This thesis acts as one of the first studies that analyzes the safety effects of Edge Lane Roads (ELR) for all road users. This is important since ELRs can be a solution to many issues, such as alleviating congestion, increasing multimodality along roadways, and reducing maintenance costs. ELRs in both North America and Australia were observed. Starting with the North American ELRs, the following study designs were employed to estimate the safety of ELRs: (a) yoked comparison where each ELR installation was matched with at least two comparable 2-lane roads to serve as comparison sites and (b) an Empirical Bayes (EB) before/after analysis for ELR sites where requisite data on AADT and other relevant characteristics were available. Crash data was collected and compiled into four different groups: ELR before implementation, ELR after implementation, comparison site before ELR implementation, and comparison site after ELR comparison. The yoked comparison showed 9 of the 13 sites that had lower crash counts compared to their respective comparison sites. The EB analysis showed all 11 ELRs that were observed demonstrated a reduction in crashes. Moving to the Australian ELRs, the following study designs were employed: (c) analysis of general crash counts/trends, and (d) reverse EB analysis. The analysis of general crash counts and trends showed that each of the Australian ELRs exhibited very low amounts of crashes for 5 years, which further shows how safe these facilities are. Moving forward to the reverse EB analysis, 5 of the 8 ELR sites demonstrated a reduction in crashes. Overall, the results were generally favorable and indicated that ELRs provided a safer experience for cyclists, drivers, and pedestrians. More analysis is recommended as more data becomes available on these ELRs. Examples of this include using pedestrian and bicycle data to better understand the safety effects VRUs experience on North American facilities or gathering enough crash data to conduct 3-year reverse EB analyses for ELRs that were expanded to 2-lane roads. Hence, a recommendation can be made to implement a few experimental ELRs in rural locations throughout the State of California to help it meet its SB-1 objectives.
","abstract_html":"<p>This thesis acts as one of the first studies that analyzes the safety effects of Edge Lane Roads (ELR) for all road users. This is important since ELRs can be a solution to many issues, such as alleviating congestion, increasing multimodality along roadways, and reducing maintenance costs. ELRs in both North America and Australia were observed. Starting with the North American ELRs, the following study designs were employed to estimate the safety of ELRs: (a) yoked comparison where each ELR installation was matched with at least two comparable 2-lane roads to serve as comparison sites and (b) an Empirical Bayes (EB) before/after analysis for ELR sites where requisite data on AADT and other relevant characteristics were available. Crash data was collected and compiled into four different groups: ELR before implementation, ELR after implementation, comparison site before ELR implementation, and comparison site after ELR comparison. The yoked comparison showed 9 of the 13 sites that had lower crash counts compared to their respective comparison sites. The EB analysis showed all 11 ELRs that were observed demonstrated a reduction in crashes. Moving to the Australian ELRs, the following study designs were employed: (c) analysis of general crash counts/trends, and (d) reverse EB analysis. The analysis of general crash counts and trends showed that each of the Australian ELRs exhibited very low amounts of crashes for 5 years, which further shows how safe these facilities are. Moving forward to the reverse EB analysis, 5 of the 8 ELR sites demonstrated a reduction in crashes. Overall, the results were generally favorable and indicated that ELRs provided a safer experience for cyclists, drivers, and pedestrians. More analysis is recommended as more data becomes available on these ELRs. Examples of this include using pedestrian and bicycle data to better understand the safety effects VRUs experience on North American facilities or gathering enough crash data to conduct 3-year reverse EB analyses for ELRs that were expanded to 2-lane roads. Hence, a recommendation can be made to implement a few experimental ELRs in rural locations throughout the State of California to help it meet its SB-1 objectives.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Lamera, Marcial F"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Civil and Environmental Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Anurag Pande","Civil and Environmental Engineering","College of Engineering"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-09-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2020-09-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:32:37Z","subjects":["Edge Lane Roads","Advisory Bike Lanes","Before/After Evaluation","Empirical Bayes Analysis","Transportation Engineering","Urban, Community and Regional Planning"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["10.15368/theses.2020.127"],"render_values":[{"text":"10.15368/theses.2020.127","href":"https://doi.org/10.15368/theses.2020.127","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/2431","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Anurag Pande","Civil and Environmental Engineering","College of Engineering"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Lamera, Marcial F"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2020-09-01T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Civil and