Draft State Utility Pole Safety Program for Alabama

2003 ◽  
Vol 1851 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-148
Author(s):  
Jay K. Lindly
Keyword(s):  
Construction Projects ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Safety Program ◽  
Crash Data ◽  
Utility Pole ◽  
Safety Effort ◽  
Roadway Safety ◽  
Utility Companies ◽  
Draft State

The Code of Federal Regulations [23 CFR 645.209(k)] requires highway agencies to work with utility companies to initiate corrective measures to utility facilities that are found to be likely to cause injury to motorists. The contribution that a reduction in utility pole–related crashes could make to the overall highway safety effort in Alabama was studied, and methods of accomplishing such reductions were examined. A review of the programs of nearby states with utility pole safety programs shows that they address utility pole safety principally during state department of transportation (DOT) construction projects. Crash data investigations showed that a specific utility pole safety program would have a small effect on overall roadway safety in Alabama. Additionally, there is strong competition for safety funds. After examination of the situation for Alabama DOT-controlled roads, the limitation of pole remediation projects to active construction projects or to any sites that can be positively identified through the normal cost–benefit studies used for safety projects was endorsed.

Streamlining Chinese Highway Accident Data Acquisition, Communications, and Analysis

2003 ◽  
Vol 1846 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping Yi ◽  
Bin Ran
Keyword(s):  
Data Acquisition ◽  
Large Data ◽  
Highway Safety ◽  
Data Mapping ◽  
Data Logger ◽  
Safety Program ◽  
Crash Data ◽  
Accident Data ◽  
Analysis System ◽  
Set Up

This research examines a streamlined accident data acquisition, communications, and analysis system to improve the Chinese highway safety program. A data logger compatible with the Global Positioning System and geographic information system is proposed to identify highway accident locations and organize the data into a database format. A data encoding concept is used to transform Chinese characters into numbers, so that the encoded data are easy to integrate into a large data system. A three-tier client–server networking system is set up as the backbone framework for data communications between the central database and distributed local offices. Using local database functions, traffic police at the client level can view crash data through data mapping and attribute listing and analyze the data through nested query and sorting operations. A data graphing and analysis module was tested for automatically constructing a collision diagram on selected data. The proposed approach to crash data acquisition and analysis was found to be feasible and effective and will help to enhance China’s highway safety program after full implementation.

Development and Implementation of a Pavement Marking Management System in Florida

2018 ◽  
Vol 2672 (12) ◽  
pp. 209-219
Author(s):  
Bouzid Choubane ◽  
Joshua Sevearance ◽  
Charles Holzschuher ◽  
James Fletcher ◽  
Chieh (Ross) Wang
Keyword(s):  
Management System ◽  
Handheld Devices ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Pavement Markings ◽  
Lighting Conditions ◽  
Florida Department ◽  
Roadway Safety ◽  
Application Techniques ◽  
Effective Use ◽  
Pavement Marking

The visibility of pavement markings is an important aspect of a safe transportation system as the markings convey vital roadway warnings and guidance information to the traveling public. Therefore, it is beneficial to maintain acceptable visibility levels of markings on pavements under all weather and lighting conditions. To ensure the intended in-service visibility level is adequately maintained, the reflectivity must be monitored and quantified accordingly. Historically, visibility or retroreflectivity of in-service pavement markings has been measured with handheld devices and visual inspections. However, visual surveys are considered subjective and the handheld measurements are tedious and potentially hazardous. Consequently, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has focused on the use of a non-contact technology capable of assessing pavement markings continuously at highway speeds with improved safety and efficiency. The use of mobile technology for measuring reflectivity has allowed FDOT to develop and, subsequently, implement a Pavement Marking Management System (PMMS) to improve the safety and nighttime visibility of its roadways. Implementation of such a system provides an efficient and less subjective methodology to identify conditions that are detrimental to roadway safety, and strategize mitigating solutions including the selection of appropriate materials and application techniques. The system will ultimately result in an effective use of state funds while ensuring the safety of the traveling public. This paper presents a description of the Florida Pavement Markings Management System and its subsequent implementation including FDOT’s effort to ensure the quality, consistency, repeatability, and accessibility of statewide pavement marking retroreflectivity data.

