The aim of this research is to reduce pedestrian-vehicle conflicts through the improved design of pedestrian-vehicle spaces. The cues to priority given to drivers and pedestrians by 9 common design elements of pedestrian-vehicle spaces were examined. Seventy-five participants were divided to form a driver perspective group and a pedestrian perspective group. The groups received a series of randomly ordered photographs, taken from either driver or pedestrian perspective, where the 9 features were graphically removed or added from 4 different pedestrian vehicle spaces. Participants rated each photograph in terms of perceived comfort, priority, and clarity regarding who has priority. Results provide some evidence that the addition of tactile features sends conflicting visual messages to pedestrians and drivers, whereas the addition of pedestrian lines sends clear visual signals. Individually, each feature enhanced pedestrians' sense of priority without affecting drivers. Multiple features should be used in combination when designing shared pedestrian vehicle spaces. (Author/publisher) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E210413.
Abstract