Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety and Accommodation: Participant Handbook

Organization:

United States Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, National Highway Safety Traffic Safety Administration

Publisher/Date:

Washington, DC, Federal Highway Administration, National Highway Safety Traffic Safety Administration; Drake and Associates

Rating:

Useful

Abstract:

Although dated in the world of rapidly evolving pedestrian realm information, is still a rich, comprehensive, and valuable planning resource. The 22-segment course offers an alpha to omega coverage of how to get better bicycle and pedestrian facilities, starting with the transportation benefits of walking and bicycling to debunking myths of liability torts to funding sources. It does not cover technical specifics such as dimensions and materials. It is rich in examples but wanting in details. For this reason, it will be most valuable to planners and advocates. Designers may also find it useful when seeking the behavioral reason for a design, or as a source of examples, or as an aid in making a system choice. The design guidelines segment, Segment XI, is 156 pages, a third of the book. For planners and advocates, the course outlined in this book would be of value. However, for designers in the final stages of design after a system has been chosen, this document, this workbook would be limited in value because of its failure to integrate the variety of abilities of users into the design criteria.

Annotation:

Unfortunately, pedestrian and cyclist design information are mixed together so it is sometimes hard to find the pedestrian material within the bicycle material. The variation in ability among pedestrians is not mentioned in the design segment. Rather it is covered in two other segments: Segment IV, a two-page summary of the ADA that is incomplete and inadequate. Segment III, Know Your Customer, is well worth reading. Segment III presents pedestrian types and typical pedestrian behavior. It starts from the World Health Organization's concept of disability as contextual, as determined by the intersection of the person with the environment rather than a fixed condition of the person. There are separate paragraphs describing the needs of people with lessened mobility, visual, emotional or intellectual abilities. There is a section that addresses the needs of substance abusers from the perspective of functional limitation. Another section considers typical behaviors, and yet another cautions the designer that culture may affect pedestrian conduct.

This information is valuable to many readers but would have been more useful if it had been integrated into the design segment, Segment XI. For example, following is a typical description of a design guideline from that segment: Suppose you have decided to have a woonerf. You find it in the book though it is difficult to do because there is no index and an inadequate table of contents. When you do find it in the chapter on Pedestrian and Bicycle Design, under the section on traffic calming, you get a full-page diagram, a narrative description with historical context, an abbreviated evaluation, three pictures, and two more pages (20 entries) of criteria. But nowhere is there discussion of the edges, protection of plantings, how to channel the vehicles, use of curbs, selection of materials, or any other of the practical details that ensures that the design works well for a wide range of ability.

Number of Pages:

approx. 500

Illustrations?

Yes (Line Drawing)

Material Type:

Book

Notes:

National Highway Institute Course No. 38061

Key Document?

Yes

Categories:

Guidelines, Policy, Process, Educational Materials, Advocacy & Planning, Other

Keywords:

Pedestrian Safety, Pedestrian Planning and Design, Course

Strengths:

• Of primary use to planners and advocates.
• A rich, comprehensive, and valuable planning resource.
• Most criteria are performance criteria accompanied by rationale.
• Gives examples.

Weaknesses:

Suffers from having no index and a skimpy table of contents. Fails to integrate criteria covering the variety of abilities of all users into the general design criteria.

Record Last Updated:

July 2006