Systematic Framework for Incorporating Safety in Network-Level Transportation Planning and Programming
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 136, Issue 5
Abstract
Transportation agencies worldwide increasingly seek to abandon reactive approaches for safety enhancement in favor of approaches that incorporate safety in their transportation planning processes in a proactive, comprehensive, and systemwide context. To facilitate this task, this paper presents a framework which identifies candidate facilities in a transportation network for safety enhancement over a specified analysis period. Then for each candidate facility, the framework identifies safety enhancement projects on the basis of existing facility deficiencies and predominant accident patterns. Thus, a safety plan is developed to specify for each candidate facility, the year of the enhancement, the expected cost, and the resulting safety benefits. Also, where the safety budget is limited, the framework determines the subset of candidate facilities that should receive safety investment. At most transportation agencies, the typical transportation planning process is carried out only for engineering interventions. As such, the developed framework is engineering interventions only and thus excludes safety interventions related to road-user education, enforcement, and policy. With requisite data, the developed framework can be applied in safety planning and programming in the different modes of transportation–highway, airport, rail, and marine. Using an example in highway transportation, the paper applies the framework to develop a safety plan for a chosen network and thus demonstrates how safety could be included proactively in the network-level (systemwide) transportation planning process.
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Acknowledgments
The writers of this paper are grateful to the Joint Transportation Research Program, which is administered by the Indiana Department of Transportation and Purdue University, for the support of the research project of which this work is a part. Professor Andrew Tarko of Purdue University, Messrs. John Weaver and John Nagle of the Indiana Department of Transportation, and Rick Drumm of FHWA Indiana Division are especially acknowledged for their support or contributions. The contents of this paper re-flect the views of the writers, who are responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official views or policies of the Federal Highway Administration and the Indiana Department of Transportation, nor do the contents constitute a standard, specification, or regulation.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 136 • Issue 5 • May 2010
Pages: 436 - 447
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Nov 15, 2008
Accepted: May 26, 2009
Published online: May 30, 2009
Published in print: May 2010
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