1,721,027 research outputs found
Le "Città 30" per una mobilità più sicura e inclusiva
No full textL'eccessiva velocità dei veicoli all’interno delle aree urbane è una delle principali cause di incidenti stradali che coinvolgono pedoni, ciclisti e motociclisti, identificati come utenti vulnerabili della strada. Ovunque è da tempo forte l’impegno per migliorare la protezione di tali utenti, anche se il problema rimane preoccupante e non può certo dirsi risolto. In Italia, nel 2019, il numero di vittime per incidenti stradali è stato pari a 3173 di cui il 46,8% pedoni, ciclisti e motociclisti. Un design stradale inadeguato associato ad un volume di traffico elevato, la coesistenza di più categorie veicolari insieme a utenti vulnerabili, e un comportamento inappropriato dei conducenti sono potenziali cause di rischio di collisione.
Al fine di creare zone più sicure e vivibili per gli utenti vulnerabili della strada, in numerose aree urbane è stato introdotto il limite di velocità di 30 km/h. Le “Città 30” hanno lo scopo di proteggere pedoni e ciclisti, migliorare la funzionalità e la sicurezza della strada e ridurre l'inquinamento atmosferico, acustico e visivo. Studi precedenti hanno dato prova dei consistenti vantaggi, in termini di sicurezza stradale, derivanti dall'introduzione del limite di velocità di 30 km/h. Un veicolo che viaggia a 50 km/h e che colpisce un pedone o un ciclista provoca un tasso di mortalità compreso tra il 55% e il 90%. Al contrario, ad una velocità di marcia di 30 km/h il tasso di mortalità è inferiore o uguale al 10%. Il 50% dei decessi di pedoni riguarda incidenti dovuti al contatto con un veicolo che viaggia ad una velocità compresa tra 50 km/h e 80 km/h e il rischio di morte a 50 km/h è più del doppio del rischio a 40 km/h, e più di cinque volte superiore al rischio a 30 km/h. A seguito dell’introduzione del limite di velocità di 30 km/h si è ottenuta una significativa riduzione della frequenza e della gravità degli incidenti sulle strade urbane. Dal confronto tra incidenti mortali o con conseguenze molto gravi all’interno di zone con e senza limite di velocità a 30 km/h è risultato che, nonostante il numero totale di incidenti nel caso di “zone 30km/h” non fosse inferiore il numero dei decessi è stato notevolmente minore. Il tema delle “Città 30” è centrale nell’evoluzione della mobilità sostenibile, ma il dibattito che lo accompagna si basa spesso su sensazioni, ‘sentito dire’ e posizioni ideologiche. È pertanto importante inquadrarlo con dati scientifici e concreti. Per questa ragione il Comune di Bologna ha monitorato le velocità di tre diverse classi veicolari (moto, macchine e autobus/veicoli pesanti) all’interno di una zona 30 km/h, lungo sei strade con caratteristiche infrastrutturali differenti, al fine di valutare il rispetto del limite previsto dalla normativa. Ciò ha reso possibile una maggiore consapevolezza delle velocità sostenute dai veicoli in questi luoghi e ha consentito di trovare soluzioni ad hoc per le strade in cui la velocità media risulta essere superiore al limite consentito, aumentando la sicurezza per ciclisti e pedoni
The role of peripheral vision in vertical road sign identification and discrimination
No full textThe role of peripheral vision in road sign identification and discrimination was investigated in two studies. Peripheral vision plays an important role in road signs perception due to their lateral positioning. In the first study 20 participants identified road signs presented at five levels of horizontal eccentricity (1.1°-12.4°), and two levels of vertical eccentricity (0°-2.5°). In the second study road sign discrimination was tested in a same-different discrimination task. The first study showed that a vertical offset of 2.5° degraded proportion correct rate by 9%. Proportion correct rate decreased from 79% to 41% in the transition from 1.1° to 12.4° of horizontal offset. The second study showed an accurate discrimination for road signs presented within a horizontal offset of 6.4°. Road signs with angular shapes and prominent vertexes as triangular or cross signs were better identified in peripheral vision than signs with more compact shapes (circular signs). Practitioner summary: Vertical road signs, due to their lateral positioning, are often perceived in peripheral vision. Horizontal and vertical eccentricity negatively impacts the driver's ability to correctly identify and discriminate traffic signs. The use of singular shapes and a design with simple pictograms and large contrasting areas strongly facilitate road sign perception in peripheral vision
Multi-Criteria Analysis and Decision-Making Approach for the Urban Regeneration: The Application to the Rimini Canal Port (Italy)
