Road safety audit for a regional corridor

Road Safety Audit is a safety tool that offers promise to help reduce roadway crashes and fatalities. The Transportation Association of Canada (Reference 2) defines a road safety audit as "a formal and independent safety performance review of a road transportation project by an experienced team of safety specialists, addressing the safety of all road users". The purpose of this project was to select a "high risk" corridor in the Region of Waterloo, Ontario and to conduct a Road Safety Audit of the corridor. The audit involved an in-depth study of the accidents that have occurred in the corridor during the last five years. Analysis of the collision data was supported by site visits during which the roadway and intersections were examined in detail to gain an understanding of why collisions occurred and why particular types of collision occurred. Numerous recommendations were developed from the audit process. The recommendations included improving pavement condition, installing new traffic signs, relocating existing traffic signs, reducing the number of driveways at certain locations, improving lighting, installing additional traffic control devices such as red light cameras, and conducting an in-depth study to consider possible geometric improvements. All of the measures suggested are designed to contribute to accident reduction in the corridor. In addition, the report recommends and road safety audit should be widely used in Canada to evaluate and improve the safety of our highway system and to minimize the risk of accidents.

Road safety audit for a regional corridor

Road Safety Audit is a safety tool that offers promise to help reduce roadway crashes and fatalities. The Transportation Association of Canada (Reference 2) defines a road safety audit as "a formal and independent safety performance review of a road transportation project by an experienced team of safety specialists, addressing the safety of all road users". The purpose of this project was to select a "high risk" corridor in the Region of Waterloo, Ontario and to conduct a Road Safety Audit of the corridor. The audit involved an in-depth study of the accidents that have occurred in the corridor during the last five years. Analysis of the collision data was supported by site visits during which the roadway and intersections were examined in detail to gain an understanding of why collisions occurred and why particular types of collision occurred. Numerous recommendations were developed from the audit process. The recommendations included improving pavement condition, installing new traffic signs, relocating existing traffic signs, reducing the number of driveways at certain locations, improving lighting, installing additional traffic control devices such as red light cameras, and conducting an in-depth study to consider possible geometric improvements. All of the measures suggested are designed to contribute to accident reduction in the corridor. In addition, the report recommends and road safety audit should be widely used in Canada to evaluate and improve the safety of our highway system and to minimize the risk of accidents.

An Investigation of At-Intersection Collisions in York Region

This paper will look to identify how the built environment can affect collisions at intersections. The Regional Municipality of York was used as the study area. York Region has areas of high-density traffic as well as rural regional road. Due to York Region’s proximity to Toronto there is also commuting traffic during rush hours. A literature review looked into different studies of traffic collisions. A focus of many was human factors, such as impaired driving, distracted driving and inexperience to name a few. For this paper, the focus is on the built features and how different design components of on intersection can affect the number of collisions. Using information from the literature review data was gathered for different built environment features, i.e. intersection type, bus stops and red-light cameras. Data was also gathered for collisions that occurred in York Region, this included the location, time of day, day of the week, and initial impact type. To evaluate how these features effected the number of collisions at an intersection, descriptive statistics, linear regression and qualitative analysis was used. The descriptive statistic shows an overview and percentage of accidents that occurred in separate groups. These groups include property damage, injury, and fatal accidents, traffic control types, and intersection types. Linear regression was used to determine which factors were increasing the number of accidents and which were helping to decrease accidents. Finally, qualitative analysis was used to study the intersections that had the top ten number of accidents that were fatal or injury. After completing the analysis, a case study was conducted on three intersections, one that has seen an increase in accidents one that has seen a decrease in accidents and finally one that has consistently had a high accident count. From all the information and analysis conclusions and recommendations were put forward to help improve road safety in York Region.

An Investigation of At-Intersection Collisions in York Region

This paper will look to identify how the built environment can affect collisions at intersections. The Regional Municipality of York was used as the study area. York Region has areas of high-density traffic as well as rural regional road. Due to York Region’s proximity to Toronto there is also commuting traffic during rush hours. A literature review looked into different studies of traffic collisions. A focus of many was human factors, such as impaired driving, distracted driving and inexperience to name a few. For this paper, the focus is on the built features and how different design components of on intersection can affect the number of collisions. Using information from the literature review data was gathered for different built environment features, i.e. intersection type, bus stops and red-light cameras. Data was also gathered for collisions that occurred in York Region, this included the location, time of day, day of the week, and initial impact type. To evaluate how these features effected the number of collisions at an intersection, descriptive statistics, linear regression and qualitative analysis was used. The descriptive statistic shows an overview and percentage of accidents that occurred in separate groups. These groups include property damage, injury, and fatal accidents, traffic control types, and intersection types. Linear regression was used to determine which factors were increasing the number of accidents and which were helping to decrease accidents. Finally, qualitative analysis was used to study the intersections that had the top ten number of accidents that were fatal or injury. After completing the analysis, a case study was conducted on three intersections, one that has seen an increase in accidents one that has seen a decrease in accidents and finally one that has consistently had a high accident count. From all the information and analysis conclusions and recommendations were put forward to help improve road safety in York Region.

Evaluation of Automated Enforcement Program in Amman

This study aims, in a first attempt, to evaluate the effectiveness of using the Automated Enforcement Program (AEP) to improve traffic safety in Amman, Jordan. The evaluation of the program on crashes and violations was examined based on a “before-and-after” study using the paired t-test at 95 percent confidence level. Twenty one locations including signalized intersections monitored by red light cameras and arterial roads monitored by excessive speed cameras were selected. Nine locations were used to study the effectiveness of the program on violations, and twelve locations were used to determine the effectiveness of the program on frequency and severity of crashes. Data on number and severity of crashes were taken from Jordan Traffic Institution. Among the general findings, it was found that the AEP was generally associated with positive impact on crashes. Crash frequency was significantly reduced by up to 63%. Crash severities were reduced by up to 62.5%. Also, traffic violations were significantly reduced by up to 66%. Finally, drivers’ opinion and attitude on the program was also analyzed using a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire survey revealed that 35.5% of drivers are unaware of AEP in Amman, 63.9% of drivers don’t know the camera locations, most drivers knew about excessive speed and red light running penalties, most drivers reduce their speed at camera locations, 44.4% of drivers think that the program satisfies its objective in improving traffic safety and 52% of drivers encourage increasing the number of camera devices in Amman.