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Transcending intersections: a Vision Zero based pedestrian traffic safety research project for Broad St. & Olney Ave.
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Transcending intersections: a Vision Zero based pedestrian traffic safety research project for Broad St. & Olney Ave.

Kathleen Rowe
Master of Public Health (M.P.H.), Drexel University
2016
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/etd-7396
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Rowe_Kathleen_20165.30 MBDownloadView

Abstract

Urban transportation policy Public Health
Transcending Intersections (TI) is an evidence-based assessment and improvement project that aims to improve the pedestrian safety at the intersection of Broad St. & Olney Ave.; Philadelphia's 5th most dangerous pedestrian intersection. This study utilizes and implements components of Vision Zero, a comprehensive set of Swedish transportation policies defined by public health principles. Transportation-related crashes kill approximately 30,000 Americans per year. In Philadelphia, the rate of pedestrian fatality increased 15% between 2009-2013. This risk disproportionately affects pedestrian populations in low-SES, non-white neighborhoods. To assess and address a high-priority area of this burden, this project utilizes a sequential mixed-methods approach that 1) communicates preexisting quantitative data from municipal and local NGO sources and 2) collects and communicates qualitative narratives and observations of intersection users. Upon integrating these data, comparable Vision Zero-based intersection design improvements will be researched and suggested for the intersection. The future of this intersection relies upon the action of local NGOs this report will be disseminated to. The Vision Zero Team of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia is responsible for using project's findings to compel City Council to fund either i) a temporary intersection improvement pilot using a portion of the City's $250,000 Vision Zero fund in the budget and/or ii) create a permanent long-term high-investment TAP (Transportation Alternatives Project) for the intersection from a $2.7 million grant from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC). The DVRPC will use this project's methods and guidelines as a reference for a future project that aims to do a scaled-up version of TI that will qualitatively assess the safety of multiple high-priority pedestrian intersections across their 9-county service area.

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