Assessing the Effectiveness of Centerline Rumble Strips Accounting for Winter Maintenance Operational Levels on Wyoming Highways Using Before–After Empirical Bayes
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 148, Issue 9
Abstract
Lane departure crashes account for more than 50% of traffic fatalities in the US. Among the different roadway treatments, rumble strips was found to be cost-effective. Centerline rumbles strips (CLRS), provided on the centerline for two-lane two-way highways, alert distracted and drowsy drivers from drifting into the opposite driving lane. It is used as a countermeasure for head-on or cross-over crashes. Despite public concerns of the generated noise and perceived decrease in visibility of pavement markings, there is no doubt about the safety benefits of CLRS. During severe snowstorms, compacted snow located on the roadway could negatively influence the performance of CLRS. Higher and more frequent winter maintenance level operation might accelerate the functional restoration of CLRS. The gap in literature was approached by quantifying the effect of CLRS in reducing crashes accounting for different levels of winter maintenance operations. Wyoming highways with distinct winter maintenance levels were assessed in this study, in which safety performance functions (SPFs) were developed. Unobserved heterogeneity in between-route variance was accounted for by utilizing random-intercept negative binomial (NB) model in a Bayesian framework. Crash modification factors (CMFs) were developed using the before–after empirical Bayes (EB) method. Generally, the safety benefits of installing CLRS on the selected routes was between 25% and 68% expected crash reductions at 95% significance level. Higher level of winter maintenance was also found to be associated with higher effectiveness of CLRS. Therefore, the agencies should re-evaluate their winter maintenance plans in order to account for locations with high-risk for head-on collisions.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
Some or 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 Wyoming Department of Transportation and the Highway Safety Department for providing the data for this study.
References
AASHTO. 2004. AASHTO green book-A policy on geometric design of highways and streets. Washington, DC: AASHTO.
AASHTO. 2010. Highway safety manual. Washington, DC: AASHTO.
Abdel-aty, M., M. Ahmed, R. Yu, and S. Qi. 2012. Developing an active traffic management system for I-70 in Colorado. Denver: Colorado DOT.
Abdelwahab, H., and M. Abdel-Aty. 2004. “Investigating the effect of light truck vehicle percentages on head-on fatal traffic crashes.” J. Transp. Eng. 130 (4): 429–437. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-947X(2004)130:4(429).
Ahmed, I. U., and M. M. Ahmed. 2021. Investigating the temporal instability in injury severity outcomes of clear and adverse weather crashes on rural mountainous highways. Los Angeles: SAGE.
Ahmed, I. U., M. M. Ahmed, and S. S. Wulff. 2020a. “Using no-U-turn Hamiltonian Monte Carlo Bayesian method to investigate the contributing factors of crash injury severity in very low-volume rural roads of Wyoming.” In Proc., Transportation Research Board (TRB) 99th Annual Meeting. Washington, DC: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
Ahmed, I. U., S. M. Gaweesh, and M. M. Ahmed. 2020b. “Exploration of hazardous material truck crashes on Wyoming’s interstate roads using a novel Hamiltonian Monte Carlo Markov Chain Bayesian inference.” Transp. Res. Rec. 2674 (9): 661–675. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361198120931103.
Ahmed, M., H. Huang, M. Abdel-Aty, and B. Guevara. 2011. “Exploring a Bayesian hierarchical approach for developing safety performance functions for a mountainous freeway.” Accid. Anal. Prev. 43 (4): 1581–1589. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2011.03.021.
Ahmed, M., M. A. Sharif, and K. Ksaibati. 2015. Developing an effective shoulder and centerline rumble strips/stripes policy to accommodate all roadway users. Washington, DC: USDOT.
Ahmed, M. M., and M. Abdel-Aty. 2015. “Evaluation and spatial analysis of automated red-light running enforcement cameras.” Transp. Res. Part C Emerging Technol. 50 (Jan): 130–140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trc.2014.07.012.
Ahmed, M. M., M. A. Sharif, and K. Ksaibati. 2016. “Developing an expert system for shoulder and centerline rumble strips/ stripes to accommodate all road users.” In Proc., 95th Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting. Washington, DC: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
Akbari, M., G. Shafabakhsh, and M. R. Ahadi. 2020. “The impact of segmentation method on the aggregate goodness-of-fit measurements of non-linear crash prediction models.” SN Appl. Sci. 2 (10): 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-020-03437-z.
