Statewide Implementation of Innovative Safety Analysis Tools in Identifying Highway Safety Improvement Projects

Statewide Implementation of Innovative Safety Analysis Tools in Identifying Highway Safety Improvement Projects PDF Author: Ioannis Tsapakis
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Traffic accidents
Languages : en
Pages : 67

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Book Description
The Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) aims to achieve a reduction in the number and severity of fatalities and serious injury crashes on all public roads by implementing highway safety improvement projects. Transportation agencies continuously try to find ways to improve their HSIP. Over the last few years, particular emphasis has been placed on employing advanced safety predictive methods and tools. In 2016, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) funded research project 0-6912 that developed a) a network screening process for roadway segments, b) preliminary crash analysis and visualization (CAVS) products, and c) a project prioritization tool. TxDOT implementation project 5-6912-01 developed a network screening tool that incorporates the 0-6912 network screening process, and improved and implemented the CAVS process and products to support the diagnosis and countermeasure selection processes at TxDOT. The network screening tool developed in this project automatically scans all on-system mainlane roadway segments in Texas using a dynamic sliding window method and calculates seven safety performance measures for each scanned segment. The performance measures can be used to rank and determine sites with the highest crash risk for further examination. The CAVS products display crash data and locations where certain types of safety countermeasures can be implemented. Among various improvements, the main benefits realized from the implementation of the CAVS products include an increase in the number of candidate projects identified by TxDOT districts between 31 percent to 57 percent and a reduction in the time and effort required to select projects by 20-50 percent.

Statewide Implementation of Innovative Safety Analysis Tools in Identifying Highway Safety Improvement Projects

Statewide Implementation of Innovative Safety Analysis Tools in Identifying Highway Safety Improvement Projects PDF Author: Ioannis Tsapakis
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Traffic accidents
Languages : en
Pages : 67

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Book Description
The Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) aims to achieve a reduction in the number and severity of fatalities and serious injury crashes on all public roads by implementing highway safety improvement projects. Transportation agencies continuously try to find ways to improve their HSIP. Over the last few years, particular emphasis has been placed on employing advanced safety predictive methods and tools. In 2016, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) funded research project 0-6912 that developed a) a network screening process for roadway segments, b) preliminary crash analysis and visualization (CAVS) products, and c) a project prioritization tool. TxDOT implementation project 5-6912-01 developed a network screening tool that incorporates the 0-6912 network screening process, and improved and implemented the CAVS process and products to support the diagnosis and countermeasure selection processes at TxDOT. The network screening tool developed in this project automatically scans all on-system mainlane roadway segments in Texas using a dynamic sliding window method and calculates seven safety performance measures for each scanned segment. The performance measures can be used to rank and determine sites with the highest crash risk for further examination. The CAVS products display crash data and locations where certain types of safety countermeasures can be implemented. Among various improvements, the main benefits realized from the implementation of the CAVS products include an increase in the number of candidate projects identified by TxDOT districts between 31 percent to 57 percent and a reduction in the time and effort required to select projects by 20-50 percent.

Innovative Tools and Techniques in Identifying Highway Safety Improvement Projects

Innovative Tools and Techniques in Identifying Highway Safety Improvement Projects PDF Author: Ioannis Tsapakis
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Traffic accidents
Languages : en
Pages : 173

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Book Description
The Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) aims to achieve a reduction in the number and severity of fatalities and serious injury crashes on all public roads by implementing highway safety improvement projects. Although the structure and main components of the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT’s) HSIP comply with relevant requirements, a review of modern safety assessment methods and tools revealed that there are several areas for improvement. As national safety assessment methods have evolved, legislation mandates that the use of safety performance methods be elevated. This research addresses how TxDOT can allocate funds in the most cost-effective manner; create a level playing field for all districts participating in the HSIP; promote district participation in the program; and minimize the amount of time and resources required to identify HSIP projects. To address these objectives, this study focused on improving and streamlining four (of six) components of the framework: a) network screening; b) diagnosis; c) countermeasure selection; and d) project prioritization. The researchers developed and applied a network screening process for roadway segments; conducted a pilot study for intersection network screening; developed and implemented a Crash Analysis and Visualization process that creates various informational products that display crash data and locations where certain types of safety countermeasures can be implemented; and developed a project prioritization spreadsheet . Among various improvements, the main benefits gained from using these tools include an increase in the number of HSIP projects identified by TxDOT district by up to 57 percent and a reduction in the time and effort required to select projects by 20-50 percent.

