Cào's blog

a design precedent in Ho Chi Minh city

Overhead footbridge is a small footbridge that goes above the road to help people cross the road. Overhead footbridge is a safe way of crossing the road for children, students, old people and the disabled like the blind. Comparing to crosswalks, it doesn’t delay traffic and requires no waiting time for pedestrians. Sometimes, it can be more than just a crossing structure, it can also be a piece of art (University of North Carolina 2016).

A perfect case in point is the overhead footbridge on Nguyen Van Cu street, Ho Chi Minh city. The bridge was built next to Le Hong Phong High School to promote safety for students who walk. However, the footbridge used to be forgotten by the pedestrians due to its inconvenience and unhygienic appearance.  The bridge used to be full of trash and needles, which scared people away. In October 2018, the bridge was repaired and repainted by the HCM Department of Transportation and Grab Holdings Inc. The bridge was painted all over with colorful drawings of traditional activities. This didn’t just give the bridge a cleaner and more attractive look, but also encouraged pedestrians to use the bridge more often (Anh 2018).

REFERENCES

Anh, M 2018, “Grab chung tay cùng Sở GTVT HCM, làm mới cầu vượt bộ hành”, viewed on 24 June 2019, https://dantri.com.vn/cong-dong/grab-chung-tay-cung-so-gtvt-tphcm-lam-moi-cau-vuot-bo-hanh-20181006204719695.htm

University of North Carolina 2016, “Pedestrian bridges connecting people with communities”, viewed on 24 June 2019, https://ced.sog.unc.edu/pedestrian-bridges-connecting-people-with-communities/

a design precedent in Hanoi

The push button crosswalk was invented to improve the efficiency of signalized crosswalks. Instead of changing the signal lights automatically even when there’s no one crossing, the signal light remains green unless someone pushes the “beg” button. The development helps with the traffic flow and reduces waiting time for pedestrians (Zhou 2013, p. 601).

Before coming to Hanoi, push button crosswalk has made its appearance in the developed countries, namely the US and the UK. In July 2005, Hanoi Department of Transportation started implementing push button crosswalks in various locations in Hanoi, starting with 8 spots in the center of Hanoi. According to Mr. Lam, vice president of Hanoi Urban Transport Management and Operation Centre, the selected spots were busy spots that were not at the intersection. The aim of this operation was to promote pedestrians’ safety and participation (Loan 2005).

The design of the Vietnamese version is quite simple. The button consists of two main parts: a grey button and an explanatory upwards arrow (Huong 2016). Comparing to the design of the crosswalks in the UK, it doesn’t seem to attract users and provide users with as much information. Sadly, because many don’t seem to work anymore, push button crosswalks are now ignored by many Hanoian.

REFERENCES

Zhou, Z 2013, Sixth international conference on nonlinear mechanics, Destech Publications, Inc., Shanghai, China.

Huong, T 2016, ‘Sự tồn tại của những chiếc nút bấm trên đường phố hà nội’, viewed on 24 June 2019, http://m.ongbachau.vn/xa-hoi/su-ton-tai-cua-nhung-chiec-nut-bam-tren-duong-pho-ha-noi-c920a20160113061930575.htm

Loan, Đ 2005, ‘Đèn ưu tiên cho người đi bộ: lợi bất cập hại’, viewed on 24 June 2019, https://vnexpress.net/thoi-su/den-uu-tien-cho-nguoi-di-bo-loi-bat-cap-hai-2038236.html

a case study in the U.S.

Rectangular Rapid-Flashing Beacons (also known as RRFBs) are solar-powered LED lights used to warn drivers of crossing pedestrians. It’s mainly consisted of a pair of LED lights, a caution walking sign, a button and a solar panel, all on a pole mounted on the side of the road. Before crossing the road, pedestrians are to push the button to activate the flashing LED lights. As they cross the road, the flashing lights notify drivers of the crossings, leading to them slowing down to stopping (University of Virginia 2019).

A research was conducted by the Federal Highway Administration to determine whether RRFBs could make drivers more likely to yield to pedestrians in multilane crosswalks. The researchers also wanted to know if they should be mounted on one side or both sides of the road. They picked 3 cities in the US with low percentage of drivers yielding to pedestrians: St. Petersburg, Florida; Washington, DC and Mundelein, Illinois. The result showed that the RRFBs increased the driver yielding by 73%. The average baseline was 18% and the average percentage with RRFBs installed was 91%. The result also suggested that the RRFBs mounted on both sides of the road were more effective than the ones mounted on one side by 4% (US Department of Transportation 2010).