U.S. Army Engineers and the Rise of Cost-Benefit Analysis

2020 ◽  
pp. 148-190
Author(s):  
Theodore M. Porter
Keyword(s):  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
The United States ◽  
Army Corps ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
Bureau Of Reclamation ◽  
Conflict Cost ◽  
Utility Companies ◽  
Economic Analyses

This chapter traces the history of cost–benefit analysis in the United States bureaucracy from the 1920s until about 1960. It is not a story of academic research, but of political pressure and administrative conflict. Cost–benefit methods were introduced to promote procedural regularity and to give public evidence of fairness in the selection of water projects. Early in the century, numbers produced by the Army Corps of Engineers were usually accepted on its authority alone, and there was correspondingly little need for standardization of methods. About 1940, however, economic numbers became objects of bitter controversy, as the Corps was challenged by such powerful interests as utility companies and railroads. The really crucial development in this story was the outbreak of intense bureaucratic conflict between the Corps and other government agencies, especially the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Reclamation. The agencies tried to settle their feuds by harmonizing their economic analyses. When negotiation failed as a strategy for achieving uniformity, they were compelled to try to ground their makeshift techniques in economic rationality. On this account, cost–benefit analysis had to be transformed from a collection of local bureaucratic practices into a set of rationalized economic principles.

Poisson Regression Analysis of Highway Fatality Accident Data in Oklahoma

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 72-86
Author(s):  
Jonathan C. Comer ◽  
Nicholas J. Rose ◽  
Leonard S. Bombom
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Poisson Regression ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Highway Design ◽  
Crash Data ◽  
Poisson Regression Analysis ◽  
Accident Data ◽  
Oklahoma Department Of Transportation ◽  
Construction Practice

Analysis of fatality automobile accident data can be challenging in rural areas where a relatively small number of such accidents occurs on specific sections of highways. Combining crash data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and highway networks and design specifications from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT), this article employs Poisson regression analysis to determine what roadway characteristics (e.g. grade, geometry, and design) are most associated with fatal accidents on predominantly rural segments of highways in Oklahoma. The results provide information about what combinations of highway design traits have contributed most to past crashes and therefore can identify potentially dangerous road segments system-wide. This information will help transportation engineers evaluate current construction practice and seek ways to address design issues that are shown to contribute significantly to serious crashes.

Work Zone Coordination Software Tool

2017 ◽  
Vol 2617 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bekir Bartin ◽  
Kaan Ozbay ◽  
Matthew D. Maggio ◽  
Hao Wang
Keyword(s):  
New Jersey ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Software Tool ◽  
Work Zone ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Work Zones ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Departments Of Transportation ◽  
Transportation Agencies

Faced with a growing number of work zones, transportation agencies are being challenged to effectively manage the impacts of these zones, alleviate congestion, and maintain the safety of motorists and workers without disrupting project schedules. Coordinating work zones has already been practiced by various state departments of transportation and transportation agencies, yet there are no universal department of transportation policies that address how agencies should coordinate or consolidate projects. In addition, only a few states utilize computer tools specific to regional or corridor-based work zone coordination. State departments of transportation mostly coordinate significant and long-term projects. However, the majority of roadway projects include minor repair, roadway maintenance, bridge maintenance, surveying, and landscape and utility work that require relatively short-term work zones. The Work Zone Coordination Software tool was developed to provide the New Jersey Department of Transportation with an easy-to-use tool to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of coordinating short- and long-term work zones and to measure the benefits. This online tool is implemented with a web-based user interface. It integrates all scheduled and active construction projects, identifies conflicts between work zone projects, and estimates the benefits of conflict mitigation. The Work Zone Coordination Software tool works with the New Jersey work zone database by automatically importing data to provide up-to-date information to its users. However, the tool is built on a flexible framework that allows the integration of any work zone database provided that it includes all the required information.

scholarly journals Highway Expenditures and Associated Customer Satisfaction: A Case Study

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Paz ◽  
Hanns de la Fuente-Mella ◽  
Ashok Singh ◽  
Rebecca Conover ◽  
Heather Monteiro
Keyword(s):  
Customer Satisfaction ◽  
Traffic Safety ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Transportation System ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Southern Nevada ◽  
Highway Transportation ◽  
System Data ◽  
The Government

This study analyzes the satisfaction of the Nevadans with respect to their highway transportation system and the corresponding expenditures of Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT). A survey questionnaire was designed to capture the opinions of the Nevadans (customers) about a number of characteristics of their transportation system. Data from the financial data warehouse of the NDOT was used to evaluate expenditures. Multinomial probit models were estimated to study the correlations between customers’ opinion and the government expenditures in transportation. The results indicate the customer satisfaction is decreasing with respect to traffic safety throughout Northwestern and Southern Nevada highways. In addition, users of Northwestern highways are more likely to be satisfied, compared to their counterparts, with increasing construction spending to reduce the time taken to complete construction projects. In Southern Nevada highways, customers’ satisfaction increases with the expenditures associated with reduction of congestion. These insights are examples of the conclusions that were obtained as a consequence of simultaneously considering customer satisfaction and the corresponding expenditures in transportation.