Technologies for Improving Safety Data

Technologies for Improving Safety Data PDF Author: Jennifer Harper Ogle
Publisher: Transportation Research Board
ISBN: 0309097851
Category : Automatic data collection systems
Languages : en
Pages : 111

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Book Description
"Technologies for Improving Safety Data explores new technologies for the acquisition, processing, and overall management of crash, roadway inventory, and traffic operations data. The report examines the current state-of-the-practice and state-of-the-art use of technologies for efficient and effective collection and maintenance of data for highway safety analysis." -- publisher's website.

Using Spatial Tools to Analyze Crash and Roadway Data

Using Spatial Tools to Analyze Crash and Roadway Data PDF Author: GeoDecisions
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Geospatial data
Languages : en
Pages : 32

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Book Description
PennDOT engaged Gannett Fleming to conduct research into best practices in the use of geospatial analysis tools for highway safety analyses. The goals of the effort were to define a methodology for PennDOT to follow in identifying the best candidate locations for highway safety improvements, and to develop a Proof of Concept to test the proposed methodology. After conducting interviews and workshops involving more than 35 of PennDOT's stakeholders in highway safety processes, Gannett Fleming interviewed highway safety managers in five other state and federal highway agencies to determine what innovative tools and practices are currently being used. Gannett Fleming's research also included a review of literature related to the study from more than 80 sources. Based on Gannett Fleming's research and analysis, PennDOT selected the "Highway Safety Data Relationships Knowledge Base" for further research. The knowledge base is an information repository based on concepts in data mining and expert systems. It uses advanced statistical analysis methods and expert business knowledge rules to discover data patterns based on correlation and other forms of relationships in the data. The knowledge base can be applied to diagnosing specific combinations of data attributes and features that may indicate the causative factors among homogeneous populations of crashes. Most highway safety data analyses involve studying correlations among multiple data sets. The knowledge base is an innovative and compreh3nsive tool for such an application. It provides a framework for identifying and managing relationships among many combinations of data sets that are useful in highway safety analyses. Gannett Fleming proceeded to develop a prototype as a proof of concept. Gannett Fleming demonstrated the prototype using actual PennDOT crash data. Three analysis scenarios were demonstrated" evaluating safety programming alternatives for alcohol involved crashes, diagnosing data patterns of crashes at a selected highway location, identifying potential sites for system-wide deployment of a selected countermeasure

Highway Safety: Preliminary Observations on Efforts to Implement Changes in the Highway Safety Improvement Program Since SAFETEA-LU

Highway Safety: Preliminary Observations on Efforts to Implement Changes in the Highway Safety Improvement Program Since SAFETEA-LU PDF Author: Katherine A. Siggerud
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1437908217
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 17

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Book Description
To reduce traffic fatalities and accidents, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) nearly doubled funding for the Fed. Hwy. Admin¿s. (FHWA) Hwy. Safety Improvement Program, authorizing $5.1 billion for 2006 through 2009. SAFETEA-LU also added requirements for states to develop strategic hwy. safety plans that cover all aspects of hwy. safety, including infrastructure, behavioral (education and enforcement), and emergency medical services projects; develop crash data analysis systems; and publicly report on the top 5% of hazardous locations on all their public roads. This testimony provides preliminary information on the implementation of HSIP since SAFETEA-LU. Illustrations.