Bucko, T., and A. Khorashadi. 2001. Evaluation of milled-in rumble strips, rolled-in rumble strips and audible edge stripe. Sacramento, CA: Traffic Operations Program, California Dept. of Transportation.
Carpenter, B., A. Gelman, M. D. Hoffman, D. Lee, B. Goodrich, M. Betancourt, M. Brubaker, J. Guo, P. Li, and A. Riddell. 2017. “Stan: A probabilistic programming language.” J. Stat. Software 76 (1): 1–32. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v076.i01.
Chen, C., E. O. Darko, and T. N. Richardson. 2003. “Optimal continuous shoulder rumble strips and the effects on highway safety and the economy.” ITE J. 73 (5): 30–41.
Conroy, C., G. T. Tominaga, S. Erwin, S. Pacyna, T. Velky, F. Kennedy, M. Sise, and R. Coimbra. 2008. “The influence of vehicle damage on injury severity of drivers in head-on motor vehicle crashes.” Accid. Anal. Prev. 40 (4): 1589–1594. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2008.04.006.
Donnell, E. T., et al. 2009. Guidance for the design and application of shoulder and centerline rumble strips. Washington, DC: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
FHWA. 1999. “Rumble strips and stripes: Safety | Federal Highway Administration.” Accessed June 29, 2020. https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/roadway_dept/pavement/rumble_strips/concerns_eng.cfm.
FHWA. 2017. “Proven safety countermeasures: Longitudinal rumble strips and stripes: Safety | Federal Highway Administration.” Accessed June 23, 2020. https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/provencountermeasures/long_rumble_strip/.
FHWA. 2018. “Head-on crashes.” Accessed January 30, 2022. https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/roadway_dept/strat_approach/brochure/docs/FHWA-SA-21-025_Head_On_Crashes.pdf.
FHWA. 2020. “How do weather events impact roads? FHWA road weather management.” Accessed April 24, 2018. https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/weather/q1_roadimpact.htm.
FHWA. 2021. “FHWA road weather management: Winter maintenance virtual clearinghouse: Technical briefs.” Accessed October 14, 2021. https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/weather/resources/publications/tech_briefs/tech_briefs.htm.
Fredregill, I. 2020. “WYDOT spends 30% of budget to keep Wyoming roads clear during winter.” Accessed October 14, 2021. https://cowboystatedaily.com/2020/02/04/wydot-spends-30-of-budget-to-keep-wyoming-roads-clear-during-winter/.
Gaweesh, S. M., and M. M. Ahmed. 2019. “Evaluating the safety effectiveness of a weather-based variable speed limit for a rural mountainous freeway in Wyoming.” J. Transp. Saf. Secur. 12 (10): 1205–1230. https://doi.org/10.1080/19439962.2019.1583707.
Gaweesh, S. M., M. M. Ahmed, and A. V. Piccorelli. 2019. “Developing crash prediction models using parametric and nonparametric approaches for rural mountainous freeways: A case study on Wyoming Interstate 80.” Accid. Anal. Prev. 123 (Feb): 176–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2018.10.011.
Gelman, A., J. B. Carlin, H. S. Stern, D. B. Dunson, A. Vehtari, and D. B. Rubin. 2013. Bayesian data analysis. New York: Chapman and Hall/CRC.
Gelman, A., J. Hwang, and A. Vehtari. 2014. “Understanding predictive information criteria for Bayesian models.” Stat. Comput. 24 (6): 997–1016. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11222-013-9416-2.
Gelman, A., and D. B. Rubin. 1992. “Inference from iterative simulation using multiple sequences.” Stat. Sci. 7 (4): 457–472.
Gooch, J. P., V. V. Gayah, and E. T. Donnell. 2016. “Quantifying the safety effects of horizontal curves on two-way, two-lane rural roads.” Accid. Anal. Prev. 92 (Jul): 71–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2016.03.024.
Gooch, J. P., V. V. Gayah, and E. T. Donnell. 2018. “Safety performance functions for horizontal curves and tangents on two lane, two way rural roads.” Accid. Anal. Prev. 120 (Nov): 28–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2018.07.030.
