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Spatial epidemiologic analysis of relative collision risk factors among urban bicyclists and pedestrians

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Abstract

Pedestrians and bicyclists are the victims of countless car crashes in U.S. cities as well as around the world. Yet, many dimensions of their involvement in crashes remain rather poorly known. In this article, we follow a spatial epidemiologic approach to study the relative risk factors of bicycle and pedestrian crashes at the neighborhood level in the City of Buffalo, NY over a two-year period. The analysis examines physical road characteristics such as roadway and intersection functional classes, urban density and type of development—business or residential, as well as socio-economic and demographic variables to identify discriminating risk factors between the two non-motorized transportation modes. The analysis underscores significant differences tied to neighborhood ethnicity, educational attainment and land use, while physical characteristics of the road infrastructure register as marginally discriminating factors. Income related socio-economic status is not found to play a prominent role.

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Notes

  1. The street segments could conceivably be considered as unit of analysis. However, most street segments do not experience any pedestrian or bicycle collision over multi-year periods, which would prevent us from measuring relative hazards that pedestrian and bicyclists face. In addition, using street segments would require the spatial disaggregation of risk factors based on population, socio-economic, and commuting variables from official statistics released by the Bureau of the Census at the coarser resolution of areal units. This operation would entail significant challenges, particularly for street segments that form the boundary between census units. Hence, the street segment is practically not suitable for our purpose.

  2. Road class combinations that are not listed do not occur in the study area.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the referees of an earlier version of the manuscript for their insightful comments. Their critical input enhanced the quality of our work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography & Earth Sciences, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC, 28223, USA

    Elizabeth Cahill Delmelle & Jean-Claude Thill

  2. Department of Geography, University at Buffalo – The State University of New York, Wilkeson Quad, Amherst, NY, 14261, USA

    Hoe-Hun Ha

Authors
  1. Elizabeth Cahill Delmelle
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  2. Jean-Claude Thill
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  3. Hoe-Hun Ha
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Correspondence to Jean-Claude Thill.

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Delmelle, E.C., Thill, JC. & Ha, HH. Spatial epidemiologic analysis of relative collision risk factors among urban bicyclists and pedestrians. Transportation 39, 433–448 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-011-9363-8

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