Developing A Comprehensive Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) Tool for Assessing Traffic Danger with A Focus on Children

«Transport poses significant challenges to human health due to its negative externalities, particularly for children. Traffic danger, which encompasses risks associated with vehicles both inside and outside, is a major health issue, globally causing approximately 1.19 million deaths per year. Despite advances in vehicle safety, pedestrian fatalities, including those of children, are rising. The built environment plays a crucial role in shaping children's health and well-being, influencing their physical activity, social interactions, and safety. Previous assessments of traffic danger primarily relied on crash data and often neglected interactions among various factors influencing traffic danger. These studies can identify locations sensitive in terms of the number and type of collisions but do not comprehensively assess traffic danger due to the different factors related to traffic danger. These studies can identify locations sensitive in terms of the number and type of collisions but do not comprehensively assess traffic danger due to various factors. Their biggest failing is that they often ignore areas so dangerous that pedestrians and cyclists avoid them, resulting in no recorded collisions, yet these areas cannot be considered safe. Moreover, these current models focus on collision trends and do not provide a comprehensive consideration of all influences, often excluding the input of vulnerable groups. Children's and parents' perspectives are frequently overlooked in traffic danger assessments. Existing methodologies do not adequately account for the complex and unequal impacts of different variables on traffic danger. Common assessment methods, such as statistical analyses and observational models, fail to integrate diverse stakeholder inputs effectively. For instance, simulators used with children tend to focus on training them to adjust to traffic danger rather than understanding traffic danger from the children’s perspective, reflecting a rather adult-centric viewpoint. Therefore, there is a lack of comprehensive tools that can assess traffic danger at a granular street-by-street level, particularly focusing on vulnerable road users like children. To address these issues, this thesis proposes a comprehensive method for assessing traffic danger in detail, with a particular focus on protecting vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and children. By employing a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) approach, specifically the MACBETH method, this study integrates diverse data sources and stakeholder perspectives to provide a detailed traffic danger index.»