Major urban road characteristics and injured pedestrians: a representative survey of intersections in Montreal, Quebec.
Morency, Patrick ; Archambault, Judith ; Cloutier, Marie-Soleil 等
In 2010 in the United States, 4,280 pedestrians were killed and
70,000 were injured in traffic crashes. (1) In Quebec, every year over
3,000 pedestrians are injured, including about 1,400 on the Island of
Montreal. (2) Arterial and collector roads, two of the hierarchical road
classes found in urban cities, (3) seem to play active roles in this
road safety statistic. From 1997 to 2006 in the US, over half of
pedestrians who died in pedestrian crashes in urban settings were killed
on arterial roads. (4) In Vancouver, BC, almost all injured pedestrian
"hot spots" (97%) were located on major roads, either
arterials or collector roads. (5) The situation is similar in Montreal,
where most pedestrians (63%) are injured at intersections (6) and where
over half (53%) of the 1,799 injuries to school-aged pedestrians from
1999 to 2008 were located at intersections with at least one arterial
road. (7)
The over-representation of arterials in road crashes could be
attributable to high traffic volume. However, recent area-level studies
have reported that traffic volume and urban arterial roads are
independently associated with a greater incidence of road injuries
within neighbourhoods. (3,8,9) In Montreal, the presence of arterial
roads at intersections significantly increases the number of injured
pedestrians, cyclists and motor-vehicle occupants, even when other
intersection characteristics are taken into account. (10)
By definition, an urban arterial road has more traffic lanes and is
consequently wider, has higher average vehicle speeds and longer
emergency stopping distances. (11) For decades, wide and straight roads
have been considered safer, but the "conventional engineering
wisdom" (11) (p. 354) overlooked the urban context and pedestrian
safety. In urban settings, major roads (arterials and collectors) are
used to carry through traffic but are also used to access residences,
businesses, schools and local services by motor-vehicle occupants,
pedestrians and cyclists. (12) The likelihood of road user conflicts is
further increased by intersections' density and geometric features
(e.g., 4-way vs. 3-way, either T or Y intersections). (10,13,14) In
Montreal, as elsewhere, pedestrian volume is a strong predictor of
pedestrian injuries, but pedestrian counts have been negatively
associated with major roads. (13) At intersections with public transit
services, public transit type, stop location and the number of people
getting on and off buses have been associated with more total and
pedestrian crashes. (15,16)
Injury prevention principles (17) suggest reducing
pedestrians' exposure to moving vehicles in order to reduce crash
risk: for example, by separating pedestrians from traffic in time (e.g.,
all-red and half-red signal phases) or space (e.g., raised medians or
refuge islands). Some studies have suggested that well-marked crosswalks
and pedestrian crossing signs may improve pedestrian or motorist
behaviour. (18,19) However, marked crosswalks have been associated with
more injured pedestrians, (20-23) including older people (24) as well as
those injured on multi-lane roads with high traffic volumes. (12,25)
Major roads have been associated with pedestrian injuries for
decades, mainly as a proxy of traffic volume. Although it is well known
that the geometric features of roads can either increase or decrease the
likelihood of crashes and pedestrian injuries, (11,26) urban major road
characteristics that may contribute to pedestrian injuries have never
been described. This study aims to describe intersections with major
roads (arterial, collector) in an urban setting using a representative
random sample of intersections, and to explore the association between
intersection characteristics and injured pedestrians.
METHODS
Population and region
The urban area under study is Montreal's central core, which
includes 11 Montreal administrative boroughs and two independent
municipalities. The 174 [km.sup.2] study area had a population of 1.2
million in 2006 and 8,617 intersections.
Intersection sampling
To study intersections with major roads, six intersection types
were originally defined on the basis of Montreal's hierarchical
road classification (GeoBase, City of Montreal): arterials only (a-a);
collectors only (c-c); arterials and collectors (a-c); arterials and
locals (a-l); collectors and locals (c-l); locals only (l-l). For this
study, we defined "major" intersections as exclusively made up
of arterials and collectors (a-a; a-c; c-c) and "minor"
intersections as exclusively made up of local roads (l-l). Intersections
of local roads and arterials (a-l) or collectors (c-l) were considered
"mixed" intersections. In Montreal, major intersections were
less frequent (7.5%) than mixed (43.1%) and minor intersections (49.4%).
