Abstract
Traffic safety is diminished by drivers’ changing lanes in queued traffic at signalized intersections, bus stops, and construction zones, mixes of vehicle classes, variability in speeds, and vehicle overtaking. Assessing locations with these recurring but dynamic hazards requires extensive and ongoing data collection. Traditional data collection methods rely on sensors at permanent or temporary fixed locations, which are costly, labor intensive, and provide limited collection over time and space and only of some hazard contributors. Moreover, the location of these sensors may be influenced by factors other than optimal sampling, such as requests from well-organized constituencies. Therefore, relying on the traditional methods could lead to missing high-risk conditions resulting in decreased safety and inequitable outcomes.
Transit buses operate regularly over wide networks, and most bus fleets are already equipped with cameras that record the environment inside and outside buses for liability, security, and safety purposes. Consequently, the imagery is available for other uses at near-zero marginal cost, and the extensive spatial coverage of transit fleets would provide comprehensive views that could be used to determine times and locations of regularly occurring safety hazards. Moreover, this imagery has been shown by the principal investigators (PIs) to be effective in monitoring traffic volumes across time and space, information that provides exposure-based context for identifying safety hazards. In the current phase 1 project (year-1), the PIs are investigating the use of available, repeated, and extensive imagery recorded by cameras mounted on transit buses in regular operation to identify “hazardous hotspots”. The proposed phase 2 project (year-2) would build on the phase 1 investigations.
The PIs have been obtaining transit bus-based video imagery to estimate traffic flows across the OSU campus and providing summary results to campus planners and operators on a regular basis. The OSU campus will again be used as a living lab testbed. The size and diversity of land uses make the campus representative of urban areas. Moreover, the campus has been undergoing major construction activities, which allows investigation of different infrastructure conditions that could influence traffic safety. Using the campus as an experimental testbed also allows for in-situ ground-truth observations to assess the accuracy of the video-based results.
Hazards being considered in phase 1 include lane specific queue lengths at intersections and bus stops and vehicle type mix with an emphasis on vulnerable vehicles (e.g., bicycles, scooters, and motorcycles). Frequency of lane-changing in the presence of queues, speeds, and speed variation where autos conflict with vulnerable vehicles are also important safety factors. In phase 2, the ability to measure these hazards from the imagery would be investigated, and methods to do so would be developed. In addition, changes in speeds at construction zones measured from the imagery would be explored given the safety hazards associated with these zones. Moreover, while the identification of hazards in phase 1 is being demonstrated using semi-automatic techniques based on a Graphical User Interface, in phase 2 automation of the identification of hazards will be pursued.
Description
Timeline
Strategic Description / RD&T
The proposed project addresses the “Data-driven System Safety” research priority outlined in US DOT Research, Development and Technology Strategic Plan (RD&T Plan). Specifically, it directly relates to: (1) “Safe Design” whereby assessing safety hazards that relate to cyclists, scooterists, and motorcyclists and determining the percentage of these vulnerable vehicles involves “Identify[ing] and support[ing] strategies to increase vulnerable road user safety” (see p. 19 of RD&T Plan). (2) “Safety Data” whereby the project focuses on “Develop[ing] safety data collection methods and advance[ing] safety data … to identify and analyze emerging safety issues” and “Improv[ing] safety data systems . . . to improve analy[zing] and identify[ing] emerging safety risks and disparate safety impacts on people and communities” (see p. 19 of RD&T Plan). (c) “Safe Technology” whereby the project involves “Leverag[ing] innovative (nonintrusive, i.e, safe) technologies to monitor, predict, and plan ways to reduce injuries and fatalities among the transportation workforce and traveling public” (see p. 19 of RD&T Plan).
Deployment Plan
Expected Outcomes/Impacts
The ultimate impact of this project will be the ability to determine the location and times of recurring roadway traffic conditions that could compromise safety across urban roadways using an existing and widespread source of available data, namely, video imagery obtained from cameras mounted on buses in regular transit service. The ability to systematically determine and monitor hazardous roadway conditions would provide input to policymakers and designers developing measures aimed at reducing the likelihood and severity of traffic and traffic-related accidents.
Expected Outputs
General research: New methods, techniques, and technologies to identify safety hazards along urban roadways. Demonstration of quantifying the queuing, lane-changing, and vehicle type mix safety factors from video imagery.
Research based outreach: Discussion of identified safety vulnerabilities and “hotspots” on the OSU campus during regular meetings with OSU’s Transportation and Traffic Management (who will provide bus imagery) to increase the practical impact of the project’s results and allow user grounded investigations.
TRID
A TRID search (using the keywords monitor* AND traffic AND hazard) resulted in 38 pertinent papers, reports, and projects out of 380 records (see uploaded TRID Search Document). The search results emphasize the importance of traffic safety monitoring. Some studies address aspects related to vehicle speeds, presence of cyclists in the traffic stream, and work zones. A few studies refer to the use of imagery for the purpose of monitoring. However, none of the studies address the importance of and ability to achieve time- and space-comprehensive data collection for the purpose of safety hazard monitoring and assessment, which is the focus of the proposed study.
Individuals Involved
| Email |
Name |
Affiliation |
Role |
Position |
| mccord.2@osu.edu |
McCord, Mark |
The Ohio State University |
Co-PI |
Faculty - Tenured |
| mishalani@osu.edu |
Mishalani, Rabi |
The Ohio State University |
PI |
Faculty - Tenured |
| redmill.1@osu.edu |
Redmill, Keith |
The Ohio State University |
Co-PI |
Faculty - Research/Systems |
Budget
Amount of UTC Funds Awarded
$
Total Project Budget (from all funding sources)
$213486.00
Documents
Match Sources
No match sources!
Partners
| Name |
Type |
| OSU Transportation and Traffic Management |
Deployment & Equity Partner Deployment & Equity Partner |
