The winner of the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC)’s 2015 Road Safety Engineering Award is the City of Calgary in recognition of its rectangular rapid flashing beacons pilot project.
This award recognizes exemplary contributions by a TAC member in Canadian roadway safety engineering and infrastructure. It also encourages the development and implementation of roadway safety countermeasures, guidelines and safety management systems for roadway design and operations.
In 2012, the City of Calgary decided to pilot rectangular rapid flashing beacons (RRFBs) at eight locations to evaluate:
The results of the before-after study were presented to the City Council in 2013. Following encouraging results, Calgary has decided to expand the RRFB installation to 20 additional locations by the end of 2015.
Anticipated Safety Benefits
Pedestrians are the most vulnerable road users in the transportation system. In 2014, Calgary witnessed 334 casualty (fatal and injury) collisions involving pedestrians.
“Accommodation of pedestrians at crosswalks in a safe and interactive manner has always been a great challenge to transportation professionals,” explains Surendra Mishra, Traffic Engineer, Operational Improvements. “Our before-after studies indicated that the level of motorists’ yield compliance to pedestrians increased significantly at pedestrian crossings from lower to mid 80% to over 95%. Given the significantly lower installation cost (approximately 1/3rd) compared to overhead flashers and similar results on yield compliance, this device could provide a cost-effective method to improve pedestrian safety at crosswalks”.
According to Surendra, the rapid flash pattern of RRFBs appears to be very effective in catching the driver’s attention. Close to perfect yield compliance at significantly low cost provides an opportunity to accommodate budget constraints. The versatile nature of this device with options to power by solar batteries or by connecting to a permanent power grid provides an ideal opportunity to use in various climatic conditions.
“Yielding behaviour studies during the 2013 trial revealed that RRFBs increased yielding compliance at all crosswalks where devices were installed,” adds Surendra. “Motorist yielding increased between 5 and 26 percent, depending on the site. A follow-up study conducted in June 2014 to examine the effectiveness of these devices after a year of operation revealed that RRFBs continue to be highly effective.”
Reliability of solar powered batteries use was one of the major challenges during the pilot. During winter months, solar panels were often covered with snow and were not functioning.
“A few times, there was water in the apparatus or flashers were stuck. There were a few complaints about the flashers being in operation well after the pedestrians finished crossing the road, amounting to drivers’ frustration.”
Calgary’s pilot project has worked as a test bed for the use of RRFBs across Canada by providing critical information required for its use in cold winter conditions. The lessons learned can be used to come up with better alternatives in powering the device and to address operational issues in more innovative ways.
A TAC Road Safety Engineering Award Honourable Mention was also attributed to Parsons Inc. for its turbo roundabout project.
Three other submissions, reviewed by a selection committee appointed by TAC’s Road Safety Standing Committee, were also received: 102 Avenue Corridor Review (City of Edmonton); Bicycle Route In-Service Road Safety Review (City of Edmonton) and The Low Level Road Project (Stantec Consulting Ltd.).
The award will be presented at the 2015 TAC Conference & Exhibition in Charlottetown, September 27-30.
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