Given the limited amount of financial and human resources, a stratified
random sample of approximately 600 intersections was selected, with a
sampling fraction of 5% and a minimum of 60 intersections per
intersection type (strata). (27) The current study comprised 512
intersections after the exclusion of 76 sites (48 crescents or dead
ends, 14 alleys, 7 sites under reconstruction and 7 sites with
expressway access).
Data collection
Intersection characteristics were measured at each intersection
branch and corner. (27) The number of traffic lanes included lanes in
both directions (e.g., east and west) but excluded lanes reserved
exclusively for on-street parking. Marked crosswalks were standard twin
parallel lines and "bar" type. Traffic calming measures were
vertical deflection (e.g., speed hump) and narrowing (e.g., curb
extension) of the roadway. Parked vehicles and sight obstructions
(building, vegetation, fence) were considered if present within 5 m of
at least one intersection corner. Roadway width was measured beyond the
intersections (after the corner curves, curb extensions or pedestrian
crossings). Pedestrian crossing length was measured in the centre of the
crossing or, if there was no crossing, in the middle of the
corner's curvature. Every road segment and pedestrian crossing was
measured three times, and the average was calculated and kept for each
intersection branch.
Data were collected from July to October 2008. Intersections were
randomly assigned to three teams of two observers each. All observers
had university degrees in environment or urban planning, and they were
trained for two weeks before data collection: indoors with the
intersection characteristics observation grid and pictures, and at trial
sites with feedback sessions afterward.
Reliability
Each observer on the team independently completed an observation
checklist. (27) Concordance between the two observers, measured by
Cohen's kappa coefficient, was excellent for number of traffic
lanes (kappa = 0.92) and the presence of traffic lights (kappa = 0.95),
pedestrian lights (kappa = 0.95), stop signs (kappa = 0.93), pedestrian
crossings (kappa = 0.98), medians or pedestrian islands (kappa = 0.95),
authorized left turns (kappa = 0.92) and authorized or prohibited
parking on street corners (kappa = 0.83). When concordance between two
observers was moderate (e.g., curb extension, kappa = 0.59), the
presence or absence of amenities was validated using Google Street View.
Injured pedestrians
The data source for injured pedestrians was the Urgences-Sante
ambulance service dataset, more specifically pre-hospital intervention
reports filled out by ambulance attendants between January 1, 1999 and
July 31, 2008. A previous validation enables us to exclude pedestrian
falls. (6) Using the geographical coordinates to which ambulances were
dispatched, injured pedestrians were geocoded to the closest
intersection using a 15 m radius around the intersection's central
point. (6)
Population and jobs density
Population and jobs density--two indirect measures of pedestrian
activity (9)--were obtained from the 2006 Canadian census (Statistics
Canada). One-kilometre buffers (road network distance) were created
around intersections, and all census tracts within each
intersection's buffer were included in the calculation of the
population and jobs density measure. To estimate the number of
inhabitants and jobs in each buffer, we multiplied the proportion of
census tract area ([km.sup.2]) within the buffer by the number of
inhabitants and jobs in the whole census tract. The total number of
inhabitants and jobs in a buffer was divided by the buffer area
([km.sup.2]) to determine its population and jobs density.
Pedestrian and vehicle counts
The City of Montreal provided manual counts of pedestrians and
vehicles for a subset of signalized intersections (n = 168). Three-hour
counts were done between 2003 and 2009, at noon (12 h-13 h) and at rush
hour (7 h30-8 h30;16 h30-17 h30). Vehicle counts were adjusted by
hourly, weekly and monthly expansion factors to estimate the average
annual daily traffic. (12) Three-hour pedestrian counts were used as an
indicator of the daily number of pedestrians crossing the intersection.
