University of Thessaly
Department of Civil Engineering
Road Safety Audit Tools in Urban Areas

Athanasios Galanis
Nikolaos Eliou

Adjunct Lecturer
Professor
neliou@uth.gr
Road Safety Audit
 Road crashes are caused by various factors:
Roadway Environment (geometry, construction, maintenance, traffic
management, weather condition, street lighting etc)
 Vehicle (technical characteristics etc)
 Road User (physical and mental characteristics, social activity etc)
 Human is the weakest link in this system, so the road design should be around
human needs.
 Road Safety Audits (RSAs) are valuable tools used to evaluate road safety
issues and to indentify opportunities for improvement.
 RSA is a formal safety performance examination of an existing or future road
segment or intersection from an independent, multidisciplinary team.

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Better Redesign the Road in PC than
Reconstruct a Road Network
Road Safety Audit
 Benefits of RSA or Road Safety Inspection:
Reduces the number and severity of crashes
 Examines conditions in detail that may pose safety hazards to all road users
 Consider safety from a human factors point of view and multimodal issues
 Do not require large financial investment
More Major Issues
 When to conduct RSA?
Addressed by RSA
 Planning, scoping, feasibility
 Preliminary (draft )design
Planning/Scoping
Early Stage
 Detailed design
Preliminary Design
 Work zones
Detailed Design
 Pre-opening
Construction
 Existing roads
Pre-Opening

Post-construction
Less Opportunity for Changes
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Responsibilities
Road Safety Audit Process
Road Owner
 RSA Process
RSA Team
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1
Identify
Project
4
Perform
Field
Reviews
2
Select RSA
Team
Conduct
Analysis and
Prepare
Report
6
Present
Findings to
Project Owner
7
Prepare
Formal
Response
3
Conduct
Start-up
Meeting
8
Incorporate
Findings
4
Road Safety Audit Cycle
 What do we want to change?
Infrastructure and behaviour.
 What is our goal?
 Safe and sustainable transportation.
 How can we achieve this change?
 Tools, case studies and multidisciplinary work.

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Sustainable Transportation
 Main features of a sustainable transportation friendly city – built





environment:
Road infrastructure design and maintenance based on physically disabled
citizens
Road and personal safety of the built environment
Accessibility to numerous destinations in urban and suburban areas using
alternative to automobile transport modes
Architecture and aesthetics of the built environment
Physical activity among citizens
Road Safety
Accessibility
Sustainable
Transportation
Friendly Built
Environment
Personal Safety
Attractiveness
Convenience
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Sustainable Transport Modes Built Environment
Audit Tools