Guin, A., M. P. Hunter, M. O. Rodgers, and J. Sin. 2014. Centerline rumble strips safety and maintenance impacts. Forest Park, GA: Georgia DOT Office of Research.
Haq, M. T., M. Zlatkovic, and K. Ksaibati. 2020. “Investigating occupant injury severity of truck-involved crashes based on vehicle types on a mountainous freeway: A hierarchical Bayesian random intercept approach.” Accid. Anal. Prev. 144 (Sep): 105654. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2020.105654.
Hauer, E. 1997. Observational before/after studies in road safety. Estimating the effect of highway and traffic engineering measures on road safety. New York: Pergamon.
Hirasawa, M., M. Asano, and K. Saito. 2005. “Study on development and practical use of rumble strips as a new measure for highway safety.” J. Eastern Asia Soc. Transp. Stud. 6: 3697–3712.
Hoffman, M. D., and A. Gelman. 2014. “The no-U-turn sampler: Adaptively setting path lengths in Hamiltonian Monte Carlo.” J. Mach. Learn. Res. 15 (1): 1593–1623.
Hossain, M. J. 2017. Development of crash modification factors for shoulder rumble strips and passing lanes on rural two-way two-lane highways. Laramie: Univ. of Wyoming.
Karkle, D. E., M. J. Rys, and E. R. Russell. 2012. “State of the art: Centerline rumble strips usage in the United States.” J. Transp. Res. Forum. 50 (1): 101–117.
Karkle, D. E., M. J. Rys, and E. R. Russell. 2013. “Safety effectiveness of centerline rumble strips in Kansas.” J. Transp. Saf. Secur. 5 (1): 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/19439962.2011.642069.
Kay, J., P. T. Savolainen, T. J. Gates, T. K. Datta, J. Finkelman, and B. Hamadeh. 2015. “Safety impacts of a statewide centerline rumble strip installation program.” Transp. Res. Rec. 2515 (1): 34–40. https://doi.org/10.3141/2515-05.
Knapp, K. K., and M. Schmit. 2009. “Assessment of centerline rumble strips in Minnesota: Executive summary and project task summary attachments.” In Center for excellence in rural safety, state and local policy program, Hubert H. Minneapolis: Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, Univ. of Minnesota.
Lee, S.-Y., and X.-Y. Song. 2004. “Evaluation of the Bayesian and maximum likelihood approaches in analyzing structural equation models with small sample sizes.” Multivariate Behav. Res. 39 (4): 653–686. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327906mbr3904_4.
Lemoine, N. P. 2019. “Moving beyond noninformative priors: Why and how to choose weakly informative priors in Bayesian analyses.” Oikos 128 (7): 912–928. https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.05985.
Liu, P., and W. Fan. 2020. “Exploring injury severity in head-on crashes using latent class clustering analysis and mixed logit model: A case study of North Carolina.” Accid. Anal. Prev. 135 (Feb): 105388. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2019.105388.
Lord, D., and F. Mannering. 2010. “The statistical analysis of crash-frequency data: A review and assessment of methodological alternatives.” Transp. Res. Part A Policy Pract. 44 (5): 291–305.
McElreath, R. 2018. Statistical rethinking: A Bayesian course with examples in R and Stan. Boca Raton, FL: Chapman and Hall/CRC.
McGee, H. W. 2018. Practices for preventing roadway departures. Washington, DC: Transportation Research Board.
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.
Miles, J. D., and M. D. Finley. 2007. “Factors that influence the effectiveness of rumble strip design.” Transp. Res. Rec. 2030 (1): 1–9. https://doi.org/10.3141/2030-01.
Neuman, T., R. Pfefer, K. L. Slack, H. McGee, L. Prothe, K. Eccles, and F. Council. 2003. NCHRP Report 500: A guide for addressing head-on collisions. Washington, DC: Transportation of Board.
Neuman, T. R., J. J. Nitzel, and W. Stein. 2008. A guide for reducing head-on crashes on freeways. Washington, DC: Transportation of Board.
