The term "road toll" has an almost pervasive inevitably to it in the Australian ethos, as if to remind everyone that it is an unavoidable risk of modern road transport. Community tolerance of the apparent inevitably of the road toll suggests that community attitudes and behaviour potentially play a significant role in trying to realise the goal of a "zero road toll". This paper discusses the results of recent research into community attitudes of safety and infrastructure design in a mainstreet environment. The mainstreet environment examined was Adelaide's Unley Road, a congested, narrow four-lane inner metropolitan arterial road that is subjected to high traffic volumes and has a high potential for vehicle-pedestrian conflict. Surveys of traders, visitors and householders (500 respondents in total) were conducted in early 2000 to determine community perceptions of safety in Unley Road, how respondents used the road, and what they considered needed to be done to improve the safety, amenity, efficiency and functionality of Unley Road. Community perception of Unley Road's safety is that because of its narrowness, relatively high speeds (60km/h), on-street parking and access-oriented land uses, it is a most unnerving road environment to travel along as either a motorist or cyclist or to cross as a pedestrian. Indeed, the situation has now deteriorated to such an extent that Transport SA (the state road department) is now working determinedly to resolve the Unley Road safety issue, with community consultation being an intrinsic part of the road redevelopment process. This research will be of interest to road safety practitioners who are interested in seeing how community consultation can be used to optimise the road safety/traffic functionality/land use compromise in mainstreet environments. (Author/publisher) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E205861.
Samenvatting