Integration of Pavement Roughness into Safety Performance Functions of Two-Lane Rural Roads in Pennsylvania
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part B: Pavements
Volume 150, Issue 2
Abstract
Existing approaches to infrastructure management neglect the impact of infrastructure condition on safety performance, even though poorly maintained roadways can contribute to increased crash frequencies. This is perhaps because very few studies have quantified the impact of infrastructure condition on safety performance. Hence, this work develops safety performance function (SPF) models that relate pavement condition—specifically, roughness, as measured using the international roughness index (IRI)—and other roadway factors with observed crash frequencies. These SPFs are then combined with pavement roughness deterioration models to better understand how maintenance decisions can be used to improve roadway safety performance. Data from two-lane rural roadways in Pennsylvania are used for this effort. The SPF estimation results reveal that accounting for IRI in SPF development significantly improves model fit, and that IRI has a significant and positive impact on crash outcomes. The results further suggest that the IRI has a different impact on total crash frequency as compared to fatal and injury crash frequency, and rear-end crashes. This is likely due to how roughness of the roadway can impact travel speeds. Finally, the results also show that maintenance activities that reduce IRI can have significant safety benefits. This suggests that pavement management decisions should also consider the anticipated safety benefits, in addition to other factors.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
All data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for providing the data used in this analysis. The authors would also like to thank the undergraduate and graduate students at Penn State who added to this database in the summer of 2014.
References
AASHTO. 2010. Highway safety manual. Washington, DC: AASHTO.
Abdel-Aty, M., P. C. Devarasetty, and A. Pande. 2009. “Safety evaluation of multilane arterials in Florida.” Accid. Anal. Prev. 41 (4): 777–788. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2009.03.015.
Abdelaziz, N., R. T. Abd El-Hakim, S. M. El-Badawy, and H. A. Afify. 2020. “International roughness index prediction model for flexible pavements.” Int. J. Pavement Eng. 21 (1): 88–99. https://doi.org/10.1080/10298436.2018.1441414.
Al, B., and I. Darter. 1995. “Effect of pavement deterioration types on IRI and rehabilitation.” Transp. Res. Rec. 1505 (1): 57.
Al-Masaeid, H. R. 1997. “Impact of pavement condition on rural road accidents.” Can. J. Civ. Eng. 24 (4): 523–531. https://doi.org/10.1139/l97-009.
Anastasopoulos, P. C., and F. L. Mannering. 2009. “A note on modeling vehicle accident frequencies with random-parameters count models.” Accid. Anal. Prev. 41 (1): 153–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2008.10.005.
Anastasopoulos, P. C., and F. L. Mannering. 2011. “An empirical assessment of fixed and random parameter logit models using crash-and non-crash-specific injury data.” Accid. Anal. Prev. 43 (3): 1140–1147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2010.12.024.
Anastasopoulos, P. C., F. L. Mannering, V. N. Shankar, and J. E. Haddock. 2012. “A study of factors affecting highway accident rates using the random-parameters tobit model.” Accid. Anal. Prev. 45 (Mar): 628–633. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2011.09.015.
Anastasopoulos, P. C., M. T. Sarwar, and V. N. Shankar. 2016. “Safety-oriented pavement performance thresholds: Accounting for unobserved heterogeneity in a multi-objective optimization and goal programming approach.” Anal. Methods Accid. Res. 12 (Dec): 35–47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amar.2016.10.001.
Arat, M. A., and E. Bolarinwa. 2017. A model-based approach for investigating tire-pavement friction threshold values. Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers International.
Bahar, G., and E. Hauer. 2014. User’s guide to develop highway safety manual safety performance function calibration factors. Report No. HR 20-7(332). Washington, DC: National Cooperative Highway Research Program.
Chan, C. Y., B. Huang, X. Yan, and S. Richards. 2010. “Investigating effects of asphalt pavement conditions on traffic accidents in Tennessee based on the pavement management system (PMS).” J. Adv. Transp. 44 (3): 150–161. https://doi.org/10.1002/atr.129.
Chen, E., and A. P. Tarko. 2014. “Modeling safety of highway work zones with random parameters and random effects models.” Anal. Methods Accid. Res. 1 (Jan): 86–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amar.2013.10.003.
Chen, S., T. U. Saeed, S. D. Alqadhi, and S. Labi. 2019. “Safety impacts of pavement surface roughness at two-lane and multi-lane highways: Accounting for heterogeneity and seemingly unrelated correlation across crash severities.” Transportmetrica A: Transport Sci. 15 (1): 18–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/23249935.2017.1378281.
Cho, J., H. Lee, and W. Yoo. 2007. “A wet-road braking distance estimate utilizing the hydroplaning analysis of patterned tire.” Int. J. Numer. Methods Eng. 69 (7): 1423–1445. https://doi.org/10.1002/nme.1813.
Donnell, E., V. Gayah, and P. Jovanis. 2014. Safety performance functions. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration.
Donnell, E., V. Gayah, and L. Li. 2016. Regionalized safety performance functions. Harrisburg, PA: Pennsylvania DOT.
El-Basyouny, K., and T. Sayed. 2006. “Comparison of two negative binomial regression techniques in developing accident prediction models.” Transp. Res. Rec. 1950 (1): 9–16. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361198106195000102.
Gates, T., P. Savolainen, R. Avelar, S. Geedipally, D. Lord, A. Ingle, and S. Stapleton. 2018. Safety performance functions for rural road segments and rural intersections in Michigan. Detroit, MI: Michigan DOT.
