Behaviour and perceptions of powered two-wheeler users in street designs with elements of shared space

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2021.05.007Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Behaviour of motorcyclists monitored through video observation of a road site before and after redevelopment to shared space.

  • Perceptions of motorcyclists towards shared space analysed through a stated-preference survey.

  • Lower motorcyclist flows and speeds, and fewer overtaking manoeuvres, after shared space.

  • Lower willingness to share space expressed when large numbers of static and moving obstacles are present.

  • Motorcyclists appear to treat and perceive shared space features more like motorised users rather than non-motorised ones.

Abstract

Inspired by developments in urban planning, the concept of “shared space” has recently emerged as a way of creating a better public realm by facilitating pedestrian movement and lowering vehicle traffic volumes and speeds. Previous research looked at how the behaviour and perceptions of pedestrians, vehicle drivers and pedal cyclists, vary with the introduction of elements of shared space. The aim of this study is to extend this analysis to Powered Two-Wheeler (PTW) riders, who are a road user group that is often overlooked. The study consists of two parts. The first one conducts a video observation analysis of the behaviour of PTW riders before and after the redevelopment of the Exhibition Road site in London’s South Kensington area to a layout with shared space elements, and looks at changes in key variables, such as flow and speed. The second part, then, provides an insight into the perceptions of PTW riders through a generic stated-preference survey investigating their “willingness to share space” with vehicles and pedestrians. The results show that PTW riders appear to treat shared space features more like motorised users rather than non-motorised ones. Indeed, lower PTW flows and speeds and fewer overtaking manoeuvres are recorded on Exhibition Road post-redevelopment, while lower willingness to share is expressed when large numbers of pedestrians and static obstacles (such as trees, seating and fountains) are present. On the other hand, PTW riders are more positive towards shared space elements if the design provides ample space and a smooth pavement surface.

Introduction

The concept of shared space has emerged as part of a continuous trend over many years towards a more integrated approach to the design of urban streets. Inspired by advances in urban planning, it revolves around layouts aimed at asserting the function of streets as places rather than as arteries, which involves designing for easier pedestrian movement and lower vehicle speeds (Fig. 1). As such, it contrasts the traditional car-oriented approach that drove the design of streets for many decades, which relied upon the segregation of motorised traffic from other road users in order to ensure unobstructed flows (Buchanan et al., 1963).

An important issue needing clarification here is the definition of the term “shared space”, whose purpose is not to classify entire streets using the binary characterisation of “shared” or “not shared”. Instead, the term is used to collectively refer to a set of context-sensitive design treatments, whose aim is to create a more pedestrian-friendly environment, and whose extent of implementation may vary. Such treatments range from “light-touch” solutions, such as the replacement of “formal” zebra or signal-controlled crossing facilities with more “informal” (uncontrolled) pedestrian crossings, to more radically-engineered layouts involving level surfaces in so-called “naked streets”, where most, or even all, delineation between pedestrian and vehicle areas is removed (Hamilton-Baillie, 2004, Hamilton-Baillie and Jones, 2005, Hamilton-Baillie, 2008, Hamilton-Baillie, 2008). Examples of streets with varying extents of shared space features can be found around the world and include: “woonerf” and “home zone” streets in residential areas in the Netherlands and UK respectively; the “Manual for Streets” approach in the UK (UK Department for Transport. Manual for Streets., 2007, Chartered Institute of Highways and Transport. Manual for Streets 2 – Wider application of the principles., 2010); and the “Complete Streets” initiative in the USA (McCann, 2013).

Shared space has been analysed fairly extensively in recent years, yet the focus has been almost exclusively on pedestrians and vehicle drivers, and to a lesser extent on pedal cyclists. The important group of Powered Two-Wheeler (PTW) users has so far remained largely under-represented, despite the unpredictable stance that its interaction with shared space features may exhibit. Namely, as motorised users, PTW riders (a.k.a. motorcyclists) may wish to maintain high travel speeds and may hence feel uncomfortable riding on streets with elements of shared space. On the other hand, however, as more vulnerable than car drivers, they may favour the “calmer” traffic conditions created by the shared space features.

It is therefore important to investigate the behaviour and perceptions of PTW riders towards shared space, and it is the aim of the present study to identify and quantify the factors that influence these. The work complements previous research on the topic, which covered a wide range of shared-space-related topics, such as pedestrian-vehicle traffic conflicts (Kaparias et al., 2010, Kaparias et al., 2013) and behavioural interactions (Kaparias et al., 2015), pedestrian and pedal cyclist perceptions (Kaparias et al., 2012, Kaparias et al., 2013), pedestrian and driver willingness to share (Kaparias et al., 2012), and pedestrian gap acceptance behaviour (Kaparias et al., 2016).

The present study consists of two parts. The first part analyses the behaviour of PTW riders before and after the implementation of shared space features and looks at changes in key variables, such as PTW average speed and flow, as well as at other aspects, such as overtaking behaviour. The example of Exhibition Road in London’s South Kensington area is used, with data coming from video observations during periods before and after its conversion from a conventional divided roadway to a more “open” layout featuring some elements of shared space. The second part then explores PTW rider perceptions, as expressed through the riders’ “willingness to share space” with other road users in relation to a number of attributes. These are identified with the help of a focus group and their importance is determined by collecting a set of responses from motorcyclists, who are presented with hypothetical scenarios in a generic (non-site-specific) stated-preference survey.

The paper is structured as follows: Section 2 gives the background of the study, by reviewing previous work on PTW rider behaviour and perceptions. Section 3 then presents the methodology adopted in the behavioural observation study, and reports and discusses the results obtained. Section 4 documents the second part of the study, relating to the methodology and analysis of the motorcyclist perceptions survey, while Section 5 draws conclusions and identifies areas of future work.

Section snippets

Background on PTW rider behaviour and perceptions

In a study by Mannering and Grodsky (1995) it has been identified that motorcycling requires a unique skillset, which includes the ability of high-level physical coordination and balance, that is similar in principle to pedal cycling, but much more demanding in terms of intensity. As such, PTW riders have in the past often been viewed as a small high-risk acceptance group, whose primary purpose for riding is to seek excitement (Fuller et al., 2008).

However, this claim has more recently been

PTW user behavioural observation study

The first part of the present study deals with the analysis of the changes in the behaviour of motorcyclists, monitored through video observation, in response to the redevelopment of the Exhibition Road site to a layout with elements of shared space. This section describes the study area and the conduct of the video observations, and presents the results obtained.

Stated-preference survey on PTW user perceptions

Supported by the behavioural analysis of the previous section, the second part of the study investigates the perceptions of motorcyclists by means of a stated-preference survey. The analysis gives an insight of the degree to which different person-specific (internal) and street-design-specific (external) factors may influence the willingness of PTW users to share the space with others, and the survey design and results obtained are outlined in this section.

Conclusions

In light of the shift in focus in urban street design, this paper has conducted an investigation of the behaviour and perceptions of PTW users towards the implementation of street layouts with elements of shared space. The study has consisted of two parts. First, using the Exhibition Road site in London’s South Kensington area as a case study, changes in the behaviour of motorcyclists as a result of the redevelopment to a layout with elements of shared space have been investigated by means of

CRediT authorship contribution statement

I. Kaparias: Methodology, Formal analysis, Resources, Data curation, Validation, Supervision, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing. P. Li: Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis, Project administration.

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea for supporting this work by providing data and guidance.

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