RSA | Public Transport Interchange | Optioneering | Human Factors
Six options were being considered to alter Canberra’s temporary (long-term) bus interchange which alter the existing layout and mostly remove pedestrian crossings and refuges for real or perceived bus operational (timing) benefits.
The audit team focussed on safety risk factors including:
▪ Operating speed
▪ Sight distance
▪ Bus volumes
▪ Pedestrian volumes
▪ Traffic management controls and readability
▪ Road user compliance to traffic controls
▪ Effect of surrounding road works (e.g. buses queueing out onto surrounding streets)
▪ Minor factors: Geometry, climatic, light
The audit team knew there would be a ‘human factors’ element to this audit to assess existing behaviours and predict behaviours based on the options. Therefore it hired an upper-floor hotel room to obtain a bird’s eye view of the whole facility operating, day and night.
This complemented the on-ground site observations.
It was found that the existing crossings were providing a significant safety benefit and only a minor delay to buses. Also, an unintuitive issue was raised: it was determined that there was a significant likelihood that the removal of the zebra crossings would lead to increased delays compared to the existing conditions. The issues of ‘safety’, ‘user compliance’, and ‘bus delays’ were summarised for each option.
The client was provided with a preferred layout with channelisation and way-finding suggestions, as well as minor improvements to sight distance, signs, approach accesses, surrounding construction zones, trip / bump hazards, DDA non-compliances.