Poisson Regression Analysis of Highway Fatality Accident Data in Oklahoma

2018 ◽  
pp. 429-444
Author(s):  
Jonathan C. Comer ◽  
Nicholas J. Rose ◽  
Leonard S. Bombom
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Poisson Regression ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Highway Design ◽  
Crash Data ◽  
Poisson Regression Analysis ◽  
Highway Networks ◽  
Accident Data ◽  
Oklahoma Department Of Transportation

Analysis of fatality automobile accident data can be challenging in rural areas where a relatively small number of such accidents occurs on specific sections of highways. Combining crash data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and highway networks and design specifications from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT), this article employs Poisson regression analysis to determine what roadway characteristics (e.g. grade, geometry, and design) are most associated with fatal accidents on predominantly rural segments of highways in Oklahoma. The results provide information about what combinations of highway design traits have contributed most to past crashes and therefore can identify potentially dangerous road segments system-wide. This information will help transportation engineers evaluate current construction practice and seek ways to address design issues that are shown to contribute significantly to serious crashes.

Children, Adolescents, and Advertising

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 95 (5) ◽  
pp. 708-708
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Traffic Safety ◽  
Reporting System ◽  
Motor Vehicle ◽  
Motor Vehicle Crash ◽  
Policy Statement ◽  
Washington Dc ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Highway Traffic ◽  
National Highway Traffic Safety ◽  
Crash Data

The following is a correction to the AAP Policy Statement entitled "Childen, Adolescents, and Advertising" that appeared in the February 1995 issue of Pediatrics (1995:95:295-297). Under the heading entitled Beer and Wine on page 296, the statistic should have read "In 1993, 3137 young people who were 16 to 24 years of age died in alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes." Also, on page 297, Reference 19 should be changed to the following: National Center for Statistics and Analysis. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Traffic Safety Facts 1993: A Compilation of Motor Vehicle Crash Data From the Fatal Accident Reporting System and the General Estimates System. Washington, DC: National Center for Statistics and Analysis; 1993. US Department of Transportation publication DOT HS 808 169.

Identification of Site Characteristics for Proactive High-Friction Surface Treatment Site Selection using Sensor-Based, Detailed, Location-Referenced Curve Characteristics Data

2018 ◽  
Vol 2672 (38) ◽  
pp. 69-80
Author(s):  
Yichang (James) Tsai ◽  
Yi-Ching Wu ◽  
Cibi Pranav P. S. ◽  
Chengbo Ai
Keyword(s):  
Surface Treatment ◽  
Site Selection ◽  
Friction Surface ◽  
Sensor Data ◽  
Spatial Integration ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Crash Data ◽  
Run Off ◽  
Site Characteristics

The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) has developed a proactive high-friction surface treatment (HFST) program for curve sites prone to run-off-road (ROR) crashes. Using crash data and a single-criterion, ball bank indicator (BBI) value, GDOT seeks to maximize the return on its HFST investment. GDOT has partnered with Georgia Tech to identify additional factors for its HFST site-selection (HFST-SS) decision-making process by leveraging high-resolution, full-coverage sensor data (e.g., GPS and LiDAR). This paper proposes a methodology to identify site characteristics that can be used in GDOT’s HFST-SS process by leveraging the sensor data and automatically extracting roadway curve features as follows: (a) roadway data collection using state-of-the-art sensing technologies, (b) automatic extraction of detailed site characteristics data and curve information, (c) curved-based roadway segmentation using the extracted curve information; (d) spatial integration of curve-site characteristics data (CSCD); (e) analysis of CSCD and ROR crashes to identify additional factors for HFST site selection. A case study using CSCD extracted from Georgia State Route 2 demonstrates the proposed methodology. Results show that on sharp curves having comparable site characteristics, vertical grades greater than 3% play an important role in ROR crashes. Therefore, a vertical grade greater than 3% could be considered as an additional HFST-SS factor along with the current BBI criterion.

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