Developing Michigan Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Models

Book excerpt: Reducing the number of pedestrian and bicycle-involved crashes, injuries, and fatalities is a priority nationwide, including Michigan. It is important to identify those locations and attributes associated with locations that are most prone to such crashes. Relying on observed crashes or hotspot analysis can be misleading due to statistically anomalies or not properly accounting for pedestrian exposure and other risk factors. This project created a pedestrian and bicycle risk score, based on mapping crashes and the risk characteristics, for a defined area or network for the entire state of Michigan. This report describes how the project team developed the risk scores and corresponding non-motorized exposure estimates.