Urban walkability considering pedestrians’ perceptions of the built environment: a 10-year review and a case study in a medium-sized city in Latin America

ABSTRACT

Numerous methodologies measuring walkability have been developed over the last years. This paper reviews the Walkability Index (WI) literature of the last decade (2009–2018) and highlights some limitations in the current approaches. Only a few studies have evaluated walkability in Latin America, mainly in big cities but not in medium and small-sized cities in the region, which present their own urbanisation dynamics, security issues, sidewalk invasion problems, and poor planning. Furthermore, most WIs in the literature use objective mesoscale variables to assess walkability in a given area. This paper contributes to filling these gaps by generating new evidence from a medium-sized city in Latin America to question if characteristics of the built environment encourage walking trips, as found in the literature, are transferable among regions. The study also proposes a novel index comprised of microscale and mesoscale built environment variables to assess walkability using virtual tools and considering users’ perceptions. The WI estimation relies on ranking probability models. The results of the case study suggest that subjective Security and Traffic Safety are the most crucial factors influencing walkability in these kind of cities, which is different from what is found in the literature from cities in developed countries where Sidewalk Condition and Attractiveness are the most important factors. Security appeared to be strongly associated with a subjective dimension, represented by the fear of crime or perceived risk for crime, instead of the actual occurrence of crimes. This result evidences the importance of the physical attributes of the real world and how they are captured, judged, and processed by pedestrians. Then, regional transferability of WIs needs to be done carefully. Finally, results in this paper highlight the importance of microscale built environment characteristics in the WI formulation in these cities. Results are in line with other research in some cities of the region, which found that microscale variables such as pavement quality and presence of obstacles on the sidewalks are relevant components to promote walkability.     

航母飞行作业空间安全布局研究

研究针对航空母舰飞行作业空间安全问题而开展。研究首先根据作业特点划分航母作业区域，针对飞行作业分析构成空间危害因素的来源，提出一套度量危险因素的空间关联安全水平指标，以便对危险因素的空间关系进行量化；然后在此基础上，对2套不同起飞作业布局进行安全评价；最后，并围绕航母飞行甲板作业空间安全的典型问题进行分析和讨论。     

基于神经网络的小时间粒度交通流预测模型

为解决传统车队离散模型基于概率分布假设和现有交通流预测时间粒度过大不能应用于自适应信号配时优化等问题.在车队离散模型的建模思路上,先分析了下游交叉口车辆到达与上游交叉口车辆离去之间的关系,基于此构建了基于神经网络的小时间粒度交通流预测模型.该模型以上游交叉口离去流量分布为输入,下游交叉口到达流量分布为输出,时间粒度为5 s.最后,通过实际调查数据标定模型参数并应用模型预测下游交叉口到达流量.结果表明,与Robertson模型相比,本文模型预测结果能够更好地反映交通流的变化特征,平均预测误差减少了8.3%.成果可用于信号配时优化.     

Theory of safety surrogates using vehicle trajectories in macroscopic and microscopic settings: Application to dynamic message signs controlled traffic at work zones

This paper presents a new mathematical framework for obtaining quantitative safety measure using macroscopic as well as microscopic traffic data. The safety surrogate obtained from the macroscopic data is in terms of analysis performed on vehicle trajectories obtained from the macroscopic data. This method of obtaining safety measure can be used for many different types of applications. The safety surrogate for the traffic dynamics are developed in terms of a new concept of Negative Speed Differentials (NSD) that involve a convolution of vehicle speed function obtained from vehicle trajectories and then performing the integration of the square of the output for its negative values. The framework is applicable to microscopic traffic dynamics as well where we can use car following models for microscopic dynamics or the LWR model for macroscopic dynamics. This paper then presents the use of this new safety surrogate on the development of a feedback control law for controlling traffic in work zones using Dynamic Message Signs. A hybrid dynamics model is used to represent the switching dynamics due to changing DMS messages. A feedback control design for choosing those messages is presented as well as a simple simulation example to show its application.     

Studies on emergency evacuation management for maritime transportation

Marine transportation is a vital component of the world’s economy and transportation network. The number of people using passenger ships around the globe is increasing worldwide. Similar to other transportation systems, passenger safety is critical in maritime shipment. As emergency evacuation processes for ships are highly different from and more complicated than those for buildings and other vehicles, many researchers have published a vast range of documents related to this peculiar research area. However, there is a tangible lack of sufficient literature review studies that investigate marine emergency evacuation (MEE). That being the case, the potential of marine transportation and the effect of emergency evacuation operation on life safety have inspired the proposal of this study. This paper offers a review of the available literature on MEE modelling, analysis and planning during the period from 1973 to 2017 using a systematic approach. After reviewing relevant academic journals, peer-reviewed conference papers, and technical reports of agencies, relevant literature is analysed. In addition, the literature review is extended by means of proposing a framework methodology which considers different possible conditions and situations during MEE. Finally, insights for ship managers and policymakers are discussed and potential future research directions are identified.     

