically focused on motorized vehicle mobility, Caltrans has recently joined in a national trend to incorporate non-motorized transportation and community-level outcomes into transportation decision-making frameworks, an approach known as "Complete Streets." Recognizing that its current performance measurement system does not reflect this shift, Caltrans worked with researchers at the University of California, Berkeley to create new measures that more accurately gauge its progress toward these objectives. This paper discusses a field test of the validity and ease of application of the proposed performance measures for pedestrian safety. The test corridor was San Pablo Avenue, a 9.5-mile, multi-jurisdictional State Route in Northern California. While the researchers developed the performance measures based on a broad literature and best-practice review, the field-test determined that most of the initial performance measures for pedestrian safety require adjustments to improve validity and facilitate their broad adoption by Caltrans. This paper demonstrates the value of small-scale field-testing of performance measures before their adoption, particularly for subject areas with little institutional measurement history, like pedestrian and bicyclist safety and mobility. The paper concludes with discussion of the next steps of the performance measures development process and future research on the topic.

The three primary objectives of this project were to: (1) conduct research on existing bicycle and pedestrian safety programs and guidelines in the U.S. and internationally, (2) obtain and analyze existing data related to pedestrian and bicycle safety in California, and (3) assist in developing methodologies for producing safety action plans, identifying and selecting projects, conducting education campaigns, and targeting enforcement campaigns. To meet these objectives, SafeTREC developed a set of resources and tools for use in California. These resources make information and data on pedestrian injuries and fatalities in CA accessible to practitioners, researchers, and anyone else interested in obtaining information and improving conditions for pedestrians. The deliverables are individually summarized and included as appendices. These resources should be further developed and maintained to remain useful and appropriate.

The focus of this study was on the identification of barriers to transit use by older adults and on testing improvements and interventions that hold promise for increasing ridership. Baseline measurements of ridership and perceptions of transit use were gathered at two study sites in the San Francisco Bay Area. Among the challenges and barriers to transit use by older adults are lack of information about service and schedules; waiting outdoors in uncomfortable station areas; lack of security and perception of crime; inconvenient pedestrian access to stops; and lack of training for drivers in the needs of older riders. The report includes a summary of surveys of seniors' perspectives, results of two travel training interventions, and a handbook to be used by transit and senior services agencies.

Workplace motor vehicle incidents at Caltrans are a significant cause of injuries, employee lost time, and property damage. Because backing crashes are major contributors to motor vehicle incidents, identifying and promoting methods of reducing backing accidents is a top priority. According to internal Caltrans’ data, 92.3% of workplace backing crashes were preventable by the driver. Backing crashes are the single largest category of preventable crashes, representing 30% of preventable crashes in the Caltrans fleet. From 1998 through 2007, preventable backing crashes cost Caltrans at least $5.45 million in vehicle repairs alone.The Traffic Safety Center (TSC) at the University of California-Berkeley completed this study, which examines Caltrans crash data from the Safety Information Management System (SIMS) and identifies trends in backing-related crashes. The findings describe how these crashes are distributed across Caltrans sites, various work locations, and among vehicle types. This study also presents a summary of a literature review of technological solutions to backing crashes, a summary of results from a Caltrans backing prevention technology pilot, and an outline for a proposed Field Operational Test of promising backing technologies. Based on careful review of Caltrans data and backing incident counter-measures, the study evaluates current Caltrans safety policies relevant to backing crashes and offers recommendations for strengthening them.

Wet pavement-related collisions represent a significant traffic safety concern, due in part to the lack of adequate friction between tire and pavement, known as skid resistance. State agencies employ a skid number (SN) system, based on a standard test procedure in which a locked wheel is towed at 40 mph and the skid number (SN40) is calculated from the measured resistance. SN40 is used as a reference value for speeds both greater than and less than 40 mph. For most Departments of Transportation (DOTs) in the nation, excluding California, pavements for which the SN40 is below 30 are deemed unacceptable and corrective actions are required.The main objectives of this study are (1) to evaluate and analyze skid test results from the test data inventory, and (2) to identify and analyze before-and-after collision data at sites where three experimental types of pavements (Open Graded Asphalt Concrete [OGAC], Groove Pavement [GP], and Rubberized Open Graded Asphalt Concrete [R-OGAC]) have been implemented.