Since traffic volume was strongly correlated with the average number of
traffic lanes per intersection branch (Pearson's r = 0.75: Figure
1) and pedestrian volume was strongly correlated with population and job
density surrounding the intersection (Pearson's r = 0.72: Figure
1), these two variables
were used as proxies for vehicle and pedestrian activity in Models I
and II.
[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]
Analyses
Descriptive analyses of intersection characteristics included a
comparison between major and minor intersections. Negative binomial
regression models were performed and included, as predictors of
pedestrian injuries, proxies (Models I and II) or estimates (Models III)
of traffic volume and pedestrian activity. All regression models
included the number of branches (4-way vs. 3-way, either T or Y) and the
presence (vs. absence) of parked vehicles near intersections, crosswalk
markings, raised medians and bus stops. Regression analyses did not
include roadway width and pedestrian crossing length, because they were
strongly correlated with number of traffic lanes (respectively
Pearson's r = 0.80 and r = 0.79).
An unadjusted model did not include proxies of pedestrian and
traffic volumes. Models I and II included proxies of traffic volume
(number of traffic lanes per intersection branch) and pedestrian
activity (population and job density). Model I included all surveyed
intersections, while Model II was limited to intersections with
multi-lane roads, that is, with more than two traffic lanes per
intersection branch. Model III included only 168 intersections with
vehicle and pedestrian counts: to increase the statistical power,
intersection characteristics were included in five separate models
(IIIA-IIIE). The incidence rate ratio (IRR) assessed the number of
injured pedestrians at intersections with a specific characteristic
(e.g., marked crosswalk), compared with intersections without this
characteristic. Descriptive and regression analyses were calculated in
Stata/SE v10.1.
RESULTS
Intersection characteristics
As shown in Table 1, from 1999 to 2008, the average number of
injured pedestrians per major intersection (2.51; 95% confidence
interval [CI] = 2.04-2.98) was greater than at mixed (0.84;95% CI:
0.62-1.06) and minor (0.22;95% CI: 0.13-0.31) intersections. There was a
higher density of population and jobs (combined, as an indicator of
pedestrian activity) in the 1 km area surrounding major intersections
than around minor intersections (16,597 vs. 12,137, p < 0.01). Bus
stops were also more frequent at major than minor intersections (75% vs.
6%, p < 0.01). Major intersections had more traffic lanes (3.8 vs.
1.7, p < 0.01), wider roadways (15.0 m vs. 10.4 m, p < 0.01) and
longer pedestrian crossings (18.8 m vs. 12.7 m, p < 0.01) than minor
intersections (Figure 2). More than three quarters of major
intersections were 4-way (78% vs. 51% for minor intersections, p <
0.01), and nearly half of them had at least one branch with five or more
traffic lanes (48% vs. none for minor intersections p < 0.01). Marked
crosswalks (92% vs. 27%, p < 0.01), stop lines (94% vs. 36%, p <
0.01), traffic signals (91% vs. 3%, p < 0.01), pedestrian signals
(55% vs. 1%, p < 0.01) and prohibited left turns (20% vs. 1%, p <
0.01) were more frequent at major than minor intersections. Raised
medians or refuge islands were frequent at major intersections but
virtually absent at minor intersections (42% vs. 3%, p < 0.01).
Traffic calming measures and visibility obstruction were not
significantly associated with intersection type. Traffic calming
measures had been implemented at only 8% (95% CI = 5%-11%) of all
intersections. Visibility obstructions at intersection corners were
common: parked vehicles at the time of data collection (72%; 95% CI =
67%-76%), vegetation or fence (43%; 95% CI = 38%48%) and buildings (34%;
95% CI = 29%-38%).
