Geo-Spatial and Statistical Methods to Model Intracity Truck Crashes

Off-network characteristics such as land use, demographic, and socioeconomic characteristics and on-network characteristics are indicators of development and growth patterns in a study area. These factors not only have an effect on truck trips generated or truck operations in an area but also influence mobility and safety offered by a transportation network. However, the role of these off- and on-network characteristics on intracity trucks crashes has not been studied in the past. The key objectives of this research are 1) to investigate the relation between intracity truck crash occurrences and various independent variables (off- and on-network characteristics) and 2) to develop macro-level intracity truck crash estimation models. A geographic information systems (GIS) based methodology was adopted to identify intracity truck crash zones, capture spatial off-network characteristics data within 0.25-mile buffer for each selected zone, and develop intracity truck crash estimation models. The working of the methodology is illustrated using 2008 data for the city of Charlotte, North Carolina. Truck crash occurrences seem to be significantly affected by land-use characteristics such as institutional area, heavy commercial area, and 0.25 to 0.5 acre residential area. Planning and building well balanced neighborhoods and implementing improved design strategies and safety treatments in residential areas will help promote safety and enhance quality of life in these areas.