ARC/INFO-Based Geographical Information System for Road Safety Analysis and Improvement

Road safety involves three major components: the road system, the human factor, and the vehicle element. Those three elements interlaced, and linked through georeferencing traffic events, are the basis of road safety analyses and improvement. The location perspective seems to be the most suitable methodology by which to analyze different traffic events. Geographic Information Systems offer an advanced engine to drive, both area-wide and location-oriented investigations. The possibility to raise and solve, easily, problems related to street segments, streets, intersections, and neighborhoods, may ease much of the labour-intensive production effort. Thus, more emphasis may be given to complex analyses and in-depth investigations. The paper describes an Arc\Info-based (GIS) road safety analysis system. This newly developed software package was designed for the Haifa Municipality in Israel, and may be adapted very easily to any other city. The package was tested successfully with accident data during a three-year period, and was adopted as the basic tool for road safety management, analyses and improvement. Work is being carried out now to add a "Before\After" analyses module. The modular design of the system enables to add, easily, additional modules too.