This paper provides the data collection and research results for the Seamless Travel project. The Seamless Travel Project is a research project funded by Caltrans and managed by the University of California Traffic Safety Center, with David Ragland, PhD., as the Principal Investigator and Michael Jones as the Project Manager. The project is funded by Caltrans Division of Innovation and Research and is being conducted by the Traffic Safety Center of University of California Berkeley and Alta Planning + Design.Measuring bicycle and pedestrian activity is a key element to achieving the goals of the California Blueprint for Bicycling and Walking (the Blueprint). Meeting these goals, which include a 50% increase in bicycling and walking and a 50% decrease in bicycle and pedestrian fatality rates by 2010, and increases in funding for both programs, will require a quantifiable and defensible base of knowledge. This research helps meet two of the Blueprint’s major strategic objectives: (1) collecting data on volumes and facilities, and (2) determining the most cost-effective methods of estimating bicycle and pedestrian collision rates.

Because hit-and-run crashes account for a significant share of pedestrian fatalities, a better understanding of these crashes will assist efforts to reduce pedestrian fatalities. Of the more than 48,000 pedestrian deaths that were recorded in the United States between 1998 and 2007 (Fatality Accident Reporting System [FARS]), 18.1% of them were the victims of hit-and-run crashes, and the percentage of fatal pedestrian hit-and-runs has been rising as the number of all pedestrian fatalities has decreased. Using FARS data on single pedestrian fatal victim crashes between 1998-2007, logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify factors related to hit-and-run and to identify factors related to the identification of the hit-and-run driver. Results indicate an increased risk of hit-and-run in the early morning, during non-daylight, and on the weekend. Results also indicate that certain driver demographic characteristics (young, male), behavior (notably alcohol use), and history (e.g., suspended license or history of DWI/DUI convictions) are associated with hit-and-run. There also appears to be an association between the type of victim and the likelihood of the driver being identified. Alcohol use and early morning, the time frame when persons may be leaving bars, were among the leading factors that increased the risk of hit-and-run. Reducing alcohol-related crashes could substantially reduce pedestrian fatalities as a result of hit-and-run. Driver characteristics will assist in the development of countermeasures, however, more information about this population may be necessary.

Skid resistance is one of the important serviceability indicators related to safety on wet pavements. There is a need to manage skid resistance systematically to maintain the level of safety performance of roadway surfaces. This study focused on the development of a skid resistance deterioration model based on the analysis of skid data inventory collected in California. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has collected skid resistance data across the complete state highway network over the past two decades using a standard locked-wheel skid trailer, ASTM E-274. This study utilizes skid data collected on more than 300 miles of asphalt concrete freeway in California over a period of twenty years. Most of the possible factors found in previous studies to influence skid resistance were considered. Panel data parameter estimation methods were used. The results indicate that factors with the largest effects on skid resistance are the age of pavement, ADT, temperature, precipitation, and the length of the period since the last significant precipitation.

Each year from 1998 to 2007, an average of approximately 4,800 pedestrians were killed and 71,000 pedestrians were injured in United States traffic crashes. Because many pedestrian crashes occur at roadway intersections, it is important to understand the intersection characteristics that are associated with pedestrian crash risk. This study uses detailed pedestrian crash data and pedestrian volume estimates to analyze pedestrian crash risk at 81 intersections along arterial and collector roadways in Alameda County, California. The analysis compares pedestrian crash rates (crashes per 10,000,000 pedestrian crossings) with intersection characteristics. In addition, more than 30 variables were considered for developing a statistical model of the number of pedestrian crashes reported at each study intersection from 1998 to 2007. After accounting for pedestrian and motor vehicle volume at each intersection, negative binomial regression shows that there were significantly more pedestrian crashes at intersections with more right-turn-only lanes, more non-residential driveways within 50 feet (15 m), more commercial properties within 0.1 miles (161 m), and a greater percentage of residents within 0.25 miles (402 m) who are younger than age 18. Raised medians on both intersecting streets were associated with lower numbers of pedestrian crashes. These results, viewed in combination with other research findings, can be used by practitioners to design safer intersections for pedestrians. This exploratory study also provides a methodological framework for future pedestrian safety studies.