福州轨道交通建设安全管控平台的设计与应用

福州城市轨道交通建设规模不断增大，复杂的地质、环境条件以及众多工种施工的交叉作业和人员活动，给安全生产带来挑战。针对建设全过程安全管控的具体业务关系和需求分析，梳理和固化工作岗位、职责、流程、响应、整改等安全管理的事项和要求，强化对管控过程的追溯和考核管理。研究信息平台的业务需求、平台架构、网络拓扑、功能模块、数据库设计方法和实现思路，利用Ssm框架、Quartz框架、Encache技术以及SQLServer数据库技术，设计开发基于B/S模式的城市轨道交通安全管控信息系统，应用于在建的5条线路。信息平台的应用，可实现安全管理的标准化、科学化和精细化，极大地提高管理水平和工作效率。     

Delivering improved alerts,warnings, and control assistance using basic safety messages transmitted between connected vehicles

When vehicles share their status information with other vehicles or the infrastructure, driving actions can be planned better, hazards can be identified sooner, and safer responses to hazards are possible. The Safety Pilot Model Deployment (SPMD) is underway in Ann Arbor, Michigan; the purpose is to demonstrate connected technologies in a real-world environment. The core data transmitted through Vehicle-to-Vehicle and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (or V2V and V2I) applications are called Basic Safety Messages (BSMs), which are transmitted typically at a frequency of 10 Hz. BSMs describe a vehicle’s position (latitude, longitude, and elevation) and motion (heading, speed, and acceleration). This study proposes a data analytic methodology to extract critical information from raw BSM data available from SPMD. A total of 968,522 records of basic safety messages, gathered from 155 trips made by 49 vehicles, was analyzed. The information extracted from BSM data captured extreme driving events such as hard accelerations and braking. This information can be provided to drivers, giving them instantaneous feedback about dangers in surrounding roadway environments; it can also provide control assistance. While extracting critical information from BSMs, this study offers a fundamental understanding of instantaneous driving decisions. Longitudinal and lateral accelerations included in BSMs were specifically investigated. Varying distributions of instantaneous longitudinal and lateral accelerations are quantified. Based on the distributions, the study created a framework for generating alerts/warnings, and control assistance from extreme events, transmittable through V2V and V2I applications. Models were estimated to untangle the correlates of extreme events. The implications of the findings and applications to connected vehicles are discussed in this paper.     

BIM技术在清华珠三角公建项目施工中的应用研究

随着科技的进步及项目管理水平的提高,BIM技术应运而生。本文以清华珠三角研究院粤港澳大湾区创新基地项目为依托,从应用目标、应用前准备工作、前期策划管理、技术管理、质量安全管理、物资设备管理、进度管理、经济成本管理等方面开展BIM技术在公建项目施工中的应用研究,结果表明:使用BIM技术,使项目管理走向精细化、全面化、高效化,并提高质量标准,增加安全保障,减少项目成本,提高项目利润率;同时与AI技术相结合,使BIM技术更加具有简便性,产出更大效益。     

道路环境对交通安全的影响及对策

交通安全,涉及到人、车以及道路和环境等很多因素。近年来,因为各种原因使得有关单位以及人员将更多的将精力放在人、车、道路这几个因素上,对道路交通环境没有过多的考虑和研究。深入研究道路交通环境,有利于道路交通的安全,文章通过对其的研究和分析,得出有关道路交通环境对交通安全的影响和解决措施,对于防止道路交通安全事故具有重要意义。同时为人们的生命财产的安全提供保障、对构建社会主义和谐社会具有很大帮助。     

Analysis of volatility in driving regimes extracted from basic safety messages transmitted between connected vehicles

Driving volatility captures the extent of speed variations when a vehicle is being driven. Extreme longitudinal variations signify hard acceleration or braking. Warnings and alerts given to drivers can reduce such volatility potentially improving safety, energy use, and emissions. This study develops a fundamental understanding of instantaneous driving decisions, needed for hazard anticipation and notification systems, and distinguishes normal from anomalous driving. In this study, driving task is divided into distinct yet unobserved regimes. The research issue is to characterize and quantify these regimes in typical driving cycles and the associated volatility of each regime, explore when the regimes change and the key correlates associated with each regime. Using Basic Safety Message (BSM) data from the Safety Pilot Model Deployment in Ann Arbor, Michigan, two- and three-regime Dynamic Markov switching models are estimated for several trips undertaken on various roadway types. While thousands of instrumented vehicles with vehicle to vehicle (V2V) and vehicle to infrastructure (V2I) communication systems are being tested, nearly 1.4 million records of BSMs, from 184 trips undertaken by 71 instrumented vehicles are analyzed in this study. Then even more detailed analysis of 43 randomly chosen trips (N = 714,340 BSM records) that were undertaken on various roadway types is conducted. The results indicate that acceleration and deceleration are two distinct regimes, and as compared to acceleration, drivers decelerate at higher rates, and braking is significantly more volatile than acceleration. Different correlations of the two regimes with instantaneous driving contexts are explored. With a more generic three-regime model specification, the results reveal high-rate acceleration, high-rate deceleration, and cruise/constant as the three distinct regimes that characterize a typical driving cycle. Moreover, given in a high-rate regime, drivers’ on-average tend to decelerate at a higher rate than their rate of acceleration. Importantly, compared to cruise/constant regime, drivers’ instantaneous driving decisions are more volatile both in “high-rate” acceleration as well as “high-rate” deceleration regime. The study contributes to analyzing volatility in short-term driving decisions, and how changes in driving regimes can be mapped to a combination of local traffic states surrounding the vehicle.