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• 1. [Article] Evaluation of Safe Routes to School Programs: Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Parental Decision-Making

  In the United States, walking to school declined from 42% of 5-18 year olds in 1969 to 16% in 20011. The US Department of Transportation has responded to this dramatic decrease by funding the Safe Routes ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Evaluation of Safe Routes to School Programs: Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Parental Decision-Making Author: Weigand, Lynn, McDonald, Noreen Year: 2011 In the United States, walking to school declined from 42% of 5-18 year olds in 1969 to 16% in 20011. The US Department of Transportation has responded to this dramatic decrease by funding the Safe Routes to School program for $612 million in SAFETEA-LU. The program’s funding emphasize infrastructure improvements such as completing sidewalks and adding crosswalks by requiring between 70% and 90% of funding be allocated toward infrastructure. However, recent research shows that 2 of 3 children who currently are driven to school, but live close enough to walk, do so because it is more convenient for parents. Currently, policymakers and planners have few tools to estimate the effectiveness of SRTS interventions. This research project fills the research gap by developing a stated preference survey to better understand how SRTS interventions affect rates of walking. The stated preference survey identifies how parental attitudes and time constraints affect intervention effectiveness. A unique aspect of this study is the comparison of the results of the stated preference experiments with on-the-ground evaluations of Portland’s SRTS program which were collected concurrently for a separate project. The second component of the project was a series of focus groups with parents of grade levels at selected schools participating in the SRTS program. Results from the focus groups provide more in-depth information about parental attitudes and time constraints as they affect their decisions about their child’s transportation to school. In addition, it will enhance the program evaluation and provide valuable data to help program better target their program efforts toward parents. Title: Evaluation of Safe Routes to School Programs: Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Parental Decision-Making Author: Weigand, Lynn, McDonald, Noreen Year: 2011 In the United States, walking to school declined from 42% of 5-18 year olds in 1969 to 16% in 20011. The US Department of Transportation has responded to this dramatic decrease by funding the Safe Routes to School program for $612 million in SAFETEA-LU. The program’s funding emphasize infrastructure improvements such as completing sidewalks and adding crosswalks by requiring between 70% and 90% of funding be allocated toward infrastructure. However, recent research shows that 2 of 3 children who currently are driven to school, but live close enough to walk, do so because it is more convenient for parents. Currently, policymakers and planners have few tools to estimate the effectiveness of SRTS interventions. This research project fills the research gap by developing a stated preference survey to better understand how SRTS interventions affect rates of walking. The stated preference survey identifies how parental attitudes and time constraints affect intervention effectiveness. A unique aspect of this study is the comparison of the results of the stated preference experiments with on-the-ground evaluations of Portland’s SRTS program which were collected concurrently for a separate project. The second component of the project was a series of focus groups with parents of grade levels at selected schools participating in the SRTS program. Results from the focus groups provide more in-depth information about parental attitudes and time constraints as they affect their decisions about their child’s transportation to school. In addition, it will enhance the program evaluation and provide valuable data to help program better target their program efforts toward parents. Close

• 2. [Article] Development of a Pedestrian Demand Estimation Tool

  Most research on walking behavior has focused on mode choice or walk-trip frequency. In contrast, this study is one of the first to analyze the destination choice behaviors of pedestrians. Using about ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Development of a Pedestrian Demand Estimation Tool Author: Clifton, Kelly, Singleton, Patrick Allen, Muhs, Christopher D., Schneider, Robert J. Year: 2015 Most research on walking behavior has focused on mode choice or walk-trip frequency. In contrast, this study is one of the first to analyze the destination choice behaviors of pedestrians. Using about 4,500 walk trips from a 2011 household travel survey in the Portland, OR, region, we estimated multinomial logit pedestrian destination choice models for six trip purposes. Independent variables included terms for impedance (walk-trip distance); size (employment by type, households); supportive pedestrian environments (parks, a pedestrian index of the environment variable called PIE); barriers to walking (terrain, industrial-type employment); and traveler characteristics. Unique to this study was the use of small-scale destination zone alternatives. Distance was a significant deterrent to pedestrian destination choice, and people in carless or childless households were less sensitive to distance for some purposes. Employment (especially retail) was a strong attractor: doubling the number of jobs nearly doubled the odds of choosing a destination for home-based shopping walk trips. More attractive pedestrian environments were also positively associated with pedestrian destination choice after controlling for other factors. These results shed light on determinants of pedestrian destination choice behavior, and sensitivities in the models highlight potential policy-levers to increase walking activity. In addition, the destination choice models can be used in regional travel demand models or as pedestrian planning tools to evaluate land use and transportation policy and investment scenarios. Title: Development of a Pedestrian Demand Estimation Tool Author: Clifton, Kelly, Singleton, Patrick Allen, Muhs, Christopher D., Schneider, Robert J. Year: 2015 Most research on walking behavior has focused on mode choice or walk-trip frequency. In contrast, this study is one of the first to analyze the destination choice behaviors of pedestrians. Using about 4,500 walk trips from a 2011 household travel survey in the Portland, OR, region, we estimated multinomial logit pedestrian destination choice models for six trip purposes. Independent variables included terms for impedance (walk-trip distance); size (employment by type, households); supportive pedestrian environments (parks, a pedestrian index of the environment variable called PIE); barriers to walking (terrain, industrial-type employment); and traveler characteristics. Unique to this study was the use of small-scale destination zone alternatives. Distance was a significant deterrent to pedestrian destination choice, and people in carless or childless households were less sensitive to distance for some purposes. Employment (especially retail) was a strong attractor: doubling the number of jobs nearly doubled the odds of choosing a destination for home-based shopping walk trips. More attractive pedestrian environments were also positively associated with pedestrian destination choice after controlling for other factors. These results shed light on determinants of pedestrian destination choice behavior, and sensitivities in the models highlight potential policy-levers to increase walking activity. In addition, the destination choice models can be used in regional travel demand models or as pedestrian planning tools to evaluate land use and transportation policy and investment scenarios. Close

