FLORIDA PED/BIKE SAFETY COALITION:

EVALUATION & ENFORCEMENT .

Pro Walk / Pro Bike / Pro Place, September 10, 2014

Lucas Cruse, AICP

Research Associate

ITS, Traffic Operations and Safety Program

Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR)

University of South Florida (USF)

Safety Coalition Emphasis Areas

• Data, Analysis, and Evaluation

• Law Enforcement and

Emergency Services

• Driver Education and Licensing

• Highway and Traffic Engineering

• Communication Program

• Outreach Program

• Legislation, Regulation, and Policy

Initial Campaign Launch in Highest Crash Counties

• Blue – Top 10 • Miami-Dade

• Broward

• Palm Beach

• Hillsborough

• Orange

• Pinellas

• Duval

• Polk

• Volusia

• Lee

• Pink – 11 to 15 • Pasco

• Escambia

• Brevard

• Marion

• Sarasota

Program Evaluation

• Go beyond crashes

• Understand behavior

• Focus resources

ATAT Campaign and Events Surveys

• Awareness of campaign

• Understanding of laws

• Perceptions of safety

Program Evaluation - Methods

Link questions with observations

Questionnaire • Awareness of campaign

• Understanding of laws

• Perceptions of safety

Behavior Observations • Crossing location

• Traffic signal compliance

• Distraction

• Vehicle interactions

• Demographics

2014 Overall Program Evaluation

• 6,374 observations

• 1,175 surveys

• 81 intersections

Program Evaluation - Results

• 18% had seen campaign (up from 13% in 2013)

• 73% cross at the crosswalk

• 51% fully obey traffic signals when crossing in crosswalk

• 41% pushed the ped button when present

• 24% biked on the roadway

Observation Stats

Linked Surveys with Observations

• Of those both observed and asked, the

majority both know the law and follow it

• 85% state that they press the pedestrian

button, but only 63% were observed doing so

• Only 50% of roadway bicyclists state that you

should bike with traffic and were observed

doing so

• 30% state that they know to cross with white

man, but were observed crossing against the

signal

Program Evaluation - Results

Knowledge of campaign did not directly improve behavior

Poor knowledge of the law

Need targeted campaigns

Know the law, but don’t follow it

Need targeted enforcement

Need design solutions as well

High Visibility Enforcement

• Funded contracts with individual law enforcement agencies

• Targeted on high crash locations

• Documentation of operations

• Time & Location

• Number of officers

• Contacts made

• Warnings & citations by each statute section

• Conducting survey to understand policies and practices

High Visibility Enforcement

• Phase 1 Evaluation

• 20 agencies

• March – August 2014: preliminary data

• 12,400 contacts made

• 8,000 warnings

• 2,700 citations

• Next steps:

• Map locations

• Review statutes cited

• Compare with crashes

• Phase 2 starting soon

Motorists Pedestrians Bicyclists

# Warnings 1,748 5,554 765

# Citations 1,449 1,121 157

# Contacts 3,263 7,717 1,427

Laws Synopsis Cue Card

Police Roll Call Videos

• Crash Types

• Behaviors

• Statutes

Plans for 2015

• Expand campaign to top 15 counties

• Use evaluation results to:

• Develop targeted campaign messages

• Continue and expand enforcement activities

• Naturalistic Bicycling Study