REFERENCES

University of Virginia 2019, ‘Rapid flashing beacons enhance crosswalk safety at the push of a button’, viewed on 24 June 2019, https://uvaemergency.virginia.edu/rapid-flashing-beacons-enhance-crosswalk-safety-push-button

US Department of Transportation 2010, ‘Effects of yellow rectangular rapid-flashing beacons on yielding at multilane uncontrolled crosswalks’, viewed on 24 June 2019, https://emed.unm.edu/cipre/common/docs/cipre-resources/10043.pdf

a case study in the U.S.

Marked crosswalks are crosswalks delineated by white paint. There are many ways of markings but the most common one is a thick stripy pattern, also known as the continental crosswalk (Fig. 1) (Lance 2004).

Crosswalk markings are not to be used extensively. The risk of the overuse of markings is that there’s higher chance of drivers becoming desensitized to their presence. It is advisable that crosswalks be used at places where pedestrian activity is considerable (Lance 2004).

In order to evaluate the effects of marked crosswalks without signal lights, a research was conducted by Center of Applied Research Inc., US. The data was collected based on 3 aspects: if pedestrians were more likely to use the marked crosswalks, if the drivers slowed down or yielded to the pedestrian and if the pedestrians used less amount of caution. The results suggested that the addition of the white markings made some mild but positive changes: the drivers appeared to drive slower and pedestrians tend to use the crosswalk more when they’re walking alone. However, the changes didn’t seem to provide enough safety for pedestrians as people walking in group tended to ignore the crosswalks and drivers aren’t more likely to yield to pedestrian because of the presence of the markings (FHWA 2001).

REFERENCES:

US Department of Transportation 2001, ‘Pedestrian crosswalk case studies: richmond, virginia; buffalo, new york; stillwater, minnesota’, viewed on 24 June 2019, https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/14632

Lance, ED 2004, ‘Final report: development of guidelines for the installation of marked crosswalks‘, viewed on 24 June 2019, https://nacto.org/docs/usdg/guidelines_for_installation_marked_crosswalks_dougald.pdf

a social design issue

Mobility and transportation are always matters of great importance in developing and low income countries like Vietnam. Due to the high population density, wide range of vehicles and poorly organized road system, the traffic in Vietnam is heavy, chaotic and dangerous, especially during the rush hours. According to WHO, there were 22 419 people who died in road accidents in 2013. What is more troubling is that about 22% of these deaths were pedestrians (WHO 2016).

Transportation in Vietnam has a competitive nature to it. Drivers tend to want to go fast and get ahead of others by all means, be it going on pavements, running red lights or ignoring crossing pedestrians. The pavements are also often misused for parking cars and motorbikes, forcing pedestrians to walk on the road. The law enforcement isn’t strong enough to discipline law-breakers so pedestrians are constantly put at risk.

It’s quite unfair how the safety of pedestrians is neglected while they are more prone to injuries because of their low speed, light weight and lack of protection. The problem of pedestrian being overlooked is not Vietnam’s alone. Vehicle users around the world often fail to recognize pedestrians as legitimate users of the transportation, as well as their needs to commute safely (Charles, Richard, Herman & Peter 2001).

A case in point is road-crossing. Crossing the road in Vietnam is considered an extreme sport by foreigners because drivers almost never yield to pedestrians. There are not enough measures to help pedestrians, especially those with special needs, cross the road safely. It’s a common practice that pedestrians learn how to avoid the vehicles while crossing the road. Therefore, children, the elderly and the disabled are put into a difficult situation where their safety isn’t guaranteed if they wish to cross the road on their own.

This is an issue that needs solving because of the increasing diversity in residence in big cities like HCMC and Hanoi. The people affected aren’t just children, old people and the disabled, but also tourists, immigrants and rural migrants.

REFERENCES:

Charles, V, Zegeer, J, Richard, S, Herman, H & Peter, L 2001, ‘Safety effects of marked versus unmarked crosswalks at uncontrolled locations: analysis of pedestrian crashes in 30 cities’, Transportation Research Record, vol. 1773, no. 1, pp. 56-58.

World Health Organization 2019, ‘Number of road traffic deaths and distribution by type of road user, 2013’ viewed on 24 June 2019, http://gamapserver.who.int/gho/interactive_charts/road_safety/road_traffic_deaths3/atlas.html

Nguyen Hoang Hien Nhi – s3698416 – Creative Thinking & Innovation – RMIT University