Phase II of the research, undertaken by Leyland Truck and Bus under contract to the Transport and Road Research Laboratory, can be summarised under five headings. (1) handholds: various designs were developed and built into a mock-up entrance. A group of sixty elderly subjects assisted in evaluating these to select the most suitable shape, clearance and surface finish. The preferred design had a vertical and a sloping portion, the latter 1000 mm above foot level. (2) going to and from the seat: using a modified national bus, equipped with an adjustable floor, instrumented stanchions and acceleration measuring equipment, the reactions of standing passengers were studied. Acceleration levels as low as 0.15 g resulted in a force of up to 70 per cent of passenger body weight being reacted through the vertical stanchions. (3) in the seat: the definition of good or bad journeys as described by a journey quality index, is related to the distribution of rates of change of acceleration (jerk). Analysis shows that improvements in vehicle control could produce better bus journeys. (4) step height and retractable step: a retractable step was built with a height of 185 mm. It improved the ease of use by young and elderly passengers and did not increase the wheel stop time in these trials. (5) accidents: a study has been made of accident data over a period of 12 months supplied by 30 bus operators, and covering about 30000 vehicles in the UK. Fifty-six per cent of the passenger injuries were sustained in non-collision accidents and 43 per cent of these occurred to passengers who were estimated to by over 60 years of age. Other surveys show that elderly passengers average less than 20 per cent of all passengers carried. Reported accident rates for females over 60 years of age were higher than those for males in this age group. Boarding accidents formed an especially significant proportion of accidents to the elderly and gangway accidents were a special risk for female passengers of all ages. (a) months supplied by 30 bus operators, and covering about 30000 vehicles in the UK. Fifty-six per cent of the passenger injuries were sustained in non-collision accidents and 43 per cent of these occurred to passengers who were estimated to be over 60 years of age. Other surveys show that elderly passengers average less than 20 per cent of all passengers carried. Reported accident rates for females over 60 years of age were higher than those for males in this age group. Boarding accidents formed an especially significant proportion of accidents to the elderly and gangway accidents were a special risk for female passengers of all ages. The data available did not permit the effect of vehicle layout and furnishing to be clearly related to accidents. In particular there were insufficient vehicles in operation with significantly lower step heights to show differences in accident rate. (A) see also IRRD 243805.
Abstract