Environmental Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Edge Lane Roads","Advisory Bike Lanes","Before/After Evaluation","Empirical Bayes Analysis","Transportation Engineering","Urban, Community and Regional Planning"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/2431","10.15368/theses.2020.127"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This thesis acts as one of the first studies that analyzes the safety effects of Edge Lane Roads (ELR) for all road users. This is important since ELRs can be a solution to many issues, such as alleviating congestion, increasing multimodality along roadways, and reducing maintenance costs. ELRs in both North America and Australia were observed. Starting with the North American ELRs, the following study designs were employed to estimate the safety of ELRs: (a) yoked comparison where each ELR installation was matched with at least two comparable 2-lane roads to serve as comparison sites and (b) an Empirical Bayes (EB) before/after analysis for ELR sites where requisite data on AADT and other relevant characteristics were available. Crash data was collected and compiled into four different groups: ELR before implementation, ELR after implementation, comparison site before ELR implementation, and comparison site after ELR comparison. The yoked comparison showed 9 of the 13 sites that had lower crash counts compared to their respective comparison sites. The EB analysis showed all 11 ELRs that were observed demonstrated a reduction in crashes. Moving to the Australian ELRs, the following study designs were employed: (c) analysis of general crash counts/trends, and (d) reverse EB analysis. The analysis of general crash counts and trends showed that each of the Australian ELRs exhibited very low amounts of crashes for 5 years, which further shows how safe these facilities are. Moving forward to the reverse EB analysis, 5 of the 8 ELR sites demonstrated a reduction in crashes. Overall, the results were generally favorable and indicated that ELRs provided a safer experience for cyclists, drivers, and pedestrians. More analysis is recommended as more data becomes available on these ELRs. Examples of this include using pedestrian and bicycle data to better understand the safety effects VRUs experience on North American facilities or gathering enough crash data to conduct 3-year reverse EB analyses for ELRs that were expanded to 2-lane roads. Hence, a recommendation can be made to implement a few experimental ELRs in rural locations throughout the State of California to help it meet its SB-1 objectives.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Analyzing the Safety Effects of Edge Lane Roads for All Road Users"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Anurag Pande","Civil and Environmental Engineering","College of Engineering"],"dc:creator":["Lamera, Marcial F"],"dc:date.available":["2020-09-01T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This thesis acts as one of the first studies that analyzes the safety effects of Edge Lane Roads (ELR) for all road users. This is important since ELRs can be a solution to many issues, such as alleviating congestion, increasing multimodality along roadways, and reducing maintenance costs. ELRs in both North America and Australia were observed. Starting with the North American ELRs, the following study designs were employed to estimate the safety of ELRs: (a) yoked comparison where each ELR installation was matched with at least two comparable 2-lane roads to serve as comparison sites and (b) an Empirical Bayes (EB) before/after analysis for ELR sites where requisite data on AADT and other relevant characteristics were available. Crash data was collected and compiled into four different groups: ELR before implementation, ELR after implementation, comparison site before ELR implementation, and comparison site after ELR comparison. The yoked comparison showed 9 of the 13 sites that had lower crash counts compared to their respective comparison sites. The EB analysis showed all 11 ELRs that were observed demonstrated a reduction in crashes. Moving to the Australian ELRs, the following study designs were employed: (c) analysis of general crash counts/trends, and (d) reverse EB analysis. The analysis of general crash counts and trends showed that each of the Australian ELRs exhibited very low amounts of crashes for 5 years, which further shows how safe these facilities are. Moving forward to the reverse EB analysis, 5 of the 8 ELR sites demonstrated a reduction in crashes. Overall, the results were generally favorable and indicated that ELRs provided a safer experience for cyclists, drivers, and pedestrians. More analysis is recommended as more data becomes available on these ELRs. Examples of this include using pedestrian and bicycle data to better understand the safety effects VRUs experience on North American facilities or gathering enough crash data to conduct 3-year reverse EB analyses for ELRs that were expanded to 2-lane roads. Hence, a recommendation can be made to implement a few experimental ELRs in rural locations throughout the State of California to help it meet its SB-1 objectives.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/2431","10.15368/theses.2020.127"],"dc:subject":["Edge Lane Roads","Advisory Bike Lanes","Before/After Evaluation","Empirical Bayes Analysis","Transportation Engineering","Urban, Community and Regional Planning"],"dc:title":["Analyzing the Safety Effects of Edge Lane Roads for All Road Users"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Civil and Environmental Engineering"],"thesis:degree_name":["MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:32:37Z"}