Shalini Rankavat

Bio: Shalini Rankavat is an academic researcher from Shiv Nadar University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Foothills & Crash. The author has an hindex of 3, co-authored 4 publications receiving 18 citations.

Spatio-temporal variations in landscape ecological risk related to road network in the Central Himalaya

Abstract: Road networks are permanent manmade features altering the landscape structure and subsequently influence regional landscape ecology. Taking south-western foothills of Central Himalaya, as a case, t...

Influence of actual and perceived risks in selecting crossing facilities by pedestrians

Abstract: Unsafe road crossing behavior by pedestrians is a main contributing factor of pedestrian casualties. Data from 2006 to 2012 in Delhi, India, show that pedestrians have the largest share in total road fatalities. Although facilities such as underpasses and overpasses are often provided to help cross a road, most often, pedestrians do not use them. Pedestrian perceptions play an important role in the use of such facilities. This study examined the relationship between actual crash risk and perceived risk for selecting crossing facilities by pedestrians. The road crossing preferences of pedestrians were analyzed for midblocks, intersections, and locations with a flyover where overpasses and underpasses are provided for road crossing. Responses covering safety and convenience of using specific facilities from one thousand pedestrians were collected through a structured questionnaire on selected locations. A path analysis model, i.e., a special case of structural equation modeling, was developed for analyzing the data. Results show that an inverse relationship exists between actual and perceived crash risks. Crossing behavior in midblocks was found to mediate this relationship. At locations with a flyover, the perspective of convenience was significantly related to the actual crash risk. This study identifies the potentially useful roles that pedestrian perceptions of risk and preferences in road crossing can play in avoiding actual crashes involving pedestrians. Pedestrians’ demographics was also analyzed with perceived risks and preferences for road crossing. From a policy standpoint, the relationships identified between actual and perceived risk and the built environment features of road crossing provide useful information for transportation planners, city planners and engineers. Since perceived risk influences travel behavior, it is important to study influence of perceived crash risk for pedestrians. Proactive interventions are required at the locations with low crash rates as the perceived risk by pedestrians is quite high at these places. This is in addition to the measures required at the locations associated with high actual crash risk faced by pedestrians though these locations are having low perceived crash risk.

Road network drives urban ecosystems - a longitudinal analysis of impact of roads in the central Himalaya

Abstract: This study investigates spatio-temporal paradigm of the impact of road networks on urban ecosystem dynamics (UED) by analysing the composition and configuration of land use land cover (LULC) and la...

How to Create Walking Friendly Cities. A Multi-Criteria Analysis of the Central Open Market Area of Rijeka

Abstract: Current mobility strategies tend to pursue sustainable solutions with low environmental and economic impact, such as the disincentive to the use of private vehicles. Mobility on foot is among the most advantageous forms for short distances, especially if different technological and infrastructural solutions are inserted in the urban context such as underpasses that limit the likely conflicts with motor vehicles. These solutions, however, are not easily perceived as positive because people often do not like to change their usual routes or because they feel psychological discomfort when they pass through closed places. This research work focuses on the evaluation of the benefits of including a small underpass in the city of Rijeka, Croatia and through an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), a multi-criteria analysis, it was possible to prioritize a number of decision-making alternatives, related to qualitative and quantitative evaluations, otherwise not directly comparable, and combining multidimensional measurement scales into a single priority scale. This analysis allows to provide cues for local and non-local urban planning, encouraging through the participatory form an active comparison between the population and local authorities and at the same time allows to assess which multidisciplinary processes (psychological/engineering) are possible to put in place to encourage the research on pedestrian behavior.

Differences in traffic judgements between young and old adult pedestrians

Abstract: There is considerable evidence that older pedestrians are much more likely to be severely injured or killed once involved in a crash than any other group of road users. This study set out to investigate the road crossing practices of older adults relative to younger adults in order to determine whether they experience particular problems making traffic judgements and whether their road crossing behavior might render them more vulnerable to crashes because of declines in physical, sensory, perceptual, and cognitive abilities. An initial "blackspot" accident analysis highlighted the types of crashes in which older (and younger) pedestrians were involved. From this a number of specific road crossing actions were identified that were investigated in more detail in two observational studies. Road crossing behaviors were measured from video recordings of individual road crossings of younger and older pedestrians. On two-way roads, older adults were observed to interact more with the traffic and left less time between completing the cross to the middle of the road and time-of-arrival of the closest near-side vehicle than younger pedestrians. The findings suggest age-related perceptual and cognitive deficits may contribute to many of the crashes in which older pedestrians are involved.

Association Between Built Environment and Pedestrian Fatal Crash Risk in Delhi, India

Abstract: An analysis of fatal crashes involving pedestrians in Delhi, India, from 2006 to 2009 that used a geographic information system showed clusters of crashes at certain locations. An evaluation of the characteristics of the built environment around the high crash location clusters was necessary. This paper presents an analysis of the built environment factors that influenced the safety of pedestrians. Locations surveyed included roads around the fatal crash clusters of pedestrians. Factors that influenced the number of fatal crashes of pedestrians were analyzed with negative binomial regression. Types of locations were categorized into locations with a flyover and without a flyover. Results showed that an increase in traffic volume by 1% would increase pedestrian fatal crashes by 1.6% at locations with a flyover and by 0.9% at locations without a flyover. Arterial roads with more traffic volume, more road lanes, and higher speed tended to have more fatal crashes. Locations where medians were fenced or raised...