IATSS Research最新文献

Mountainous areas pose unique challenges to transportation safety, with their complex terrain and harsh weather conditions. The presence of steep terrain can lead to winding roads with a high degree of azimuth change per mile, thereby increasing the potential for hazardous driving conditions. Additionally, steep terrain is often associated with fog formation, which can obscure roads by clouds. Thus, there is a need to study weather-related crashes and identify associated risk factors in mountainous areas. To address this issue, the Tobit, latent class Tobit (LCT), and two-part truncated log normal (TPTLN) models were employed to investigate the potential interactions between topography and weather-related crash rates, while accounting for the censored nature of crash data. Data from the western region of North Carolina, which is home to numerous mountains experiencing a wide range of weather conditions was used for this purpose. This region comprises a 3570-mile road network across seven cities, with elevations ranging from 1000 ft. to >6158 ft. above mean sea level. Crash data from 2015 to 2017 was obtained from the Highway Safety Information System (HSIS). The results revealed that topography significantly affect weather-related crashes in mountainous areas. Higher elevations and steeper slopes are associated with lower crash rates. Also, the study highlights the importance of considering topography when assessing transportation safety in mountainous areas. The findings help develop transportation safety policies and interventions aimed at improving safety in these areas.

Traffic enforcement is one of the 3E's of traffic safety measures. Traffic enforcement has been reported to reduce traffic accidents worldwide; however, significant regional differences exist in its effectiveness. This study summarizes the history of the effects of traffic enforcement on reducing traffic accidents in Japan. In particular, scientific approaches and more efficient enforcement since 2000 have been described in the research results. Although the implementation of data-based PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Action) has steadily reduced the number of traffic fatalities, further reductions are expected through the use of new technologies such as artificial intelligence.

This study was conducted in 2007–2009 as the IATSS Research Project to consider the comfort and safety of city centers in the automobile age from the perspective of “parking places.”

We focused on four elements related to parking places, that is, 3D & M (density, disposition, design, and management) and proposed changes to parking policy in Japan by comparing and analyzing the actual conditions of parking lots or facilities in different city centers and legal systems in several counties, including Japan, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Germany.

The key concept of our proposal is that we should shift the policy of parking from equipment-duty car-parking “on-site” to parking installation”in-area,“good management, and smart operation.

The findings of this project were widely shared through open symposium with non-members of the IATSS as well as book publication and led to many system revisions in the Japanese parking policies.

Introduction-Motorized Two-Wheeler (MTW) is a convenient and affordable mode of transportation despite being highly vulnerable to rollover crashes. The possible fact may be that MTW is a single-track vehicle and thus lack longitudinal stability, particularly on horizontal curves (H_C). This stability depends on external factors such as curve geometrics and contact surface properties. Therefore, this research aims to identify the impact of pavement surface conditions and roadway geometrics on MTW run-off road crashes on H_C. Method-To consider the temporal effect of pavement surface conditions, this study analyzed different combinations of light and surface moisture conditions for pre- and post-pavement surfacing conditions. Thus, Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) linked with the log function was used to account for repeated observations. Sample data were collected bi-annually from 76 H_C for two years of pre- and post-resurfacing. Pavement surface condition parameter includes skid resistance, rut depth, and international roughness index (IRI). However, to restrain the impact of pavement surface conditions, a separate analysis was carried out to investigate the impact of geometrical design attributes. Results-The analysis concluded that surface moisture condition, light condition, rut depth, and their interactions with AADT were found significant for pre-resurfacing. For post-resurfacing, surface moisture condition, and light condition, IRI and its interaction with AADT were found significant. Similarly, roadway geometrics such as curve radius and their interaction with the presence of sight distance, public activity centre and cross-slope were found significant. Conclusion-Overall, the study insights and confirms how and to what extent pavement surface properties and geometric attributes impact the subject crashes. The results will enhance the understanding of roadway architecture and may help highway designers to implement, either at the intervention or treatment level, to improve safety and comfort.

Given the dangers pedestrians are susceptible to when crossing the roadway, an investigation of motorists' yielding decisions at uncontrolled crossings should be prioritised. Some encounters between motorists and pedestrians turn into injuries or deaths due to excessive delay on the part of drivers, and pedestrians' impatience might lead them to opt for the rolling gap. Insights into drivers' yielding behaviour in developing countries are lacking. Meanwhile, developing countries contribute significantly to traffic deaths, particularly those in the African Region. Understanding drivers' yielding behaviour is necessary for effective interventions to safeguard pedestrians and encourage safe walking. Accordingly, by deploying a backward binary logit model, this study investigated drivers' yielding behaviour at marked uncontrolled pedestrian crossings through naturalistic observation. The results revealed that a small share of drivers, 258, were observed to yield to pedestrians, representing a 28% yielding rate in total. The model indicates that the chances of motorists yielding to pedestrians are enhanced by the following factors: pedestrian age, density, gender and traffic condition. Private car drivers had the lowest yielding rate of 18.2%, followed closely by public transport drivers. This research contributes to the discourse on drivers' yielding behaviour at pedestrian crossings with perspectives from a developing country. Further, it discusses policy implications for policymakers and enforcement agencies.

The Safe System approach is a commonly adopted approach internationally to address road traffic injuries. Existing research has identified that the approach has multiple descriptions, and there have been noted difficulties associated with implementation. Practitioners have an important role in rolling out road safety interventions, and thus are a key point for translating Safe System into practice. However, there has been limited investigation of how practitioners view and understand Safe System. Of particular importance is practitioners' interpretation of Safe System's purpose and the facilitators and barriers to application. Four hundred and sixty-nine respondents completed an online survey which investigated perceptions regarding Safe System's purpose.

