Browsing by Author "Hansen, Todd"

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    Curb Management Practices and Effectiveness in Improving Safety
    Hansen, Todd; Elgart, Zachary; Bell, Stephen; Hu, Zhiheng; Wood, Nick; Alden, Andy (Safe-D National UTC, 2022-11)
    Curbside access has been a growing concern in cities over the last decade as on-demand passenger or goods transportation services have proliferated. Increased activity at key loading and unloading points may increase the risk of crashes and collisions between vehicles or with nearby active travelers as vehicles maneuver to access curbside spaces and others maneuver around them. This research project investigated linkages between curb management practices and safety among travelers as vehicles navigate to and from designated curb zones within a multimodal urban environment. The project analyzed the effectiveness of curb management practices in improving safety through reduced collisions between vehicles and other travelers. The project also investigated existing curb management practices across the United States to understand safety considerations and related perspectives of cities, community stakeholders, and industry organizations. The team collected video data of curbside zone utilization in Roanoke, Virginia, and synthesized observed interactions for analysis of a small city curbside zone site. The results include interview and focus group discussions on curb management and safety considerations as well as discussion of the approach and method for primary data collection in measuring curbside safety.
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    Micromobility Regulation: Best Practices Review
    Stoeltje, Gretchen; Hansen, Todd; Hwang, William; Geislebrecht, Tina (Safe-D University Transportation Center, 2023-09)
    As rented and shared micromobility options, e-scooters are new and potentially transformative app-based modes that promise to alleviate first mile/last mile mobility issues, congestion, and more. Yet their safe deployment has not yet been systematically understood or standardized by users, cities, or operators. From 2017 to 2021, 267,700 people were treated for injuries in emergency departments and 129 were killed in micromobility product-related crashes. These devices are not yet regulated by a federal agency like the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration or the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and their use is not uniformly regulated at the municipal level. Some jurisdictions are imposing strict regulations across a region, regardless of density levels or urban design, while others have not imposed any rules at all. Without further understanding of what constitutes effective local regulation, the safe operation of these devices may not improve. This project explores what types of regulations municipalities and regions are imposing in an effort to address the safe deployment of these micromobility options.