Table 1: summary of transit signal priority deployment results

Safety

Emergency Vehicle Preemption

In the seven-year period from 1994-2000, more than some 643 EV crashes involving one or more fatalities occurred nation-wide (USDOT, 2002). There is evidence to suggest that the deployment of EV preemption may decrease the number and severity of accidents involving EVs and other vehicles at signalized intersections. St. Paul, Minnesota reported an accident rate reduction of greater than 70% between 1969 and 1976 when it installed 285 signal preemption systems on 308 signalized intersections (St Paul, 1977). Since the national data supports the notion that EV safety is a critical issue, local stakeholders may want to examine the potential impact of EVP on safety at one or more areas under study.

A major product of this research project is the development of an analytical tool to investigate the potential for accidents between EVs and non-EVs at critical intersections. This tool applies the techniques of Conflict Point Analysis, an analytical approach used by the traffic engineering and safety community, to examine the likelihood that accidents may occur (Garber and Hoel, 1999). An illustrative example of this methodology is provided in Exhibit 7. The potential for accidents can then be determined using a set of logic rules for the type of conflict, the number of vehicles in each conflict stream, speed of the vehicles in the stream, and the degree of the situational understanding on the part of the drivers. Results of an analysis using this tool are presented in Exhibit 8.
Pedestrians
Pedestrian accidents with motor vehicles represent a serious safety problem. Pedestrian fatalities account for approximately 12.6% of the motor vehicle deaths nationwide. In terms of accident locations, 35% of accidents involving pedestrians occur at intersections (Zegeer and Seiderman). It is suggested that a safety audit be conducted during the planning of EVP & TP systems. This audit should review the potential impacts EVP and TP strategies might have on pedestrian safety. This audit should review the historical accident data within the area of interest; the length of pedestrian cycles based on the age and other demographics of the local population; the location of residential housing and retail activities; location and placements of bus stops; pull off areas; and distance between bus stop locations.

3.