This study focused on safety performance of new pavement surface types. Open graded or coarse-textured roadway surfaces are advisable for high-speed, wet-weather traffic conditions. They provide drainage relief at the tire-pavement interface, reduce the steepness of the speed gradient, decrease the likelihood of hydroplaning, minimize splash and spray, reduce the glare from wet pavements, and improve high-speed skid resistance. Before-and-after comparisons using historical collision data from California Traffic Accident Surveillance and Analysis System (TASAS) were conducted to assess the safety performance of three types of experimental pavement: open-graded asphalt concrete (OGAC), groove pavement (GP), and rubberized open-graded asphalt concrete (R-OGAC) projects implemented in recent years. Because these new types of pavement surfaces are expected to improve drainage, wet pavement related collisions were considered target collisions and analyzed in the before-and-after study. Our findings indicate that resurfacing with OGAC significantly decreased the number of wet-related collisions. However, no significant conclusions were drawn from the results of resurfacing with GP and R-OGAC, due to the lack of sufficient data. While further research is needed, findings from this current study suggest that new pavement types such as OGAC can improve the safety performance of roadways.

Accurate estimates of pedestrian volume are important for analyzing pedestrian movement and safety; methods to estimate these volumes are continuously evolving and being improved. However, relatively little is known about the impact of weather conditions on pedestrian activity. This paper evaluates the effect of weather by including temperature, cloud cover, wind, and precipitation variables in a linear regression model of pedestrian volumes. Pedestrian volumes were collected over approximately one year using automated counters at 13 different locations in Alameda County, California. These volumes were compared with weather data available from nearby weather stations. Results show that several weather variables had a significant influence on pedestrian volumes during certain time periods. Rain had the largest effect on pedestrian volumes at a given location, though clouds, wind, and both hot and cold temperatures were also shown to decrease volumes. This study demonstrates the importance of accounting for weather when analyzing pedestrian volumes. Future research should attempt to understand how the effect of weather conditions on pedestrian volumes varies by geographic region, time period, and local land use and site characteristics.

Weather-related crashes represent a significant concern in roadway safety. Wet collisions often resulted in injuries or fatalities, at a ratio higher than collisions that occur in dry roadway conditions. Therefore, it is of strong interest to identify and manage the locations where collisions are prone to happen under wet pavement surface or adverse weather conditions. This paper introduces a method to estimate precipitation exposure of roadway segments by linking weather station data to collision database. Subsequently, the corresponding crash rate for a subject location is calculated based on the concept of conditional probability. The method is then applied to quantify and compare the wet collision rates of some study sites before and after pavement projects of installing Open Graded Asphalt Concrete (OGAC), a pavement countermeasure commonly adopted for wet collision reduction. The findings demonstrated that OGAC offered the reduction of wet collisions at a large fraction of the study sites.

