Feasibility of Using Segment Speed Deceleration Events as Safety Surrogate Measures at a Series of Freeway Interchanges
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is currently constructing an Active Traffic Management (ATM) system on I-66, a major commuter route into Washington, D.C.. The ATM system incorporates a variety of techniques intended to address safety and mobility through the use of intelligent transportation systems. A major goal of the system is to improve freeway safety by mitigating conflicts where traffic transitions from high speeds into congested flow. Following system activation, VDOT wants to be able to quickly assess whether the system is improving safety. The researchers examined the relationship between the frequency of mainline speed deceleration events at interchanges and crash frequency to determine whether speed deceleration events are a reliable surrogate measure for crash frequency. Travel time data from the private company INRIX was used to determine the number of speed deceleration events, and this data was combined with crash and volume data to establish a relationship between speed deceleration event and crash frequencies. Models were developed to determine relationships between speed deceleration events, vehicle-miles traveled (VMT), and frequency of rear end and sideswipe crashes. In most cases, the relationships were linear in shape. The research showed that strong relationships could be developed between speed deceleration events and total rear end and sideswipe crashes, indicating that private sector speed data could be used to derive useful safety surrogate measures for quick safety assessments. Advantages and disadvantages of using private sector speed data for safety surrogate analysis are also discussed.
-
Supplemental Notes:
- This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ANB20 Standing Committee on Safety Data, Analysis and Evaluation.
-
Corporate Authors:
500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC United States 20001 -
Authors:
- Chun, PilJin
- Fontaine, Michael D
-
Conference:
- Transportation Research Board 95th Annual Meeting
- Location: Washington DC, United States
- Date: 2016-1-10 to 2016-1-14
- Date: 2016
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Web
- Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
- Pagination: 17p
- Monograph Title: TRB 95th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Active safety systems; Crash characteristics; Crash rates; Deceleration; Highway safety; Highway traffic control; Intelligent transportation systems; Risk analysis; Traffic congestion
- Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; I73: Traffic Control; I80: Accident Studies;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01590021
- Record Type: Publication
- Report/Paper Numbers: 16-2826
- Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
- Created Date: Feb 9 2016 9:18AM