Geospatial Analysis of Pedestrian and Cyclist Crashes in an Urban Environment: A Case Study

Most urban dwellers today do not need to be convinced of the benefits of walking and cycling, which range from improving health and refining the environment to easing traffic congestion and improving a community’s economy. While practices and policies have been established to promote these transportation modes, many challenges still exist which restrain this growth in practice. To identify some of these challenges, the authors performed pedestrian and cyclist safety analyses in an urban center, the city of Hoboken, New Jersey, where potential demands were anticipated. Having the Hoboken terminal as a major intermodal regional hub in this city, the authors performed geospatial safety analyses of pedestrians and cyclists in the vicinity of this terminal. The findings revealed that the number of pedestrian and cyclist injuries decreased as the distance from the Hoboken terminal increased. The frequency of injury was also normalized against population and land use characteristics. While the estimated rates roughly follow the trend of injury frequency, more investigations have been performed to discover contributors such as inadequacy of pedestrian facilities, ambient lighting, and traffic controls at intersections, which may elevate crash exposure risks. The investigation also showed that there was a correlation between the location of bus stops and pedestrian injuries/fatalities, particularly at a further distance from the Hoboken terminal. The study of pre-crash actions and crash-contributing circumstances suggested that pedestrian safety was in jeopardy mostly at intersections and particularly at crosswalks. The same assessments were also carried out for cyclists and cyclist facilities. Safety analyses suggested that an establishment of dedicated bike lanes had improved safety at the test-bed area; however, more enhancements were required to foster this transport mode.