City Research Online

Abstract

Shared space is an approach to improving streets and places where both pedestrians and vehicles are present, with layouts related more to the pedestrian scale and with features encouraging drivers to assume priority having been reduced or removed. It creates a more pedestrian-friendly environment than conventional street layouts, which are based on greater segregation between pedestrians and vehicles, while at the same time introducing uncertainty, which makes drivers engage more fully with their surroundings, leading to lower vehicle speeds and improved safety. This paper investigates the importance of certain person-, context- and design-specific factors affecting the perceptions of pedestrians and drivers to shared space. Using two web-based stated-preference surveys, two sets of responses are collected from pedestrians and drivers, who are presented with different combinations of binary factors forming scenarios. Regression analysis is carried out with logit models for each survey. The results suggest that pedestrians feel most comfortable in shared space under conditions which ensure their presence is clear to other road users – these conditions include low vehicular traffic, high pedestrian traffic, good lighting and pedestrian-only facilities. Conversely, the presence of many pedestrians and, in particular, children and elderly, makes drivers feel uneasy and, therefore, enhances their alertness.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, Volume 15, Issue 3, May 2012, Pages 297–310, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2012.02.001.
Publisher Keywords:	Shared space; Pedestrians; Drivers; Behaviour; Perceptions; Street design
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HE Transportation and Communications T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
Departments:	School of Science & Technology > Engineering
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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