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





Systematic Pedestrian and Cycling Environmental Scan (SPACES), (2002)
Walking and Bicycling Suitability Assessment Instrument (2003)
Walkable Places Survey (WPS), (2003)
Saint Louis University Audit Tool (SLU), (2004)
Global Walkability Index (2006)
Pedestrian Environmental Data Scan (PEDS), (2006)
U-Maryland (2006)
Irvine – Minnesota Inventory (I-M), (2006)
Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale (NEWS), (2006)
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Sustainable Transport Modes Built Environment
Audit Tools
 Evaluation of sustainable transport modes (pedestrians, bicyclists) built
environment features using audit tools:
 Analytic audit tools (extended version)
 Checklists (short version)
 Implementation from properly trained auditors or citizens with low level of
training or expertise
 Application in micro and macro urban form:
 Neighborhoods, arterials
 Road segment, intersection or bus stop area
 Neither audit tool or methodology is designed to evaluate all features of the
pedestrians or bicyclists built environment!
Selection of a transport mode is influenced from
urban built environment characteristics!
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Sustainable Transport Modes Built Environment
Audit Tools
 Audit tools could be implemented either in paper sheets (print version) or
using “Personal Digital Assistant” (PDA) tools (electronic version)
 PDAs are compatible with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Global
Position Systems (GPS) and photo cameras, thus importing pictures and
complete checklists in the data base in real time!
Personal Digital
Assistant (PDA)
Pedestrian Safety Audit Tool
Print Version
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Sustainable Transport Modes Built Environment
Audit Tools
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Sustainable Transport Modes Built Environment
Audit Tools
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Pedestrian Road Safety Audit
 Pedestrian Road Safety Audit is a formal safety examination of a future
roadway plan or project of an existing facility and is conducted by an
independent, multidisciplinary team.
 Target of Pedestrian RSA is the evaluation of pedestrian built environment
and improvement of the quality and safety of facilities that support the
pedestrian mode of travel.
Streets
Pedestrian
Facilities
Topic
Traffic
Traffic Control
Devices
Street
Crossings
Parking Areas &
Adjacent
Developments
RSA Zones
Transit
Areas
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Methodology of Pedestrian Road Safety and
Mobility Audit
1
2
1.1. PRSA Team: Selection & Training
1.2. Street: Assignment & Coding
2.1. Pedestrian Infrastructure
2.2. Pedestrian Built Environment
Topographic Charting (CAD or GIS)
3.1. Audit Tool Implementation:
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Road Segment Checklist
3.2. Audit Tool Implementation:
Picture Collection
3.3. Pedestrian Behaviour:
Walking across the sidewalk
Walking across the street
Crossing outside designated sites
Crosswalk Checklist
4
4.1. Grading Features of Pedestrian Built Environment:
Road Segment
Crosswalk
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Methodology of Pedestrian Road Safety and
Mobility Audit
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Pedestrian RSA Checklist (sample)
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Methodology of Bikeway Road Safety and
Mobility Audit
1
2
1.1. BRSA Team: Selection & Training
1.2. Street: Assignment & Coding
2.1. Bikeway Network
2.2. Bikeway Built Environment
Topographic Charting (CAD or GIS)
3.1. Audit Tool Implementation:
3
Picture Collection
3.3. Bicyclist Behaviour:
Road Segment Checklist
3.2. Audit Tool Implementation:
Bicycling across the bikeway
Bicycling across the street
Crossing outside designated sites
Crosswalk Checklist
4
4.1. Grading Features of Bikeway Built Environment:
Road Segment
Crosswalk
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Methodology of Bikeway Road Safety and
Mobility Audit
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Bikeway RSA Checklist (sample)
1
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
2
2.1
2.2
2.3
3
3.1
3.2
3.3
4
4.1
4.2
Road Type
Main Arterial
Collector Arterial
Local Street
Traffic Calming Street
Pedestrian Street
Bikeway Lane: Type
Type I (Raised Bikeway)
Type ΙΙ (Bikeway Line even to Pavement
Surface)
Type ΙΙΙ (Mixed Bicyclists-Motorists Traffic
Lanes)
Bikeway Lane: Location
Off Street
On the Sidewalk
On the Street
Bikeway Lane: Continuous
Yes
No
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11.1
11.2
11.3
11.4
11.5
12
12.1
Bikeway Lane: Pavement Material
Asphalt
Concrete Plates
Bricks (Concrete or Stone)
Earth
Else
Bikeway Lane: Maintenance Problems
Shoving
12.2
Collapse
12.3
Remaining Water
12.4
12.5
12.6
13
13.1
13.2
13.3
Remaining Earth
Litter
Else
Bikeway Lane: Permanent Obstacles
Traffic Sign Pile
Traffic Signal Pile
Street Lighting Pile
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RSA & Sustainable Transportation
 The issue of road safety and sustainable transportation is important in urban
areas due to the following reasons:
 High rate of car ownership and use
 Insufficient transport infrastructure and traffic management
 Improper relationship between urban land use and transportation system
 Investment in automobile infrastructure and motorists’ traffic management
faces the traffic congestion problem only in short term.
 Implementation of Road Safety Audit Tools enhances not only road safety but
also sustainability of urban and suburban transportation projects.
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“Road Safety Audit Tools in Urban Areas”
Thank you for your attention!
Ви благодариме за вашето внимание

Athanasios Galanis


Adjunct Lecturer
atgalanis@uth.gr
Nikolaos Eliou
Professor
neliou@uth.gr
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