Safety impacts of platform tram stops on pedestrians in mixed traffic operation: A comparison group before-after crash study

Tram stops in mixed traffic environments present a variety of safety, accessibility and transport efficiencychallenges. In Melbourne, Australia the hundred year-old electric tram system is progressively beingmodernized to improve passenger accessibility. Platform stops, incorporating raised platforms for levelentry into low floor trams, are being retro-fitted system-wide to replace older design stops. The aim ofthis study was to investigate the safety impacts of platform stops over older design stops (i.e. Melbournesafety zone tram stops) on pedestrians in the context of mixed traffic tram operation in Melbourne, usingan advanced before–after crash analysis approach, the comparison group (CG) method. The CG methodevaluates safety impacts by taking into account the general trends in safety and the unobserved factors attreatment and comparison sites that can alter the outcomes of a simple before–after analysis. The resultsshowed that pedestrian-involved all injury crashes reduced by 43% after platform stop installation. Thispaper also explores a concern that the conventional CG method might underestimate safety impacts asa result of large differences in passenger stop use between treatment and comparison sites, suggestingdifferences in crash risk exposure. To adjust for this, a modified analysis explored crash rates (crashcounts per 10,000 stop passengers) for each site. The adjusted results suggested greater reductions inpedestrian-involved crashes after platform stop installation: an 81% reduction in pedestrian-involvedall injury crashes and 86% reduction in pedestrian-involved FSI crashes, both are significant at the 95%level. Overall, the results suggest that platform stops have considerable safety benefits for pedestrians.Implications for policy and areas for future research are explored.