IIT Delhi 2013

Pedestrian Safety in Cities

Priorities for India

Geetam TiwariMoUD Chair Professor, Coordinator, TRIPP

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India

URBAN MOBILITY INDIA 2013

IIT Delhi Oct-09

RTI in Urban areas15% of RTI deaths in thecountry occurred in citieswith a population ofmore than amillion(~15% population)

~ transportinfrastructure investmentaccompanied withincrease in fatalities rate

Highest increase in citiesclose to the Nationalhighways

IIT Delhi December 13

Who are the victims in Road Crashes(Delhi (2001-2005), Mumbai (1996-1997), and Kota(2007),Vadodara(2005-2010)

Pedestrians are the largest no. of victims followed by motorised twowheeler ridersNMV victims are more than 60% in large cities

IIT Delhi December 13

IIT Delhi December 13

Data ProblemDifference between City FIR and NCRB table

Share of pedestrianfatalities(City FIR)

Share of pedestrianfatalities(NCRB Table1.8)

IIT Delhi December 13

Traffic fatalities and striking vehicle by road-usertype on national highways, 1999

Source: Tiwari, Mohan, and Gupta, 2000

IIT Delhi December 13

Involvement of Trucks,buses and cars in all

MTW killingpedestrians and

cyclists

IIT Delhi December 13

Involvement of Trucks, busesand cars in all

MTW killing pedestrians andcyclists

Large number of hit andrun for pedestrians, cyclists

and MTW

IIT Delhi December 13

Three wheelers involved inpedestrian and MTW fatal

crashes

IIT Delhi December 13

Traffic fatalities by age group in Kotaand Mumbai

Locations of fatal crashes in Kota(2007) and Mumbai (1996-1997)

Victim age and location of fatal crashes

• Children are underrepresented in fatalcrashes

• Old people(>64 years)are overrepresented

• Most crashes are awayfrom the junction

IIT Delhi December 13

Most crashes awayfrom junctions

Pattern remainsunchanged after

10years!

Fatal Crashes inDelhi2006-2009

12/27/2013 14Density map for pedestrian accidents inDelhi, 2006-09

LOWHIGH

Google Map

12/27/2013 Estimation of Perceived andActual Risk faced by Pedestrians

2010CEZ8172

15

GIS map kml files were superimposed over google earthmap of Delhi and it was found that

• Roundabouts have less number of accidents

• Clustering of accident is found over the junctions

12/27/2013 16

• Clustering of accident is found near the foot of flyover

12/27/2013 17

`

Pedestrians on grade separated junctions

IIT Delhi December 13

Pedestrians and other non-motorists in urban areas

Safety priorities for India

Separation of traffic on arterial roads and traffic calming inall other areas – clear & continuous pedestrian paths

mandatory on all arterial roads

Speed control, use of scientifically designedroundabouts

instead of traffic lights, no free left turns

Pedestrian impact standards for all vehicles Motorcycles and small cars in urban areas

Daytime running lights for motorcycles

Enforcement of motorcyclist helmet-use laws in all states

Pillars of the Plan

Road safetymanagement

Saferroads andmobility

Safervehicles

Safer roadusers

Post –crashresponse

Important forpedstrian safety

Safer roads and mobilityImprove safety-conscious planning, design, construction

and operation of roadsAssess regularly safety of roads

Explore various forms of transport and safe infrastructure

Road safetymanagement Safer

roadsand

mobility

Safervehicles

Safer roadusers

Post –crashresponse

Guiding Principles

• Space Allocation for different roadusers(pedestrians, bicycles, publictransport, cars)– Seperation vs integration– Crossing /intersections

• Speed management by design– Traffic calming

Cross section – Examples

Cross Section (45 m ROW)

Cross Section – Half Subway

CYC

LETR

ACK

FOO

TPATH

CYC

LETR

ACK

FOO

TPATH

MV LANEMV LANE BUS LANE SERVICEROAD

SERVICEROAD

UN

PAVED

UN

PAVED

UN

PAVED

UN

PAVED

Ready To Use tables

ROWPRIORITY allotment of remaning widths as perRequirement

PedestrianCyclelane Track

ServiceLane Green

SegregatedBus Lane Parking

6M - 12M12M- 18 M18m- 24 m24m onwards32m onwards45m onwards

Distribution of Road widths as per Priority

NON arterial roads and small cities

Speed reductionUrban speed limits should

not exceed 50 km/hand local authorities should

be able to reduce speedswhere necessary.

Weakenforcement in India

Safe pedestrian crossingFatal crashes reduced by 90%(AIIMS, Delhi)

Conflict between safety andmobility

• Higher level of service implieshigher speeds-i.e. higherprobability of fatality

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Impact speed km/h

Probability ofpedestrian

fatalityPercent

Stopping distances at different travel speeds

Distance covered duringreaction time (1 second)

Braking distance

MINI ROUNDABOUTS

Lighting for pedestrians andbicycles

Tree Guards and NMV Parking

Detail of Tree Guard

Detail of NMV Parking

Road Traffic Crash is a complexphenomenon

• Counterintuitive results: Traffic education forchildren(Sandels 1974) may increase injuryrates

• Stricter penalties may reduce enforcement andcrash reporting

• LIC peds vs HIC peds: findings about red lightobservance, gap acceptance, crossingbehaviour

• Education and culture vs ease of implementationand effectiveness

Traffic Safety Science in its infancy

• Counterintuitive results: markedpedestrian crossings increased fatalitiesby 20% compared to unmarked, raisedcrossings decreased fatalities by 40%( Hyden et al)

• Drivers speed increase near a zebracrossing (varhelyi, A, 1999)

• Poor understanding of city structuresand pedestrian behaviour: pedestrianexposure

• Pedestrian safety requires safe cities,safe traffic system is a subset

27-Dec-13 Tamil Nadu Government

ROAD ACCIDENT DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (TNGov.)

IIT Delhi2013

Conclusion• Investments in transport infrastructure has

resulted in increase in fatal crashes, andincrease in risk to pedestrians

• Regardless of city size and density, fatalityrate has increased in the last decade in mostcities

• Appropriate infrastructure design(pedestrian,and bicycle facilities and speed controlmeasures) can reduce fatal crashes