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Article
The Effects of Neighbourhood Characteristics and the Built Environment on Pedestrian Injury Severity: A Random Parameters Generalized Ordered Probability Model with Heterogeneity in Means and Variances
Analytic Methods in Accident Research
  • Chunfu Xin, University of South Florida
  • Rui Guo, Texas Tech University
  • Zhenyu Wang, University of South Florida
  • Qing Lu, University of South Florida
  • Pei-Sung Lin, University of South Florida
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-1-2017
Keywords
  • pedestrian injury severity,
  • neighborhood characteristics,
  • built environment,
  • generalized ordered probability model,
  • unobserved heterogeneity
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amar.2017.10.001
Abstract

Transportation infrastructure facilities and pedestrian/driver behaviors are associated with neighborhood characteristics and the built environment. However, the effects of neighborhood characteristics and the built environment on pedestrian injury severity are not well documented. To investigate and quantify the effects of neighborhood characteristics and built environment on pedestrian injury severity, a random parameters generalized ordered probit model with heterogeneity in means and variances was proposed to consider the ordinal nature of injury data and the issue of threshold and unobserved heterogeneity. A total of 3867 pedestrian-vehicle crashes that occurred in Florida Department of Transportation District 7 from 2011 to 2014 were analyzed. Based on the estimation results, three factors (African American community, school zone, and bus stop area) related to neighborhood characteristics and the built environment were identified to have significant influence on pedestrian injury severity. Pedestrian-vehicle crashes that occurred in African American community or bus stop area are less likely to involve incapacitating and fatal injuries. The presence of a school within a 0.5-km buffer from a crash leads to a decreased probability of fatal injury and an increased probability of incapacitating injury. In addition, the estimated parameter for elderly pedestrian indicator (50 < age ≤ 65) was found to be random with significant heterogeneity in both mean and variance (where the mean and variance are associated with intersection-related crash indicator). Compared to younger pedestrians (age ≤ 30), 74.3% of elderly pedestrians who are involved in intersection-related crashes are more likely to suffer severe injury (fatal or incapacitating injury), while 52.4% of elderly pedestrians who are not involved in intersection-related crashes are more likely to suffer severe injury.

Citation / Publisher Attribution

Analytic Methods in Accident Research, v. 16, p. 117-132.

Citation Information
Chunfu Xin, Rui Guo, Zhenyu Wang, Qing Lu, et al.. "The Effects of Neighbourhood Characteristics and the Built Environment on Pedestrian Injury Severity: A Random Parameters Generalized Ordered Probability Model with Heterogeneity in Means and Variances" Analytic Methods in Accident Research Vol. 16 (2017) p. 117 - 132
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/zhenyu-wang/42/