Gayah, V. V., and S. Madanat. 2017. “Accounting for endogeneity in maintenance decisions and overlay thickness in a pavement-roughness deterioration model.” J. Infrastruct. Syst. 23 (4): 04017023. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)IS.1943-555X.0000385.
Hall, J., K. Smith, L. Titus-Glover, J. Wambold, T. Yager, and Z. Rado. 2009. Guide for pavement friction. Washington, DC: Transportation Research Board.
Hauer, E. 2015. Vol. 38 of The art of regression modeling in road safety. New York: Springer.
Jamieson, P., J. Porter, and D. Wilson. 1991. “A test of the computer simulation model arcwheat1 on wheat crops grown in New Zealand.” Field Crops Res. 27 (4): 337–350. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-4290(91)90040-3.
Li, L., V. V. Gayah, and E. T. Donnell. 2017a. “Development of regionalized SPFS for two-lane rural roads in Pennsylvania.” Accid. Anal. Prev. 108 (Nov): 343–353. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2017.08.035.
Li, L., S. I. Guler, and E. T. Donnell. 2017b. “Pavement friction degradation based on Pennsylvania field test data.” Transp. Res. Rec. 2639 (1): 11–19. https://doi.org/10.3141/2639-02.
Miaou, S.-P. 1994. “The relationship between truck accidents and geometric design of road sections: Poisson versus negative binomial regressions.” Accid. Anal. Prev. 26 (4): 471–482. https://doi.org/10.1016/0001-4575(94)90038-8.
Morian, D. A., and G. C. Cumberledge. 1997. “Techniques for selecting pavement rehabilitation strategies: Pennsylvania case studies.” Transp. Res. Rec. 1568 (1): 131–138. https://doi.org/10.3141/1568-16.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 2021. “Traffic safety facts annual report tables.” Accessed May 27, 2021. https://cdan.dot.gov/tsftables/tsfar.htm.
Park, J., M. Abdel-Aty, and J.-H. Wang. 2017. “Time series trends of the safety effects of pavement resurfacing.” Accid. Anal. Prev. 101 (Apr): 78–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2017.02.006.
Perera, R. W., C. Byrum, and S. D. Kohn. 1998. Investigation of development of pavement roughness. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration.
Shankar, V., F. Mannering, and W. Barfield. 1995. “Effect of roadway geometrics and environmental factors on rural freeway accident frequencies.” Accid. Anal. Prev. 27 (3): 371–389. https://doi.org/10.1016/0001-4575(94)00078-Z.
Shankar, V. N., R. B. Albin, J. C. Milton, and F. L. Mannering. 1998. “Evaluating median crossover likelihoods with clustered accident counts: An empirical inquiry using the random effects negative binomial model.” Transp. Res. Rec. 1635 (1): 44–48. https://doi.org/10.3141/1635-06.
Srinivasan, R., D. Carter, and K. M. Bauer. 2013. Safety performance function decision guide: SPF calibration vs SPF development. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration.
Tang, H., V. V. Gayah, and E. T. Donnell. 2019. “Evaluating the predictive power of an SPF for two-lane rural roads with random parameters on out-of-sample observations.” Accid. Anal. Prev. 132 (Nov): 105275. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2019.105275.
Venkataraman, N., G. F. Ulfarsson, and V. N. Shankar. 2013. “Random parameter models of interstate crash frequencies by severity, number of vehicles involved, collision and location type.” Accid. Anal. Prev. 59 (Oct): 309–318. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2013.06.021.
Venkataraman, N. S., G. F. Ulfarsson, V. Shankar, J. Oh, and M. Park. 2011. “Model of relationship between interstate crash occurrence and geometrics: Exploratory insights from random parameter negative binomial approach.” Transp. Res. Rec. 2236 (1): 41–48. https://doi.org/10.3141/2236-05.
Wang, H., I. L. Al-Qadi, and I. Stanciulescu. 2014. “Effect of surface friction on tire–pavement contact stresses during vehicle maneuvering.” J. Eng. Mech. 140 (4): 04014001. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EM.1943-7889.0000691.
Wang, H., and R. Y. Liang. 2014. “Predicting field performance of skid resistance of asphalt concrete pavement.” In Geo-Shanghai 2014: Pavement Materials, Structures, and Performance, Geotechnical Special Publication 239, edited by B. Huang and S. Zhao, 296–305. Reston, VA: ASCE.
Young, J., P. Park, and P. Eng. 2012. “Comparing the highway safety manual’s safety performance functions with jurisdiction-specific functions for intersections in Regina.” In Proc., 10th Annual Conf. of the Transportation Association of Canada. Ottawa: Technology and Transformation.
Young, J., and P. Y. Park. 2013. “Benefits of small municipalities using jurisdiction-specific safety performance functions rather than the highway safety manual’s calibrated or uncalibrated safety performance functions.” Can. J. Civ. Eng. 40 (6): 517–527. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjce-2012-0501.
Zegelaar, P. W. A. 1998. “The dynamic response of tyres to brake torque variations and road unevennesses.” Ph.D. thesis, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Delft Univ. of Technology.
Zeng, H., M. D. Fontaine, and B. L. Smith. 2014. “Estimation of the safety effect of pavement condition on rural, two-lane highways.” Transp. Res. Rec. 2435 (1): 45–52. https://doi.org/10.3141/2435-06.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part B: Pavements
Volume 150 • Issue 2 • June 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 31, 2023
Accepted: Dec 29, 2023
Published online: Mar 27, 2024
Published in print: Jun 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Aug 27, 2024
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.