Development of Safety Performance Functions for Two-lane Roads Maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation

Development of Safety Performance Functions for Two-lane Roads Maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation PDF Author: Nicholas J. Garber
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Roads
Languages : en
Pages : 70

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Book Description
In recent years, significant effort and money have been invested to enhance highway safety. As available funds decrease, the allocation of resources for safety improvement projects must yield the maximum possible return on investment. Identifying highway locations that have the highest potential for crash reduction with the implementation of effective safety countermeasures is therefore an important first step in achieving the maximum return on safety investment. This study was undertaken to develop safety performance functions (SPFs) for use in Virginia in conjunction with SafetyAnalyst, a computerized analytical tool that can be used for prioritizing safety projects. A safety performance function is a mathematical relationship (model) between frequency of crashes by severity and the most significant causal factors of crashes for a specific type of road. Although the SafetyAnalyst User's Manual recommends four SPFs for two-lane segments, these SPFs were developed using data from Ohio. Because the transferability of these SPFs to other states could not be guaranteed by the developers of the four recommended SPFs, it is necessary to calibrate or develop valid SPFs for each state using appropriate data from the state. In this study, annual average daily traffic (AADT) was used as the most significant causal factor for crashes, emulating the SPFs currently suggested by Safety Analyst. SPFs for two-lane roads in Virginia were developed for total crashes and combined fatal plus injury crashes through generalized linear modeling using a negative binomial distribution for the crashes. Models were developed for urban and rural areas separately, and in order to account for the different topographies in Virginia, SPFs were also separately developed for three regions in Virginia. A total of 139,635 sites were identified for use in this study. Each site is a segment of a rural or urban two-lane road without an intersection for which AADT data were available for the years 2003 through 2007 inclusive and no change in facility type had occurred over that period. A comparative analysis based on the Freeman-Tukey R2 coefficient was then conducted between the relevant Ohio SPFs suggested for use in the SafetyAnalyst User's Manual and those specifically developed in this study for Virginia to determine which set of models better fit the Virginia data. In general, the results indicated that the SPFs specifically developed for Virginia fit the Virginia data better. The final step in this methodology was to illustrate the value of SPFs developed through an analysis of sample sites and the need of the sites for safety improvement based on SPFs as compared to crash rates. The results indicated that prioritization using the empirical Bayes method that incorporates the SPFs resulted in a higher potential for reduction in crashes than did prioritization using crash rates. The effective use of SafetyAnalyst will facilitate the identification of sites with a high potential for safety improvement, which, in turn, with the implementation of appropriate safety improvements, will result in a considerable reduction in crashes and their severity.

Highway Safety

Highway Safety PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Federal aid to transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 60

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Book Description


State Trunk Highway Safety and Geometrics, Technical Report

State Trunk Highway Safety and Geometrics, Technical Report PDF Author: David A. Woldseth
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Highway planning
Languages : en
Pages : 32

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Book Description


Highway Safety Improvement Program National Scan Tour

Highway Safety Improvement Program National Scan Tour PDF Author: Scott Kuznicki
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Roads
Languages : en
Pages : 122

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Book Description
The Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) is a core Federal-aid program with the purpose of achieving a significant reduction in traffic fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads, including non-State-owned facilities. In its efforts to ensure that the program investment produces an optimal outcome, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) conducted a scan tour of HSIP practices in the fall of 2015, visiting Alaska, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon, and Utah. The purpose of the Scan Tour was to identify notable practices in the areas of HSIP administration, planning, implementation and evaluation in high -performing States with the goal of sharing this information among all the States. The Scan Tour findings highlighted a number of notable practices related to: documenting HSIP processes; coordinating with internal and external partners; understanding the relationship between the Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) and HSIP; making data-driven safety decisions; using advanced safety analysis methods and tools; addressing local road needs; considering all four “E’s”; establishing multi-year plan and budget; and identifying opportunities to streamline project delivery.

Traffic Safety Data

Traffic Safety Data PDF Author: Susan Fleming
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1437932452
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 58

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Book Description
Traffic crashes kill or injure millions of people each year. High-quality traffic safety data is vital to allocate resources and target programs as the National Highway Traffic Safety Admin, (NHTSA) and states work to improve traffic safety through data-driven approaches. To qualify for federal funding, states must submit plans which include fatality and crash data analyses to identify areas for improvement. This report provides information on: (1) the extent to which state traffic safety data systems meet NHTSA performance measures for assessing the quality of data systems; and (2) progress states have made in improving traffic safety data systems, and related challenges. Includes recommendations. Charts and tables.