Intersection characteristics and injured pedestrians
Multivariate regression Model I, which included all intersections,
showed that 4-way (vs. 3-way) intersections (IRR = 2.24; 95% CI =
1.46-3.45), the presence of vehicles parked within 5 m of intersections
(IRR = 2.29; 95% CI = 1.50-3.48) and bus stops (IRR = 2.25; 95% CI =
1.51-3.36) were significantly associated with an increase in injured
pedestrians (Table 2a). At intersections with more than two traffic
lanes per branch, the multivariate regression Model II showed that 4-way
intersections (IRR = 2.40; 95% CI = 1.53-3.77), parked vehicles within 5
m of intersections (IRR = 2.40;95% CI = 1.64-3.51) and marked crosswalks
(IRR = 1.79; 95% CI = 1.08-2.95) significantly increased the number of
injured pedestrians. In addition to these intersection characteristics,
proxies of traffic volume (number of traffic lanes) and pedestrian
activity (population and job density) were significantly associated with
the number of injured pedestrians both in Model I and Model II.
At signalized intersections with available vehicle and pedestrian
counts, separate multivariate regressions showed that parked vehicles
within 5 m of intersections (Model IIIB: IRR = 1.84;95% CI = 1.24-2.72)
and the presence of bus stops (Model IIIE: IRR = 2.55;95% CI =
1.54-4.24) were significantly associated with an increase in injured
pedestrians (Table 2b). The estimate of the association between marked
crosswalks and pedestrian injuries was positive (Model IIIC: IRR = 2.12)
but only marginally significant (p = 0.06).
[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]
DISCUSSION
This paper described intersection characteristics, compared major
and minor intersections and examined associations between intersection
characteristics and number of injured pedestrians. Significant results
illustrate the association between several intersection characteristics
and the number of injured pedestrians, even after exposure was
controlled for through proxies and estimates of pedestrian and vehicle
activity.
A first result worth mentioning relates to the pedestrian exposure
to vehicles while on the road: major intersections have longer
pedestrian crossings, wider roads and more traffic lanes. This means
that pedestrians crossing those intersections are exposed to traffic for
a longer period of time, creating more "opportunities" for
crashes. Moreover, Model I did show that each additional traffic lane
increased pedestrian injuries by 75%: more traffic lanes also mean wider
streets, greater vehicle speeds and higher crash rates. (11) Similarly,
in Maine, the number of injured pedestrians was found to be
significantly higher on wider roads, even when pedestrian and motor
vehicle volumes were considered. (28) In addition to the number of lanes
and the road width, the "shape" (4-way vs. 3-way) of an
intersection also affected pedestrian injuries in our analyses (Model I
and II). In fact, 4-way intersections have a higher number of conflict
points and a greater likelihood of crashes and injuries than 3-way
T-intersections. (3,10,11,14) One of the solutions to reduce pedestrian
exposure to traffic is to eliminate traffic lanes, for example on
four-lane urban roadways. (11) In Toronto, it has been proposed to
substitute some traffic lane(s) with wide sidewalks and/or new dedicated
bike and bus lanes for selected arterial roads. (29,30) In the same way,
strategies to reduce road users' conflicts at 4-way intersections
may include left turn prohibition or, if feasible, changing one of the
two-way street segments into a one-way street going away from the
intersection.
A second result highlighted here concerns the importance of
visibility at intersections. In fact, most Montreal intersections had
on-street parked vehicles within 5 m of intersections, despite parking
prohibition regulations. On-street parking near intersections impedes
drivers' ability to see pedestrians and may increase child
pedestrian injuries. (11) Accordingly, our results confirm the
association between parking within 5 m of intersections and increased
pedestrian injuries, at all intersections (Model I), at intersections
with multi-lane roads (Model II) and at signalized intersections with
traffic counts (Model IIIB). Better enforcement of parking regulations,
retreat of the stop line, addition of signs, and marked pavement
(yellow-painted curbs) or physical infrastructure, such as curb
extension, could lead to better visibility of crossing pedestrians,
especially at major intersections. Bus stops have been associated with
pedestrian activity and pedestrian or motor vehicle occupant crashes.
(13,15,16) The significant association between bus stops and pedestrian
injuries (Models I and IIIE), even when traffic and other intersection
characteristics had been controlled for, may also be related to
visibility at intersections.
