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Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety and Access

 

Over the past twenty years, there has been a growing interest in promoting livable and more sustainable communities at the federal, state, and local levels.  Non-motorized travel such as bicycling and walking plays a significant role when defining livability and sustainability.   The Mobility Management Program provides research and technical assistance to the Texas DOT, Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO), and the City of Austin focusing on improving the safety and accommodations for the walking and bicycling public.  Bringing lessons learned from the national and international scene, TTI offers a broad perspective and innovative ideas.  Projects have centered on the following areas:

 
  • Evaluate existing conditions and develop recommendations to improve bicyclist and pedestrian safety and accommodations.
  • Conduct before and after studies of improvements to determine the effectiveness of bicycle and pedestrian improvements. 
  • Coordinate agencies in addressing corridor-wide pedestrian and bicyclist safety concerns across jurisdictions.
  • Develop, administer, and analyze surveys and focus groups to gauge interests and concerns of the community in terms of bicycle and pedestrian safety and accommodations.  Use results to develop recommendations for agencies.
  • Test various automated data collection equipment and use results to recommend products to fit the specific needs of the agency. 
  • Develop sketch planning tools for estimating pedestrian and bicyclist demand.
  • Use software like PBCAT to better understand crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists.  Generate graphs, maps, and tables to summarize the findings. 
  • Test smartphone technology for collecting bicycle route data.
    Photo of a bicyclist on a two-lane dedicated bike path parallel to, but separated from the main roadway
    Creating safe routes for bicyclists

Featured Project Publications

 

J. G. Hudson, C.M. Dusza, T. Geiselbrecht, Austin District Bicycle Accommodation Survey and Focus Group Results Final Report, TxDOT Austin District, Texas A&M Transportation Institute, College Station, TX.  August 18, 2011.

J.G. Hudson, T.B. Qu, S.M. Turner, Forecasting Bicycle and Pedestrian Usage and Research Data Collection Equipment, Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, Texas A&M Transportation Institute, College Station, TX.  December 2010.  http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/TTI-P2009330.pdf

J. G. Hudson, C.M. Dusza, Pedestrian and Bicycle Accommodation, State Roadways in Bee Cave/Lakeway – TxDOT, Texas A&M Transportation Institute, College Station, TX. August 10, 2010.

J. G. Hudson, L. Ding, North Lamar Pedestrian Safety Study – Team Results, Texas A&M Transportation Institute, College Station, TX.  December 1, 2009.