An important aim of traffic restraint in residential areas by means of street network alteration schemes, is to achieve that pedestrians and drivers show more consideration for one another and to improve pedestrian safety in particular. This paper deals exclusively with the methodological aspects of the problems associated with the control of these effects by means of before-and-after and with-and-without studies. The historical residential quarter surrounding the Klausen(er) square in Berlin-Charlottenburg was selected for the empirical investigation. It is a residential area in the city of Berlin; its streets are relatively quiet, with no special traffic control measures (within the limits of this area drivers on the left have to yield right-of-way to drivers on the right). Around the area there are major roads or arteries carrying heavy traffic volumes. After preliminary surveys had been completed, traffic restraint measures were undertaken in the area under study within the frame of a model project. The objectives of the project were: (1) better road safety, (2) more freedom of movement for pedestrians, (3) improved quality of the residential environment: a method of indirectly measuring pedestrian safety by means of systematic behaviour study, volume counts and studies of driver behaviour used for the analysis, is described. For the covering abstract of the conference see IRRD abstract no 264967.
Samenvatting