Full text linkIn recent decades, urban settlements have been greatly affected by globalisation, climate change, and economic uncertainty. When designing cities, these factors should be taken into account and adapted to the different contexts involved. The redevelopment of degraded urban areas is the first step toward achieving the sustainability aims set out in the Sustainable Development Goals. In this context, evaluation methods are required in the decision-making process, considering different social, economic, and environmental aspects to define the correct policies and actions for city redevelopment. In this paper, an evaluation methodology is proposed in order to obtain a priority scale of interventions for urban regeneration. Starting from on-site inspections to better know the current scenario, a set of indicators is established to evaluate the urban quality. Criticalities and potentials emerge through SWOT analysis and, with the ANP-BOCR method, the priority scale of the identified scenarios is defined. This decision-making approach was applied to the case study of the Rimini Canal Port, in the northeast of Italy, which is a degraded area of the city. This methodology is a tool that can be used in the future by decision makers (DMs) for the redevelopment of small port areas within similar urban contexts
A Decision Support System for the safety evaluation of urban pedestrian crossings
Full text linkThis paper proposes an innovative methodology, based on a Decision Support Systems, for the safety evaluation of pedestrian
crossings without traffic lights in urban neighborhood areas. It provides an on-site inspection performed using ad-hoc data check
lists, and it allows to assign a safety rate to the pedestrian crossing, in order to define a priority list of interventions and to suggest
which features need to be improved. This new approach can be useful and easy to use for public administration managers and local
governances, when they need to allocate limited financial resources to several pedestrian crossings. It has been applied to 10
pedestrian crossings on two roads in the urban area of Bologna and the resulted ranking list has been used by the Municipality of
Bologna in its Urban Road Safety Plan 2016-201
Safety roads: the analysis of driving behaviour and the effects on the infrastructural design
Full text linkRoad design should ensure the correct behaviour of drivers in terms of speed and level of attention. Nevertheless, in some cases
users are not able to visualize the carriageway enough correctly, owing to the misled road layout or the loss of visibility.
In this research, road safety management was assessed with the driving and visual behaviour of users, considering the impact of
different configurations of pedestrian crossings and road signs in order to reduce accidents. Even if users focus their attention on
the zebra crossing (60%) and the vertical sign (24%), 16% of them have had no perception of the pedestrian crossings. This result
shows how pedestrian crossings represent critical points that could compromise the safety of vulnerable users also in relation to
speed. In fact, driving behaviour highlights 50 km/h of the average speed at 100 meters before the crosswalk, which allows having
a too short time to stop the vehicle in safety. Moreover, the maximum speed underlines that users drive beyond the limit imposed
by the road’s rules. It is thus necessary to require the implementation of road infrastructure so as to modify the driving behaviour.
Starting from the Road Safety Review, it was then possible to detect the critical issues and correlate a visual and kinematic analysis
so as to intervene accurately
T-junction priority scheme and road user’s yielding behavior
No full textFour studies investigated yielding behavior in yield-controlled T-junctions that differed for
two priority schemes. In one case road users in the intersecting arm had to give way to road
users in the straight arm (priority to straight arm). In the other case road users in the
straight arm had to give way to road users approaching from the intersecting arm (priority
to intersecting arm). In two studies, yielding behavior was assessed with approaching
speed and gaze behavior to the critical areas of the intersection. Two additional studies
monitored road users’ speed and eye movements approaching the intersection. The results
of the two behavioral studies showed a significant speed reduction and an increase of driver’s
visual inspection to the intersection area in the priority-to-straight-arm condition in
comparison to the priority-to-intersecting-arm condition. The eye movement analysis
showed that total fixation time towards the intersection critical area and horizontal eye
movements were significantly higher in the priority-to-straight-arm condition. The results
emphasize the importance of considering perceptual affordances and expectations for priority
in intersection design to increase drivers’ compliance to yielding rules
The safety and conspicuity of pedestrian crossing at roundabouts: The effect of median refuge island and zebra markings
Full text linkRoundabouts are one of the most used road intersections because, compared to signalized
ones, they reduce conflict points between traffic flows and moderate driving speed. Great
attention should also be paid to vulnerable road users at roundabouts. According to accident
statistics, in fact, accessibility of pedestrians and cyclists is not always ensured.
