More than transportation: An integrated framework to evaluate how streets serve all users

随着新技术的开发和采用，我们正处于交通运输的范式转变之中，共享和按需服务。这是在北美许多城市的城市核心大规模更新和密集化的过程中发生的，这些城市推动了更可持续和积极的交通方式，并全面改善了宜居性。对于交通工程，这意味着从以汽车为主导的环境规划转向更多模式和更好的综合交通系统和建筑环境。这是因为，除了其核心目标外，运输系统和设施的影响还在越来越多的领域进行评估：环境，经济和社会，包括公共卫生和生活质量。因此，有大量的指标被用来衡量交通系统和设施的性能和影响。本研究涉及街道，包括沿着它们的公共空间，如人行道和公共广场。道路的主要功能是机动车辆的（通过）移动，并在较小程度上进入土地和建筑物，与此相反，街道具有其他功能，并为具有不同能力和需要的更多用户服务。第三种功能，即“场所”功能，可能是最重要的功能，也是街道区别于道路的基本功能。它与鼓励活动和社交的倾向有关，包括散步，玩耍，锻炼和购物。此外，在履行这些职能的同时，应尽量减少对公众健康（包括事故伤害）和环境的负面影响。虽然有规范和指南来设计街道，使其发挥其中一些功能，但缺乏框架和工具，无法根据所有使用者的观察，迅速、持续和系统地评估街道的实际运作情况。例如，为非机动车用户提供的新设施很少根据两个以上的标准进行评估，主要是安全性，而且没有对这些设施的所有功能和所有用户的服务情况进行综合分析，也没有对这些设施的其他影响进行综合分析。该研究计划的主要目标是开发一个原始的框架和自动化的方法，用于综合评估街道的功能及其使用的影响，基于所有用户的观察。

We are in the middle of a paradigm shift in transportation with the development and adoption of new technologies, sharing and on-demand services. This is happening during a sizable renewal and densification of urban cores in many North American cities and a push by these cities for more sustainable and active modes of transportation, and for overall improved livability.For transportation engineering, this means a shift from planning for car-dominant environments to more multimodal and better integrated transportation systems and built environments. This is happening because, in addition to their core goals, the impacts of transportation systems and facilities are evaluated on a growing number of areas: the environment, the economy and the society, including public health and quality of life. A vast array of indicators have thus been derived to measure the performance and impacts of transportation systems and facilities.This research deals with streets, including the public spaces along them like sidewalks and public squares. On the contrary to roads whose main functions are the (through) movement of motorized vehicles and to a lesser extent access to land and buildings, streets serve other functions and a larger variety of users with different abilities and needs. A third function, the "place" function, may be the most important one and essentially what distinguishes a street from a road. It is related to the propensity to encourage activities and socializing, including strolling, playing, exercising and shopping. In addition, these functions should be fulfilled while minimizing the negative impacts on public health (including accident injuries) and the environment. Although there are norms and guides to design streets to serve some of these functions, the framework and the tools are missing to evaluate quickly, continuously and systematically how streets actually operate, based on the observation of all their users. For example, new facilities for non-motorized users are rarely evaluated on more than two criteria, primarily safety, and there is no integrated diagnosis of how well these facilities serve all their functions and all users, nor of what their other impacts are. The main objective of this research program is to develop an original framework and automated methods for the integrated evaluation of the functions of streets and the impacts of their use based on the observation of all users.