Finally, the significant (Model II) and marginally significant
(Model IIIC) results relating to the presence of marked crosswalks may
reflect the selective implementation of marked crosswalks at
intersections with higher risk of injury, greater traffic or greater
number of pedestrians. However, it is worth noting that previous studies
have also observed negative impacts of marked crosswalks on pedestrian
safety, (20,21) at unsignalized and uncontrolled locations (no traffic
signals or stop signs), (22,24,25) for older pedestrians (24) and on
multi-lane roads with high traffic volumes. (25) This result still
highlights the fact that marked crosswalks at major urban intersections
need complementary measures, such as appropriate medians and pedestrian
signals with exclusive phases (e.g., 'All red") to really
protect crossing pedestrians. Raised medians and raised crossing islands
may provide refuge areas for pedestrians, and have been previously
associated with a reduction in pedestrian crashes. (11) In Montreal,
raised medians had no significant protective effect when other
intersection characteristics were taken into account, a result that
could be explained by their design: most of them are narrow, end before
crosswalks and do not provide any refuge or protection to pedestrians.
Furthermore, in Montreal, only half of signalized intersections have
separate pedestrian signals, (27) and "All red" phases for
pedestrians are unusual.
Strengths and limitations
The main strengths of this research lie in the representative
sample--instead of convenience samples (13,14)--of intersections, the
scope and the inter-observer reliability of the field data collected.
Our measurements were not restricted to area-level (9) or indirect (10)
measures and included detailed characteristics at each intersection
branch. The research design was neither experimental nor
"before-and-after", and causal links between intersection
characteristics and number of injured pedestrians cannot be inferred.
Day of the week, season and weather were not included, but pedestrian
activity was taken into account through proxies (Model I, II) and counts
(Models III). Lighting and the presence of alcohol outlets and
commercial retail properties were not measured. Intersection
characteristics collected in 2008 reflect decades of roadway design and
traffic engineering practices. Using police accident reports (2) would
increase the number of injured pedestrians by approximately 50% but is
unlikely to influence the observed associations between intersection
characteristics and pedestrian injury.
CONCLUSION
Urban major intersection characteristics contribute to an increased
likelihood of crashes and pedestrian injuries. High vehicle capacity
translates into more traffic lanes, wider streets and longer pedestrian
crossings. Four-way intersections improve connectivity but also increase
potential conflict points between vehicles and pedestrians. Parked
vehicles near intersections impede drivers' ability to see
pedestrians. Without any other substantial crossing improvements, marked
crosswalks may increase pedestrians' risk of injury through a false
sense of security. Arterials and collector roads could be retrofitted to
better take into account pedestrian needs and safety: reduction of
traffic lanes or traffic, prohibition of parking near intersections and
implementation of appropriate pedestrian refuge areas would improve
pedestrian safety.
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Received: September 25, 2014
Accepted: June 25, 2015
Patrick Morency, MD, PhD, [1,2], Judith Archambault, MSc, [1,2]
Marie-Soleil Cloutier, PhD, [1,2,3] Mathieu Tremblay, MSc, [3] Celine
Plante, MSc [2]
[1.] Departement de medecine sociale et preventive, Universite de
Montreal, Montreal, QC
[2.] Direction de sante publique de Montreal, Montreal, QC
[3.] Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre
Urbanisation Culture Societe, Montreal, QC
Correspondence: Dr. Patrick Morency, Direction de sante publique de
Montreal, 1301 rue Sherbrooke Est, Montreal, QC H2L 1M3, Tel:
514-528-2400, ext. 3327, E-mail: pmorency@santepub-mtl.qc.ca
Acknowledgements: The research was made possible by in-kind support
from the Montreal Public Health Department. We express our sincere
gratitude to Urgencessante for their willing collaboration and expertise
in injury data collection and validation, le Centre d'ecologie
urbaine de Montreal for data collection at intersections and Sylvie
Gauthier who edited the English version.
Conflict of Interest: None to declare.