NHTSA. 2016. Traffic safety facts 2016. A compilation of motor vehicle crash data from the fatality analysis reporting system and the general estimates system. Washington, DC: USDOT.
Olson, D., B. Manchas, R. W. Glad, and M. Sujka. 2011. Performance analysis of centerline rumble strips in Washington State. Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Transportation.
Outcalt, W. S. 2001. Centerline rumble strips (No. CDOT-DTD-R-2001-8). Denver: CDOT.
Park, J., and M. Abdel-Aty. 2015. “Development of adjustment functions to assess combined safety effects of multiple treatments on rural two-lane roadways.” Accid. Anal. Prev. 75 (Feb): 310–319. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2014.12.012.
Peel, T., M. Ahmed, and N. Ohara. 2017. “Investigating safety effectiveness of Wyoming snow fence installations along a rural mountainous freeway.” Transp. Res. Rec. 2613 (1): 8–15. https://doi.org/10.3141/2613-02.
Persaud, B., and C. Lyon. 2007. “Empirical Bayes before–after safety studies: Lessons learned from two decades of experience and future directions.” Accid. Anal. Prev. 39 (3): 546–555. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2006.09.009.
Persaud, B. N., R. A. Retting, and C. A. Lyon. 2004. “Crash reduction following installation of centerline rumble strips on rural two-lane roads.” Accid. Anal. Prev. 36 (6): 1073–1079. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2004.03.002.
Russell, E. R., and M. J. Rys. 2005. Centerline rumble strips. Washington, DC: Transportation Research Board, National Research Council.
Torbic, D., J. Hutton, C. Bokenkroger, K. Bauer, E. Donnell, C. Lyon, and B. Persaud. 2010. “Guidance on design and application of rumble strips.” Transp. Res. Rec. 2149 (1): 59–69. https://doi.org/10.3141/2149-07.
Watanabe, S. 2010. “Asymptotic equivalence of Bayes cross validation and widely applicable information criterion in singular learning theory.” J. Mach. Learn. Res. 11 (Dec): 3571–3594.
Wen, H., X. Zhang, Q. Zeng, and N. N. Sze. 2019. “Bayesian spatial-temporal model for the main and interaction effects of roadway and weather characteristics on freeway crash incidence.” Accid. Anal. Prev. 132 (Nov): 105249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2019.07.025.
Wood, J., and E. T. Donnell. 2020. “Empirical Bayes before-after evaluation of horizontal curve warning pavement markings on two-lane rural highways in Pennsylvania.” Accid. Anal. Prev. 146 (Oct): 105734. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2020.105734.
Wu, H., M. R. Murphy, Z. Han, Z. Zhang, H. Wu, Z. Han, M. R. Murphy, and Z. Zhang. 2015. “Empirical bayes before-after study on safety effect of narrow pavement widening projects in Texas.” Transp. Res. Rec. 2515 (1): 63–69. https://doi.org/10.3141/2515-09.
Zeng, Q., H. Wen, S. C. Wong, H. Huang, Q. Guo, and X. Pei. 2020. “Spatial joint analysis for zonal daytime and nighttime crash frequencies using a Bayesian bivariate conditional autoregressive model.” J. Transp. Saf. Secur. 12 (4): 566–585. https://doi.org/10.1080/19439962.2018.1516259.
Zhang, C., and J. N. Ivan. 2005. “Effects of geometric characteristics on head-on crash incidence on two-lane roads in Connecticut.” Transp. Res. Rec. 1908 (1): 159–164. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361198105190800119.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 148 • Issue 9 • September 2022
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 21, 2021
Accepted: Apr 13, 2022
Published online: Jul 4, 2022
Published in print: Sep 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Dec 4, 2022
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.
Cited by
- Xinhao Zhou, Lin Zhao, Zhaodong Liu, Liping Fu, Guangyuan Pan, An adaptive machine learning framework for multi-scenes road surface weather condition monitoring, Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, 10.1139/cjce-2023-0405, (2024).
- Sherif M. Gaweesh, Irfan Ahmed, Mohamed M. Ahmed, Analysis Framework to Assess Crash Severity for Large Trucks on Rural Interstate Roads Utilizing the Latent Class and Random Parameter Model, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 10.1177/03611981231158627, 2677, 9, (130-150), (2023).