Safety

Josh Peterman, P.E. - DKS Associates

Rafat Raie, P.E. - City of Walnut Creek, CA

Garland Wong, P.E. - City of Concord, CA

Submitted for presentation at ITSA 2004

There has recently been much discussion within the ITS community about how extensive an Integrated Network of Transportation Information (INTI) is necessary and what that functions it should fulfill. This paper discusses an application that uses existing highway data collection and communication capabilities to improve safety. Inductive loop detectors and video surveillance cameras are currently used to assess the operational status of highway facilities. With fairly simple technology upgrades we can also use these roadway sensors to examine the finer structure of traffic flow and measure parameters related to the difficulty of driving in that flow. FHWA is sponsoring a project that will do this and that will attempt to use these measures to estimate the relative safety of that roadway at that time. This information can be used to evaluate the effect of geometric and ITS improvements on safety and to provide information to travelers. This is a potentially valuable safety use of information infrastructure that has mostly been thought of as a tool for responding to operational transportation disruptions due to weather events, terrorist activities, and hazardous material incidents.

US DOT Federal Highway Administration

Presented at the ITS America Annual Conference and Exposition, May 19-22, 2003 Minneapolis, Minnesota

The existing Ramp metering systems have been extremely successful in reducing congestion and increasing safety. Most application of Ramp metering resulted in higher mainline throughput with lower congestion, significant travel time savings, and higher travel time reliability. However, effects on fuel consumption and emissions have been mixed. The reduced congestion on the freeway allows for greater fuel efficiency and reduced emissions once on the mainline, but vehicles queued at ramp meters have increased rates of fuel consumption and emissions. Ramp metering algorithms have some limitations, which researchers are working to eliminate. One problem is that existing algorithms react to rather than prevent bottlenecks. The proposed Gap Phase Opportunistic Ramp Metering Algorithm involves integrating traffic predictive capabilities  into the metering logic. The metering rate is opportunistically set to stabilize a maximum freeway flow and minimize the queue length on the ramp. Actual results were achieved.

William Yeung, Anush Badii and Alaa El Abed

Paper submitted for publication and presentation at the ITS America’s 2009 Annual Meeting and Exposition

We describe experiments and results of four of the potentially nearest term means to realize a cooperative collision avoidance system, which we regard as either a supplement to or a simple replacement of present single vehicle-based systems. Experiments for each ranged from laboratory tests only (fluorescent paint), field tests only (roadside-mounted corner cubes), and a combination of laboratory and field tests (passive license plates, light emitting diode brake light messaging). These technologies all focus on improving the signal-to-noise ratio of a collision avoidance sensor. The LED brakelight messaging and passive license plates increase the signal, by making it easier to detect real vehicles on the roadway (and, in the case of LED brakelight messaging, to provide information on the trajectory of that vehicle). Corner Cubes serve to mark clutter, such as bridge abutments or overpasses, that cannot be moved. Fluorescent paint serves to improve the recognition of the lane markings, for localization. We believe that experimental results point toward further proof-of-concept refinements, but in general, that these systems potentially represent technologically sound cooperative vehicle-roadway components and that indeed, “sensor friendly” systems, when put to the test, can eventually translate into significant benefit in terms of lives saved.

California PATH, University of California at Berkeley

Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University

Presented at the 11th ITS Annual Conference and Exposition, June 4-7, 2001 Miami Beach, Florida

This paper explores issues relating to the user acceptability and safety effectiveness of on-board driver performance monitoring for commercial drivers. The discussion centers on alertness monitoring, which has been the subject of extensive U.S. Department of Transportation-sponsored research. However, many of the same issues and guiding principles may apply to other on-board safety monitoring (OBSM) devices such as speed, headway, and lateral acceleration monitoring. Such technologies may be seen as safety performance feedback systems in addition to their role as collision warning systems. Indeed, feedback-induced behavior change may, to some extent, pre-empt the collision warning uses of these devices by bringing driver performance within a safety tolerance range where imminent collision situations are largely avoided.

A system concept is proposed for the application of “alertometers” (i.e., real-time invehicle displays of driver alertness levels) to commercial driver fatigue management. The principal element in this system is the continuous in-vehicle feedback that alertometers can provide to drivers regarding their levels of alertness. This feedback, if employed properly within an overall fleet safety management program, can lead to significant short-term and longterm changes in driver behavior and lifestyle relevant to fatigue management and sleep hygiene. A generalized version of this system concept may be applicable to other forms of OBSM and associated safety performance management.

In its research on OBSM, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is attempting to assess and synthesize behavioral principles to develop optimal ways to employ sensors, driver-vehicle interface designs, and associated management practices to influence commercial driver behavior in ways that will positively affect both short- and long-term driver performance.

U.S. Department of Transportation - Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

ATA Foundation

Presented at the 10th ITS Annual Conference and Exposition, May 1-4, 2000 Boston, MA