This paper has evaluated the effects on the visibility of pedestrian crossing before and
after the displacement of zebra markings, moved before intersections, and the introduction
of media refuge islands and ‘‘Yield here to pedestrians” vertical signs. The above effects
have been assessed by before-after analysis of speed and visual behaviour of drivers
approaching the crosswalk.
Moreover, the analysis of the drivers’ eye movements has highlighted the most salient
elements of the pedestrian crossing. The relation between the drivers’ visual behaviour
and the vehicle speed have also been calculated. Results have confirmed that the intervention
carried out has increased both visibility and safety of the studied pedestrian crosswalks.
Zebra markings and the median refuge island have turned out to be the most glanced elements,
respectively seen by 93.75% and 56.25% of the drivers, followed by the ‘‘Yield here
to pedestrians” vertical sign. The mean distance of first fixation of the crosswalk increased
from 21.98 m before the intervention, to 40.69 m after it. The drivers perceived the pedestrian
crossings from a longer distance after the intervention, and they continued to glance
at the crosswalk while approaching it, enhancing their visual attention
Driver's visual attention to different categories of roadside advertising signs
Full text linkRoadside advertising signs are a salient potential source of driver's distraction. Previous research has mainly investigated driver's visual attention to billboards, which represents only one category of advertising signs. In this study, driver's visual attention was assessed in a naturalistic driving setting for six categories of roadside advertising signs: vendor signs, billboards, movable display boards, single and multiple commercial directional signs, and gas price LED displays. Fixation rate, fixation duration, fixation distance and driving speed were assessed in a sample of 15 drivers along a 30-km route including a total of 154 advertising signs belonging to the six categories described above. The role of clearance from the road, elevation, height, width, surface, number and size of characters, total number of characters, side of the road (driving side, opposite side), context (rural, urban), were also considered. Overall 24% of the roadside advertising signs were fixated. Fixation rate was significantly influenced by sign category, clearance from the road and number of characters. Median value for fixation duration was 297 ms. Fixation duration was significantly influenced by speed, elevation from road level, number of medium size characters, and was higher in the rural context. Median value for fixation distance was 58.10 m, and was significantly influenced by advertising sign category, character count and speed
Road sign vision and driver behaviour in work zones
Full text linkThe effectiveness of roadwork signs on drivers’ safety is a poorly investigated topic. The present study examined visual fixations of 29 participants to work zone signs, while driving 27 km along rural roads. The drivers’ visual fixations on the work zones signs were recorded with an eye tracking device, synchronized to a GPS recorder that collected kinematic data. The routes crossed 23 roadwork zones, including a total of 69 vertical work zone signs. Visual behaviour to roadwork signs were compared to visual behaviour to permanent vertical signs. The results revealed that drivers glanced at both temporary and permanent signs along the roadwork areas with a similar 40% frequency. In addition, they glanced at single roadwork signs more often and for longer than at multiple-roadwork signs. The main findings of this paper lead to conclude that driver behaviour, investigated by comparing instant speed and visual fixations, is frequently unsafe
Urban Regeneration and Soft Mobility: The Case Study of the Rimini Canal Port in Italy
Full text linkThe increasing need to reduce emissions and the environmental impact of urban areas to meet European decarbonisation goals motivates the selection of the Rimini Canal Port as a case study within the FRAMESPORT project, part of the European Interreg Italy–Croatia programme. A preliminary historical–documental and urban regulations analysis of the context allowed the identification of the main criticalities and potentials through a SWOT analysis. The central role of the stakeholders enabled the creation of a successful participatory co-design process developed through online surveys. Critical issues that emerged during the data collection phase were prioritised through a BOCR model, a powerful multi-criteria analysis tool. The project phase then focused on the resolution of the two main critical issues that emerged: the improvement of cycle/pedestrian paths, and the raising of the flooding docks in the Canal Port area. This article intends to demonstrate the strong influence of soft mobility in urban regeneration projects, and how an improvement of the quality of cycle/pedestrian paths can increase the quality of urban spaces. The new paths create a green infrastructure that contributes to a reduction in pollutant emissions through the promotion of sustainable mobility systems and an increase in green urban spaces
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