• 3. [Article] Safety Effectiveness of Pedestrian Crossing Enhancements

  Over the last decade, the Oregon DOT and other agencies have systematically implemented many pedestrian crossing enhancements (PCEs) across the state. This study explored the safety performance of these ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Safety Effectiveness of Pedestrian Crossing Enhancements Author: Monsere, Christopher M., Figliozzi, Miguel, Kothuri, Sirisha, Razmpa, Ali, Hazel, Daniel R. Year: 2016 Over the last decade, the Oregon DOT and other agencies have systematically implemented many pedestrian crossing enhancements (PCEs) across the state. This study explored the safety performance of these enhanced crossing in Oregon. Detailed data were collected on 191 crossings. Supplemental data items included crossing location information, route characteristics, surrounding land use and crossing enhancement descriptions. Pedestrian volume at the crossing locations was a highly desirable but unavailable data element. To characterize pedestrian activity, a method was developed to estimate ranges for pedestrian crosswalk activity levels based on the land use classification at the census block level and the presence of pedestrian traffic generators such as bus stops, schools, shopping centers and hospitals within a 0.25-mile radius. Each crosswalk was categorized into one of six levels of activity – very low, low, medium-low, medium, medium-high and high. Crash data for the 2007-2014 period were assembled for the safety analysis. After filtering, 62 pedestrian crashes and 746 rear-end crashes were retained for further analysis. The crash data were merged and analyzed. Crash patterns and risk ratios were explored. The most important trend observed was a shift (reduction) in the pedestrian crash severity after the installation of the crosswalk treatments. This shift was from fatal and injury A crash type to lower severity crashes of injury B and injury C. For pedestrian crashes, increases in the risk ratio were observed for increases in the number of lanes, the posted speed, and estimated pedestrian activity level. Similar trends were observed for rear-end crashes. Due to data limitations, subsequent safety analysis focused on installations of RRFB crossing enhancements. A CMF for RRFB installations was estimated. The CMFS for pedestrian crashes are 0.64 +/- 0.26 using a simple before-after analysis; for rear-end crashes: 0.93 +/- 0.22 using an empirical Bayes analysis approach. Title: Safety Effectiveness of Pedestrian Crossing Enhancements Author: Monsere, Christopher M., Figliozzi, Miguel, Kothuri, Sirisha, Razmpa, Ali, Hazel, Daniel R. Year: 2016 Over the last decade, the Oregon DOT and other agencies have systematically implemented many pedestrian crossing enhancements (PCEs) across the state. This study explored the safety performance of these enhanced crossing in Oregon. Detailed data were collected on 191 crossings. Supplemental data items included crossing location information, route characteristics, surrounding land use and crossing enhancement descriptions. Pedestrian volume at the crossing locations was a highly desirable but unavailable data element. To characterize pedestrian activity, a method was developed to estimate ranges for pedestrian crosswalk activity levels based on the land use classification at the census block level and the presence of pedestrian traffic generators such as bus stops, schools, shopping centers and hospitals within a 0.25-mile radius. Each crosswalk was categorized into one of six levels of activity – very low, low, medium-low, medium, medium-high and high. Crash data for the 2007-2014 period were assembled for the safety analysis. After filtering, 62 pedestrian crashes and 746 rear-end crashes were retained for further analysis. The crash data were merged and analyzed. Crash patterns and risk ratios were explored. The most important trend observed was a shift (reduction) in the pedestrian crash severity after the installation of the crosswalk treatments. This shift was from fatal and injury A crash type to lower severity crashes of injury B and injury C. For pedestrian crashes, increases in the risk ratio were observed for increases in the number of lanes, the posted speed, and estimated pedestrian activity level. Similar trends were observed for rear-end crashes. Due to data limitations, subsequent safety analysis focused on installations of RRFB crossing enhancements. A CMF for RRFB installations was estimated. The CMFS for pedestrian crashes are 0.64 +/- 0.26 using a simple before-after analysis; for rear-end crashes: 0.93 +/- 0.22 using an empirical Bayes analysis approach. Close