Toolkit for the Assessment of Safety at Bus Stops

Abstract

Safety at bus stops is a major concern of transit agencies. This research aimed to develop a data-driven method for estimating bus stop safety scores that will assist transit agencies in ranking and prioritizing bus stops for improvement considerations. This study presents a bus stop scoring methodology that uses a data-driven approach based on multiple data sources. The methodology was developed using six criteria: bus stop characteristics inventory, roadway characteristics inventory (RCI), land use and demographics, pedestrian crash frequency, annual average daily traffic, and annual ridership. Crash data were collected from SignalFour Analytics, and roadway characteristics data were retrieved from the Florida Department of Transportation RCI database. The Florida Geographic Data Library was used for retrieving census and land use data, while the Florida Transit Information System was employed to extract information on transit stops. A data-driven method was used to develop a priority list for improvements among the selected bus stops. The methodology was implemented in a case study including three transit agencies: Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority, Jacksonville Transportation Authority, and Miami-Dade Transit. A bus stop priority list was generated for each agency, with the highest-ranking bus stop location having the greatest need for safety improvements. Based on the analysis, safety measures that could improve safety at the highest-ranking bus stop locations include: installing a shelter, installing pedestrian safety features, conducting pedestrian safety outreach programs, and/or conducting further site investigation.

Keywords

public transportation boarding and alighting buses transit safety and security bus operator safety safety buses/motorcoaches

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