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.     

A framework for travel time variability analysis using urban traffic incident data

This study aims to develop a framework to estimate travel time variability caused by traffic incidents using integrated traffic, road geometry, incident, and weather data. We develop a series of robust regression models based on the data from a stretch in California's highway system during a two-year period. The models estimate highway clearance time and percent changes in speed for both downstream and upstream sections of the incident bottleneck. The results indicate that highway shoulder and lane width factor adversely impact downstream highway clearance time. Next, travel time variability is estimated based on the proposed speed change models. The results of the split-sample validation show the effectiveness of the proposed models in estimating the travel time variability. Application of the model is examined using a micro-simulation, which demonstrates that equipping travelers with the estimated travel time variability in case of an incident can improve the total travel time by almost 60%. The contribution of this research is to bring several datasets together, which can be advantageous to Traffic Incident Management.     

A list of accident scenarios for three legs skewed intersections

The term ‘scenario’ is used in the safety field to designate a prototype or a model of an accident process characterised by chains of facts, actions, causal relations and consequences in terms of damage to people and property. The prototypical scenarios, properly realized, provide a basis on which to consider the action to be taken, but also a concrete backup for accident information for use in information campaigns or training. The objective of this study is to define the prototypical accident scenarios for a particular configuration of road intersection: the skewed intersection. Limited sight distance at skewed intersections leads to safety issues. A non-skewed intersection provides the best operating conditions as drivers can easily sense the direction in which they are travelling, estimate the speeds of the opposing traffic and smoothly complete a maneuver in shorter time. In skewed intersections, instead, the ability of drivers to recognize any conflicting vehicles diminishes in comparison to right-angle intersections. The logical-deductive approach used in this paper for the determination of accident scenarios is based on an analysis of a large database of incidents, which occurred on several roads in eastern Sicily on 35 skewed intersections at three-legs. The skew angle of the minor leg of all the intersections studied is between 15° and 20°. This research allowed to develop accident scenarios related to particular configurations of intersections, compatible with the Italian rules. Prototypical scenarios are constructed using samples of accidents occurring on a particular type of study area, especially when they are based on files from in-depth investigations. The method used is an inductive approach, based on an examination of each case, grouping together similar cases and building a prototypical scenario using this case grouping. From the in-depth analysis of database accidents 9 prototypical accident scenarios have been identified for the skewed intersections.     

建设工程项目施工管理的风险分析及防范

本文针对项目施工管理中存在的主要风险,分析了风险产生的原因,提出了防范风险的建议和对策,以供同行交流讨论。     

公路工程施工组织设计管理存在的问题分析与标准化管理措施

实现公路工程施工组织设计管理标准化,要从实现全面管理的标准化入手,加强工程施工标准化管理,追求施工组织设计的科学性、实效性。坚持节约与利用兼顾,环保与美观并重,完善工程管理的标准化,打造优质工程,创建文明样板工程。     

施工现场质量管理

施工现场质量管理是施工过程中质量管理的重要组成部分,切实抓好现场质量管理是创造优良工程的关键,施工单位要狠抓质量管理,使工程质量得到全面提高。对施工现场管理的概念、意义和内容进行阐述,从而提出合理规划施工场地,科学管理施工人员,建立文明施工现场的管理模式。     

动车低速脱轨的动态响应

在动车轴箱下方安装防护装置, 进行线路低速脱轨试验。车辆借助脱轨器完成脱轨, 利用应变片、加速度和位移传感器采集脱轨车辆的动态响应, 采用高速摄像仪和视频摄像仪分别记录了脱轨车辆的运动姿态。基于试验数据, 评估了脱轨条件下钢轨抗倾翻能力, 验证了脱轨安全防护装置的性能, 分析了动车脱轨后的动态响应和脱轨速度、车辆质量和线路对动态响应的影响。试验结果表明: 当动车低速脱轨时, 防护装置撞击钢轨的最大横向力为177.18kN, 小于钢轨横向抵抗力510.00kN, 因此, 脱轨安全防护装置可以扣住钢轨外侧, 有效限制脱轨车辆的横向移动。车辆的脱轨过程分为惰行、轨上运动、落地和路基滑行4个阶段, 各阶段的动态响应均随脱轨速度和车辆质量的增大而增大。当动车脱轨速度为22km·h^-1时, CRTSⅡ型双块式无砟轨道的脱轨距离约为15.80m, CRTSⅠ型板式无砟轨道的脱轨距离约为20.87m, 因此, CRTSⅡ型双块式无砟轨道的轨枕可以起到减速带的作用, 减小脱轨距离。     

区域综合客运通道多方式竞争力博弈模型

为了研究综合客运通道内多方式价格竞争对市场分担率与利润的影响, 基于非集计NL模型与博弈理论, 构建了各客运方式市场分担率与运输价格关系的双矩阵博弈模型。以成渝通道为基础, 研究了高速铁路和高速公路大巴2种典型运输方式不同情景下的市场竞争均衡价格与分担率的变化特征。分析结果表明: 在采用双矩阵博弈模型所计算的均衡价格条件下, 高速铁路和高速公路大巴平均市场分担率分别增加了56.15%和80.58%, 有利于发挥二者的规模效益; 当出行模式结构相同时, 时间价值的变化会影响运营利润和市场分担率, 随着时间价值系数的增大, 高速铁路的平均运营利润增加34.60%, 平均市场分担率增加9.98%, 同时高速公路大巴平均运营利润减少29.70%, 平均市场分担率减少3.49%;对于出行时间处于劣势的高速公路大巴, 适当降低票价有利于增加营运利润; 该博弈模型的计算结果符合区域综合运输通道客运市场实际变化规律, 高速铁路和高速公路大巴不可能通过无限制降价的方式来追求最大利润, 运营利润都呈现先增后减的趋势, 在某个价格下运营利润最大; 该博弈模型具有价格均衡解, 在外界情况变化时, 通过博弈高速铁路和高速公路大巴价格可以达到利润最优状态。     

非国内量产项目的试制管理模式探讨

在汽车研发项目全球化的今天,国内试制中心承接非国内量产项目已经成为汽车合资公司的开发趋势,也对国内试制中心证明自己开发和试制的能力意义深远.由于非国内量产项目的特殊性,各公司内部的相关流程和规范尚不完善,存在各种不确定性,如何能从时间、质量和成本三大方面做好这类项目变得尤为重要.本文将重点放在研发的试制工作上,从如何提...     

连续长大下坡路段交通事故特征分析

在对连续长大下坡路段交通事故数据和道路设计参数调查的基础上, 分析了连续长大下坡路段的交通安全状况, 讨论了急弯陡坡、连续陡坡和连续缓坡3种线形组合形式路段的交通事故特征和事故原因。结合典型长大下坡路段的交通事故数据, 运用数理统计与回归分析方法, 研究了交通事故与道路纵断面参数之间的关系。分析结果表明: 在连续长大下坡路段地点坡度为3%~4%时, 事故率最高; 事故率与事故发生地点前2 km以上路段平均坡度呈显著的指数关系, 所建立回归模型的判定系数高于0.84。