Spatial Analysis and GIS Support for Pedestrian Safety in New York City

Since the early 1990s, The New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) has been active in instituting programs aimed at improving safety, with a special focus on pedestrians and cyclists. New York has experienced dramatic pedestrian safety gains since 1990-reducing the pedestrian fatality rate per resident by nearly 60 percent and the severe injury rate by 49 per­cent-but the total pedestrian injury rate has fallen by only 22 percent. It was recognized that to achieve further reductions, the Department's safety programs required a geographic and demographic focus. Seniors were iden­tified as among the most vulnerable groups-from 2002 to 2006, pedestri­ans over 65 years of age accounted for a disproportionate share of pedestrian fatalities and severe injuries in the city, representing only 12 percent of the population, but 38 percent of pedes­trian fatalities and 15 percent of severe injuries. NYCDOT initiated a study to analyze in detail pedestrian-injury crashes among seniors and to identify a strategy to decrease their incidence and severity.