The results highlight that practitioners view Safe System as being multidimensional, with a range of ideas about what the overall purpose is. Safe System was perceived as both visionary and practical, with the majority of respondents reporting that it defines a broad outcome for road safety and provides direction on how to respond to road traffic injury. Additionally, two thirds of respondents identified that they applied Safe System to the last project or program they worked on and were broadly supportive of the approach. However, multiple impediments to application were identified, with these barriers effected by the practitioners' demographics, role and organisation. For practitioners, Safe System represents a complex approach that aims to reduce injury and deaths, however, effective application can only occur when barriers are reduced.

Despite having the highest accident risk of all motorized vehicles, motorcycles are rapidly gaining popularity in Asian countries because of their affordability and flexibility. In response to this trend, many studies in Asian countries have examined the prevalence of motorcycles and assessed their impacts. In order to identify significant studies on motorcycles, this study conducts a bibliometric analysis of motorcycle studies in Asian countries. The data were gathered from Scopus and Web of Science databases over the entire publication period from 1971 to 2022. This study uses VOS-viewer and Biblioshiny to highlight important indicators, including source, authorship, country, institution, citation, co-citation analysis topic classifications, and keyword occurrences. A total of 2529 articles from journals and conferences were examined. The results reveal that published studies of motorcycles in Asian countries increased by an average of 22% after their initial appearance in 1971. Motorcycling studies in Asia have evolved from focusing on safety (1971–2000) to broader themes including emissions (2001−2012), the built environment's impact on energy (2013–2019), and recently towards advanced technology and urban sustainability (2020−2022). IATSS Research is ranked seventh with the most motorcycle articles. China, including Taiwan, has the most articles and citations among Asian countries. Based on the publication themes, the 51 years of motorcycle studies in Asia can be categorized into five clusters: accidents and human factors, traffic and policy, air pollution, motorcycle engineering and performance, and roads and technological innovation. Finally, eco-friendly fuels for motorcycles, diversity of motorcyclist behaviors in Asia, and technology-based driving safety are significant topics for future studies.

A study was conducted to analyze the factors affecting violation behavior among road users in Thailand and Japan in order to determine appropriate policies and recommendations. The study used the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to evaluate road user behavior and attitude. Questionnaires were distributed in Bangkok, Thailand and Sapporo, resulting in 477 valid responses in Thailand and 201 in Japan. The data was analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). Results showed that notice failure and bicycle stunt were the most impactful factors for the bicycle model in Japan, while instrumental attitude and conformity tendency were significant for the pedestrian model. In Thailand, traffic errors and motorcycle stunts were the most impactful factors for the motorcycle model, while instrumental attitude, descriptive norm, and conformity tendency were significant for the pedestrian model. The study suggests promoting awareness of violation and accidents, teaching proper motorcycle riding techniques, and creating safe environments to prevent accidents. It also recommends cultivating consciousness in individuals behavior and emphasizing the importance of traffic rules to parents and companions.

The location of level crossings for pedestrian circulation is a safety issue due to potential human losses and material damage. This problem has become a concern in urban and industrial environments due to the characteristics of rail systems and unsafe pedestrian behaviour. Research reveals that psychological and infrastructural factors influence pedestrians' decision-making when crossing railroad lines. One of these is the convenience that leads pedestrians to cross at the nearest point. However, investigations to date only study the impact of location on the risk and severity of crashes and pedestrian rule violations. The current research is quasi-experimental, i.e., no optimisation tool has been developed to determine which crossing points pedestrians should follow. Therefore, this research develops a mathematical model for locating level crossings at railways to minimise the total weighted-walked distance. A genetic algorithm was proposed for solving the model, especially for large-size problems. The algorithm parameters were calibrated using the design of experiments and ten instances based on the characteristics of the area under study. The obtained results provide (1) the location of the level crossings and (2) the route pedestrians should follow for each origin-destination pair based on the facilities adjacent to the rail lines. A sensitivity analysis was performed using the ten instances to determine how the location of the level crossings changes with modifications in the facilities' location. Results showed that the model provides alternative solutions according to the problem's size. This study delivers a methodology for practitioners and stakeholders of transportation systems.

Objective

Indonesia experiences a high number of motorcycle accidents at railway crossings (RLXs). The purpose of this study is to observe motorcyclists' behavior and intent to cross the railway in a dangerous or illegal way and the factors influencing these decisions.

Method

Two hundred and fifty-nine people (mean age = 24.2 years, SD = 7.2 years, 146 males, 113 females) voluntarily participated in this study by filling in an online questionnaire. This questionnaire gathered demographic data and used constructs adapted from the extended Theory of Planned Behavior, asking respondents about their behavior at RLXs when the barrier is open, when it is half closed and when it is fully closed. A five-point Likert scale was used to measure the response of the questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive analysis for demographic data, inferential statistics, and structural equation modeling (SEM) for the construct items of the model. Field observation was also conducted to measure the violation rate at RLXs at both busy and non-busy times, which were then compared.

Result

The results show that factors influencing RLX violation based on the extended Theory of Planned Behavior model are attitude, past behavior, and traffic environments. Demographic factors, occupation, RLX characteristics, and crossing frequency were related to self-reported violations and intentions to violate. Based on our observations and questionnaire, it was found that when accident risk was higher, the observed violation rate decreased significantly, as did intention to violate and previous risky crossing behavior.

Conclusion

violations at railway crossings are influenced by individual and environmental factors as well as perceived risk.