Paired Comparison Method to Prioritize Traffic Calming Projects

Abstract

Road safety is a major concern for both neighborhoods and individuals. Traffic calming means the implementation of measures to reduce vehicle speed, excessive traffic volume, and accidents on residential streets. If requests for traffic calming exceed city resources then there is a need to prioritize projects. But Japan does not have a system of prioritization to apply in such cases. The objective of this research is to develop a traffic calming prioritization process. In this research, the paired comparison method was used to analyze respondent preferences about the streets which they feel more dangerous and in need of treatment by traffic calming. Discrete choice logit analysis was employed to reveal the factors for selecting streets for treatment by traffic calming. The model also explores the importance of variables during the selection of streets. These findings become important in order to improve the state of traffic safety in Japan and in other Asian countries.