PC oriented GIS application for road safety improvements

Road safety improvements are a complex issue. To arrive at satisfactory improvements it is essential to have a thorough knowledge of the underlying facts. In road safety engineering, these basic facts include accident, highway and traffic data. Using such data it is possible to investigate the underlying principles relating to the occurrence of various types of accidents. Through such analysis it is possible to develop design standards which incorporate safety measures into the design of roads. Also, it will help to identify and treat those components of the transportation system which will result in the most effective improvements in road safety. Micro-computer technologies have helped in many ways in improving quantitative data analyses for decision-making. Many agencies at international, national, and local levels have therefore established computer data bases to meet their particular requirements. A PC-oriented data base for road safety improvements and management can be of great benefit. Some such data bases are available but are generally lacking digital location coding, making it impossible to use the information as a Geographic Information System (GIS). Thus, a major drawback is the difficulty in conducting area-wide road safety analysis. On the other hand, GIS systems are available which have not generally been applied extensively to road safety analysis. The paper describes the establishment of a PC-based GIS and data bases developed to deal with road safety analysis, safety management and evaluation of improvements. The study includes a number of phases: establishment of detailed data bases with information on accidents, traffic characteristics, road-physical data, digitized locations of the road system, geographic names; integration of data bases into a GIS; analysis, definition and development of GIS-based applications to road safety and management. Emphasis was put on road safety analysis including: the generation of periodic reports on predefined accident types (e.g., by severity, road user, etc.); analysis of specific road safety issues (e.g., child accidents near schools, etc.); area-wide analysis. The system as developed was demonstrated on the Central Business District (CBD) of a large town in Israel (Haifa).