With the progressive ageing of the population, the study of the relations between road safety and elderly users is becoming increasingly relevant. Although the decline of pedestrian skills in the elderly has been widely studied in the literature, few studies have been devoted to the contributing built environmental factors of the elderly pedestrian collisions, such as the sidewalk density, the presence of traffic lights, or even some indicator related to land use or the socioeconomic features of the urban fabric. This paper contributes to the limited literature on elderly pedestrian safety by applying a negative binomial regression to a set of built environmental variables to study the occurrence of accidents involving elderly and younger (non-elderly) pedestrians in Madrid (Spain) between 2006 and 2018. The model considers a selection of built environmental factors per city district, linked to land use, infrastructure, and socioeconomic indicators. Results have highlighted that the elderly pedestrian collisions could be avoided with the existence of a wider sidewalk in the district and a greater traffic lights density. Unlike younger pedestrian accidents, these accidents are much more favored in ageing districts with higher traffic flows.
In the last decades, car sharing has been a tool for city planners to reduce private car traffic and pollution in big urban areas. The emergence of the ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies), together with the development of the collaborative economy, has allowed for the birth of the new Free-Floating Carsharing (FFCS): A more flexible type of carsharing, in which electric cars can be used. Little research has been devoted using real FFCS flows data, to the FFCS impacts on user behavior and even on the public transport system thus far. Furthermore, in big metropolitan areas, central rail stations should promote modal interchanges, including new modes of electric FFCS systems. The aim of this paper is to design a web-based platform to collect and analyze FFCS demand on the surrounding areas of rail stations and makes a proposal to provide these systems with electrical recharging energy obtained from the regenerative braking of high-speed trains. This case study includes Atocha and Chamartín Central Stations in Madrid (Spain). Scientific evidence shows a high demand of FFCS cars at central rail stations and a trip profile with a short time duration linked to the closest districts of rail stations.
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