Study of keep-left scheme at active mobility facility

• Main Author: Siew, Crystal Yee Teng
• Other Authors: Wong Yiik Diew
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2024
• Subjects: Engineering; Keep-left scheme; Active mobility
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/176041
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Active mobility represents a significant aspect of Singapore's journey towards sustainability. As Singapore aims to cultivate a safe and efficient traffic system, continuous revisions to rules and regulations are required to govern active mobility. Footpaths have been converted to sharing pathways for other active mobility users with a speed limit. These reformations have led to numerous accidents over the years due to collision between active mobility users. This gave rise to concerns and hence the study on the improvement of facilitating safety on pathways especially at sight restricted areas where there is limited sight distance. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of ground markers to facilitate the keep-left scheme, and identify factors influencing pedestrian behaviour at sight restricted areas. In this project, a comprehensive study was conducted in Tiong Bahru, comprising perception surveys and naturalistic observations. To determine the effectiveness of ground markers based on the direction of adherence on sight-restricted pathways, the perception of safety and comfort was gathered. The results found that while many respondents expressed increased comfort levels following the implementation of ground markers, the observed changes in pedestrian adherence to the keep-left scheme did not yield consistent significance. Further analysis revealed additional influences on pedestrian behaviour which include individual habits, random choices, and physical obstructions. These findings emphasised a need for greater awareness of the keep-left scheme and to study the multifaceted influences on pedestrian’s behaviours and adherence. To gain deeper insights, future studies could explore the various impacts of pathway obstructions on the effectiveness of the keep-left scheme and employ larger sample sizes. Such insights will inform the development of more targeted strategies by the authorities to promote safety and efficiency on pathways.