BackgroundCollision geocoding is the process of assigning geographic descriptors, usually latitude and longitude coordinates, to a traffic collision record. On California police reports, relative collision location is recorded using a highway postmile marker or a street intersection. The objective of this study was to create a geocoded database of all police-reported, fatal and severe injury collisions in the California Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS) for years 1997-2006 for use by public agencies.ResultsGeocoding was completed with a multi-step process. First, pre-processing was performed using a scripting language to clean and standardize street name information. A state highway network with postmile values was then created using a custom tool written in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) in ArcGIS software. Custom VBA functionality was also used to incorporate the offset direction and distance. Intersection and address geocoding was performed using ArcGIS, StreetMap Pro 2003 digital street network, and Google Earth Pro. A total of 142,007 fatal and severe injury collisions were identified in SWITRS. The geocoding match rate was 99.8% for postmile-coded collisions and 86% for intersection-coded collisions. The overall match rate was 91%.ConclusionsThe availability of geocoded collision data will be beneficial to clinicians, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners in the fields of traffic safety and public health. Potential uses of the data include studies of collision clustering on the highway system, examinations of the associations between collision occurrence and a variety of variables on environmental and social characteristics, including housing and personal demographics, alcohol outlets, schools, and parks. The ability to build maps may be useful in research planning and conduct and in the delivery of information to both technical and non-technical audiences.

This paper documents a new method for monitoring traffic collision data from continuous roadway facilities to detect high collision concentration locations. Many existing methods for detecting collision concentration locations require segmentation of roadways and assume traffic collision data are spatially uncorrelated, resulting in both false positives (i.e., identifying sites for safety improvements that should not have been selected) and false negatives (i.e., not identifying sites that should have been selected). The proposed method does not require segmentation of roadways; spatial correlation in the collision data does not affect the results of analysis. This new method has a lower false positive rate than the conventional sliding moving window approach. This paper shows how the proposed method can proactively identify high collision concentration locations and capture the benefit of safety improvements observed in the project location and in neighboring sites.

The report summarizes the findings from comparative studies of safety performance between two different types of High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) facilities in California - continuous access versus limited access. The findings show that HOV facilities with limited access offer no safety advantages over those with continuous access, whether measured by percentage of collisions, collisions per mile, collisions per VMT, or collision severity. As part of the present research, the authors investigated the relationship between HOV design features and safety performance of HOV facilities. One key design feature is shoulder/total width. The findings indicate that maintaining adequate shoulder and total width is essential, and a quantitative estimate for the relationship between shoulder and total width versus safety performance of HOV lanes is provided. Additionally, findings from investigating other influential factors on safety performance of HOV facilities, including design features of ingress/egress section in limited access HOV facilities, congestion, High Collision Concentration Locations and etc., were also documented. While further research is needed, results to date suggest that improvements in HOV facility performance can be achieved by improved HOV facility design.

This study performed before-and-after analyses (comparisons of collisions before and after the construction of auxiliary lanes) on collision rate at nine study sites in California in order to achieve two objectives: (i) to estimate the freeway Crash/Collision Reduction Factor (CRF) for auxiliary lanes, and (ii) to develop design guidelines for the construction of auxiliary lanes. Findings indicate that on average, collision rates decreased by 17.3 percent at nine study sites. The study also found that after construction of auxiliary lanes at two study sites, collision rates increased when there were high ramp flows, or when a lane-drop bottleneck was formed near the downstream off-ramp location. As a result of the increase in collision rates at these sites, the construction of auxiliary lanes may not be an appropriate measure if the candidate site has high ramp flows, or if the construction is likely to form a lane-drop bottleneck. When these guidelines are followed, auxiliary lanes reduce collisions 34.0 percent within study sites.

The size of the aging population in the United States is increasing, and transportation is critical to maintaining older adults mobility, independence, and quality of life. Travel training programs designed to increase individual knowledge are one way to encourage older adult use of fixed- route transit and improve the transportation options for older adults. The analysis conducted in this paper explores characteristics of travel-training participants in Alameda County, California in 2007-2008 and their knowledge and concerns regarding public transit. Specific issues addressed include transit habits, degree of increase in knowledge after participating in the training, and factors that predict training participation. Participants in this study represent a diverse group of older adults with a broad range of transportation experience and knowledge. After participation in the travel training course, participants showed an increase in knowledge of local public transit and how to access transit information independently. The study identifies currently driving as a predictive positive predictive factor for participating in the travel training course. Future travel training courses should make efforts to recruit current drivers who may wish to plan for their future mobility needs by becoming more familiar with public transit options.