Megan Ferguson, PE, AICP

"Analyzing the Factors Influencing Injury Severity of Bicyclist Crashes in Florida"

ABSTRACT: Bicycling is becoming a popular mode of transportation for travelers, especially with the recent shift toward increased multimodal travel. While bicycling provides many financial, environmental and physical benefits, it still has its caveats with regard to safety. As of 2013, Florida leads the United States in pedalcyclist fatalities per million residents. This paper will utilize an ordered… Show more

"Analyzing the Factors Influencing Injury Severity of Bicyclist Crashes in Florida"

ABSTRACT: Bicycling is becoming a popular mode of transportation for travelers, especially with the recent shift toward increased multimodal travel. While bicycling provides many financial, environmental and physical benefits, it still has its caveats with regard to safety. As of 2013, Florida leads the United States in pedalcyclist fatalities per million residents. This paper will utilize an ordered response model to analyze the contributing factors in injury severity for all bicyclist crashes reported in Florida during the year of 2008. The model generated will reveal what factors have the greatest impact on injury severity and provide suggestions as to what factors can be altered to reduce injury severity. Examples of explanatory variables contributing to injury severity are driver age, alcohol or drug use, and roadway grade. The ultimate goal of the analysis is to apply the findings to bicyclist education efforts in a way that promotes reduced injury severity. Show less

"Evaluating Driver Satisfaction on Urban Arterials Based on Expectations of Performance"

ABSTRACT: Is driver satisfaction influenced by expectations of roadway performance? It is widely
accepted in the field of psychology that a person’s emotional response to a situation is
influenced by comparing the potential outcome to the actual outcome. Studies have
concluded that people feel displeasure when actual outcome falls short of the potential,
and more pleasure when the actual… Show more

"Evaluating Driver Satisfaction on Urban Arterials Based on Expectations of Performance"

ABSTRACT: Is driver satisfaction influenced by expectations of roadway performance? It is widely
accepted in the field of psychology that a person’s emotional response to a situation is
influenced by comparing the potential outcome to the actual outcome. Studies have
concluded that people feel displeasure when actual outcome falls short of the potential,
and more pleasure when the actual outcome exceeds the potential. In agreement with
this theory, otherwise known as decision affect theory, drivers’ feelings toward urban
arterials should be influenced by their expectations of performance measures such as
delay and queue lengths at a signal. This paper will provide support to that claim by
evaluating arterials in Gainesville, Florida based on complaints received at the City of
Gainesville Traffic Management Center. Complaints will be aggregated and cross-compared
with travel conditions at the time of the complaint using technology available
at the Traffic Management Center. The data will provide evidence support to the claim
that driver satisfaction is influenced by expectations of arterial performance. Show less