Citation

Abdel-Aty MA, Pande A, Hsia L. ITE J. 2010; 80(4): 34-41.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Institute of Transportation Engineers)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Incident detection is a reactive approach to traffic management on freeways. This article discusses a new proactive approach in which freeway locations where a crash is more likely to occur are identified in real time. In this approach, historical crashes and traffic surveillance data corresponding to historical crashes are analyzed to detect patterns that are observed before crash occurrence. If these patterns are repeated in the future on a freeway section, that section may be identified as a real-time black spot with high likelihood of crash occurrence. Traffic management strategies such as variable speed limits and ramp metering can then be deployed for these traffic conditions. This paper discusses the results of a study that established the link between freeway traffic data and crash occurrence. A crash risk estimation framework is developed for an interstate highway in Florida. Limitations of this approach and directions for future research are discussed.