Urban Transport Strategy. Management in Developing Countries John A Cracknell, страница 57

a)  footways - at its simplest, the provision of footways of adequate width which are well maintained and unencumbered by hawkers, stalls, dwellers etc and with protection guard-rails-barriers where appropriate, will do much to reduce trafficpedestrian conflicts on main roads;

b)  at grade pedestrian crossings - inclusion of appropriate phases in signal controlled junctions or by separate traffic signals “mid block” is essential to assist pedestrians in dense urban road networks;

c)  grade separated pedestrian crossings – both either over- or under-passes are used. However, such crossings must be carefully designed and located.  It has been reported that there is a tendency for car-enthusiastic city administrations to locate grade separation to assist cars rather than pedestrians; if over- or under-passes are inconveniently sited, they will be ignored by pedestrians and the accident hazard could be increased as pedestrians retain their original, non-protected surface crossing.  It is noted that grade separation is costly, particularly under-passes and many countries seek to capitalise on the potential financial support from the private sector by locating retail space in under-passes.  Retail in pedestrian underpasses has been particularly successful in Japan, Republic of Korea and more recently, in Mumbai.  Two aspects need to be recognized in planning pedestrian underpasses combined with retail development namely, (i) it is necessary to ensure that there is adequate pedestrian capacity and that retail development does not inhibit pedestrians simply crossing the road and (ii) that a secure environment is provided to pedestrians when retail developments are closed at night.  The latter can involve good lighting, CCTV and even guards but it must be recognized that in some cities, the security problem is severe and there will be no alternative except to close underpasses after dark;

d)  pedestrianised areas and streets – generally are part of a wider traffic management strategy with more general objectives but undoubtedly have safety benefits;

e)  bicycle lanes and tracks – bicycle lanes and tracks undoubtedly improve safety and the general environment for cyclists.  However, the lanes present some difficult design problems – particularly where tracks or cycle-ways are alongside roads and must use the same junctions as general traffic.  This is demonstrated in Leon, Mexico where cycle lanes have been implemented in a central median but with no protection for cyclists to join or leave and with the need to cross three lanes of traffic to access-leave the lanes.  Various methods have been sought to overcome this problem; the simplest is traffic signals for cycles.  More complex arrangements are used in some cities in Europe where “advanced areas” for cyclists are used at traffic signals; cyclists are given reservoir road space in front of general traffic at signal stop lines and into which the cycle lane feeds; cycles are then positioned in front of traffic and provided with an “early start” from the signals^[18].  However, this requires a high degree of driver observance and in many developing cities is likely to be unenforceable.  More reported experience and research is needed from developing cities on safe ways to deal with cycle lanes and traffic at the same junction.

6.9         Accident reduction at specific problem sites

6.9.1.      The “Safety Review” states “There is little evidence (of) crash reductions from urban (road-traffic) improvements in developing countries but there are a few promising results from junction improvements, the construction of segregated lanes for nonmotorised vehicles and the introduction of speed breakers”.  This is not a particularly positive endorsement of traffic improvements but it is contended that the view is more attributable to lack of data and monitoring than lack of efficacy.