Towards healthy aging: Influence of the built environment on elderly pedestrian safety at the micro-level

As vulnerable road users, elderly pedestrians are more likely to be injured in road crashes due to declining physical and perceptual capabilities. Most previous studies on the influence of the built environment on elderly pedestrian safety focused on intersections or areal units. Using a district of Shanghai as the study area, this research investigated the effects of the built environment at the road segment level with elderly pedestrian collision, taxi tracking point, point of interest, street view image, open street map, land use, housing price, and elderly population datasets. In particular, this research employed both Poisson and geographically weighted Poisson regression (GWPR) models to account for spatial nonstationarity. The Poisson model indicates that green space, sidewalks, and junctions on the roads significantly affected elderly pedestrian safety, and roads around nursing homes, schools, bus stops, metro stations, traditional markets, and supermarkets were hazardous for elderly pedestrians. The results of the GWPR model suggest that the influence of factors varied across the study area. Green space could decrease the risk of elderly pedestrian collisions only in areas without congested environments. Separations need to be installed between roadways and sidewalks to improve elderly road safety.