During 2007 Transport for London (TfL) were considering several new on-street tram systems for London including the proposed Cross River Tram (CRT) and transit along Oxford Street. The streets of London are congested spaces and such a scheme needs careful planning and design to ensure that the safety and mobility of vulnerable road users is not compromised. Therefore in 2007 TfL commissioned TRL to investigate the interface of pedestrians with trams. The project aimed to provide robust research about how pedestrians interact with trams using the following methods: • Pedestrian movement analysis from observations of real street environments; • Case studies of pedestrian friendly on-street tram environment • Street questionnaires with users to gauge perceptions of trams; • Statistical analysis of STATS19 data on pedestrian/tram conflict and; • Interviews with Tram operators and Local Authorities. For the purpose of this paper, the focus will be upon the observational studies, which aimed to identify best practice from the experience of other tram network operators to optimise safety, accessibility and other aspects associated with the interaction of pedestrians and trams. The observational studies were conducted using a streamlined version of the well-established PERS (Pedestrian Environment Review System) tool. PERS assesses the pedestrian environment from a vulnerable pedestrian's point of view. PERS was co-developed with TfL and is now TfLs preferred methodology for pedestrian environment auditing. The aim of the observational studies was to show how pedestrians interact with trams using examples of other busy centres, enabling TfL to enhance their planning and strategic thinking with respect to pedestrian facilities. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting