Bus travel safety - a travel chain perspective
Author
Summary, in English
The injury risk for bus passengers is low compared to car users. However, bus passengers also run the risk of sustaining injuries as vulnerable road users: as pedestrians or cyclists to and from the bus stop. Among vulnerable road users, seniors are a particularly important group. Hitherto, injury data have mainly been based on police-reported accidents. These accidents reveal bus occupant safety, rarely covering the whole travel chain. The aim of this study is therefore to incorporate all links in the travel chain, in order to better assess the risks in local and regional bus services.
Instead of using only police data, both police- and hospital-registered injuries are collected, which will cover not only on-board injuries but also transport to and from the vehicle and during boarding and alighting. Four emergency departments in a southern Swedish county (Skåne) have been collecting data on bus-related injuries between 2006 and 2009. Follow-up studies (postal surveys) are made in order to assess longterm effects and medical costs. In order to assess incidence rates, injury data are
complemented by using ongoing extensive travel surveys.
The preliminary findings (with data from 2006 to 2008) from this study underscore the need for a holistic perspective when it comes to safety issues. A substantial number of bus-related injuries are sustained to and from the bus stops, and among these injuries older people are over-represented. These injuries are results of so-called single
accidents, i.e. not directly involving external violence. Further results will target exposure, risk estimates, and societal costs for the group of elderly passengers as well as all user groups.
Instead of using only police data, both police- and hospital-registered injuries are collected, which will cover not only on-board injuries but also transport to and from the vehicle and during boarding and alighting. Four emergency departments in a southern Swedish county (Skåne) have been collecting data on bus-related injuries between 2006 and 2009. Follow-up studies (postal surveys) are made in order to assess longterm effects and medical costs. In order to assess incidence rates, injury data are
complemented by using ongoing extensive travel surveys.
The preliminary findings (with data from 2006 to 2008) from this study underscore the need for a holistic perspective when it comes to safety issues. A substantial number of bus-related injuries are sustained to and from the bus stops, and among these injuries older people are over-represented. These injuries are results of so-called single
accidents, i.e. not directly involving external violence. Further results will target exposure, risk estimates, and societal costs for the group of elderly passengers as well as all user groups.
Department/s
Publishing year
2010
Language
English
Document type
Conference paper
Topic
- Infrastructure Engineering
Keywords
- bus travel
- older passengers
- safety
- injuries
- travel chain
Conference name
TRANSED 2010 - 12th International Conference on Mobility and Transport for Elderly and Disabled Persons
Conference date
2010-06-02 - 2010-06-04
Status
Published
Research group
- Competence Center - Traffic Environment for Older and Disabled Persons