Table 1. Major, mixed and minor intersection
characteristics (n = 512;Montreal, Quebec, 2008)
Minor intersections
(95% CI)
Injured pedestrians 0.22 (0.13-0.31)
(1999-2008)/intersection
4-way intersection 51% (43%-58%)
Number of traffic lanes * 1.7 (1.7-1.8)
Roadway width * 10.4 (10.1-10.7)
Length of pedestrian 12.7 (12.4-13.1)
crossing *
Crosswalk ([dagger]) 27% (20%-33%)
Stop line ([dagger]) 36% (29%-43%)
Raised median or refuge 3% (1%-6%)
island ([dagger])
Traffic calming ([dagger]) 7% (3%-10%)
Prohibited left 1% (0-2%)
turn ([dagger])
Parked vehicle within 5 m 73% (67%-80%)
of
intersection ([dagger])
Building, vegetation or 70% (64%-77%)
fence near the
corner ([dagger])
Bus stop ([dagger]) 6% (2%-9%)
Traffic signals 3% (1%-6%)
Pedestrian signals 1% (0-3%)
Population and job density 12,137 (11,002-13,273)
(/[km.sup.2])
([double dagger])
Mixed intersections
(95% CI)
Injured pedestrians 0.84 (0.62-1.06)
(1999-2008)/intersection
4-way intersection 51% (44%-59%)
Number of traffic lanes * 2.8 (2.7-2.9)
Roadway width * 12.7 (12.2-13.1)
Length of pedestrian 15.5 (14.9-16.0)
crossing *
Crosswalk ([dagger]) 46% (38%-53%)
Stop line ([dagger]) 46% (38%-53%)
Raised median or refuge 22% (16%-29%)
island ([dagger])
Traffic calming ([dagger]) 9% (4%-13%)
Prohibited left 3% (0-6%)
turn ([dagger])
Parked vehicle within 5 m 73% (66%-80%)
of
intersection ([dagger])
Building, vegetation or 65% (58%-72%)
fence near the
corner ([dagger])
Bus stop ([dagger]) 34% (27%-41%)
Traffic signals 27% (20%-34%)
Pedestrian signals 12% (7%-17%)
Population and job density 13,278 (11,732-14,824)
(/[km.sup.2])
([double dagger])
Major intersections Major vs.
minor (p)
(95% CI)
Injured pedestrians 2.51 (2.04-2.98) <0.01
(1999-2008)/intersection
4-way intersection 78% (71%-85%) <0.01
Number of traffic lanes * 3.8 (3.6-4.0) <0.01
Roadway width * 15.0 (14.4-15.5) <0.01
Length of pedestrian 18.8 (18.0-19.5) <0.01
crossing *
Crosswalk ([dagger]) 92% (87%-96%) <0.01
Stop line ([dagger]) 94% (89%-98%) <0.01
Raised median or refuge 42% (35%-50%) <0.01
island ([dagger])
Traffic calming ([dagger]) 12% (6%--17%) ns
Prohibited left 20% (13%-26%) <0.01
turn ([dagger])
Parked vehicle within 5 m 52% (44%-60%) <0.01
of
intersection ([dagger])
Building, vegetation or 68% (60%-75%) ns
fence near the
corner ([dagger])
Bus stop ([dagger]) 75% (68%-82%) <0.01
Traffic signals 91% (87%-96%) <0.01
Pedestrian signals 55% (47%-63%) <0.01
Population and job density 16,597 (14,317-18,877) <0.01
(/[km.sup.2])
([double dagger])
Notes: Major intersections are exclusively made up of
arterials (a) and collectors (c) (a-a; a-c; c-c); mixed
intersections consist of local roads (l) and arterials or
collectors (a-l; c-l); and minor intersections are
exclusively local roads (l-l).
CI = confidence interval.
* Average of the three or four intersection branches (at 3-
way and 4-way intersections respectively).
([dagger]) If present at one or more intersection branches
or corners.
([double dagger]) Within a 1 km buffer of the intersection.
Table 2. Multivariate models of the number of injured pedestrians
(1999-2008), as a function of intersection characteristics
(Montreal, Quebec, 2008)
a) Using proxies of pedestrian and traffic volumes
Unadjusted *
(n = 501)
IRR (95% CI)
Intersection characteristics
4-way (vs. 3-way) 1.95 (1.28-2.97)
intersection
Parked vehicle within 5 m 2.56 (1.74-3.78)
of intersection
Marked crosswalk 1.98 (1.30-3.02)
Raised median or 1.71 (1.09-2.70)
refuge island
Bus stop 3.53 (2.46-5.07)
Proxies of pedestrian and
traffic volumes
Population and job
density (/[km.sup.2])
Traffic lanes
(number/branch)
Model I * ([dagger])
(n = 501)
IRR (95% CI)
Intersection characteristics
4-way (vs. 3-way) 2.24 (1.46-3.45)
intersection
Parked vehicle within 5 m 2.29 (1.50-3.48)
of intersection
Marked crosswalk 1.53 (0.99-2.35)
Raised median or 0.77 (0.43-1.37)
refuge island
Bus stop 2.25 (1.51 -3.36)
Proxies of pedestrian and
traffic volumes
Population and job 2.11 (1.56-2.85)
density (/[km.sup.2])
Traffic lanes 1.75 (1.41-2.18)
(number/branch)
Model II * ([dagger])
Multi-lane
intersections (n = 287)
IRR (95% CI)
Intersection characteristics
4-way (vs. 3-way) 2.40 (1.53-3.77)
intersection
Parked vehicle within 5 m 2.40 (1.64-3.51)
of intersection
Marked crosswalk 1.79 (1.08-2.95)
Raised median or 0.87 (0.54-1.42)
refuge island
Bus stop 1.48 (0.97-2.24)
Proxies of pedestrian and
traffic volumes
Population and job 1.60 (1.14-2.25)
density (/[km.sup.2])
Traffic lanes 1.39 (1.10-1.75)
(number/branch)
b) Using pedestrian and traffic counts (n =166)
Models III * ([dagger])
A B
IRR (95% CI) IRR (95% CI)
Intersection
characteristics
4-way (vs. 3-way) 1.42 (0.78-2.57)
intersection
Parked vehicle within 1.84 (1.24-2.72)
5 m of intersection
Marked crosswalk
Raised median or
refuge island
Bus stop
Pedestrian volumes 1.32 (1.04-1.68) 1.25 (0.99-1.57)
Vehicle volumes 1.55 (0.96-2.51) 2.04 (1.24-3.36)
C D
IRR (95% CI) IRR (95% CI)
Intersection
characteristics
4-way (vs. 3-way)
intersection
Parked vehicle within
5 m of intersection
Marked crosswalk 2.12 (0.96-4.68)
Raised median or 0.80 (0.52-1.23)
refuge island
Bus stop
Pedestrian volumes 1.33 (1.04-1.70) 1.30 (1.02-1.66)
Vehicle volumes 1.76 (1.05-2.94) 1.79 (1.07-2.98)
E
IRR (95% CI)
Intersection
characteristics
4-way (vs. 3-way)
intersection
Parked vehicle within
5 m of intersection
Marked crosswalk
Raised median or
refuge island
Bus stop 2.55 (1.54-4.24)
Pedestrian volumes 1.34 (1.05-1.70)
Vehicle volumes 1.38 (0.87-2.18)
Notes: Intersections with incomplete data were not included
in multivariate regression analyses (11 intersections in
Models II and III; 2 intersections in Models NIA-NIE).
IRR = incidence rate ratios; CI = confidence interval. IRR
in bold are statistically significant (p < 0.05).
* Unadjusted Model and Model I included all intersections.
Model II included only intersections with more than two
traffic lanes per intersection branch. Models III included
only intersections with available pedestrian and traffic
counts.
* Proxies of traffic volume (traffic lanes) and pedestrian
activity (population and job density) were used in Model I
and Model II. In Models III, average annual daily traffic
(AADT) and three-hour pedestrian counts were used.