Safety

Safety at passive Highway-Railroad Intersections (HRIs) – those without any active warning devices such as flashing lights, gates and bells – has been under particular scrutiny in recent years. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has found that more crashes occur at passive crossings than active crossings, for the amount of vehicle and train traffic that passive crossings carry. Minnesota has had an aggressive program for HRI safety, but tools to improve safety at the more than 5,000low-volume passive crossings have been too expensive for wide spread implementation. Recommendations issued by NTSB encourage the U.S. Department of Transportation to explore further how ITS technologies could be used improve safety at passive crossings.

Minnesota DOT

C3 Trans Systems LLC

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

This paper presents an evaluation of two supplemental traffic control devices, a Lighted Stop
Bar System (LSBS) and light emitting diode (LED) outlined traffic signal backplates. The
LSBS consists of lighted pavement markers placed in the pavement parallel to the painted
intersection stop bar. The pavement markers of the LSBS emit a red light during the red
indication of the traffic signal. The LED backplates emit a red light around the perimeter of
the traffic signal backplate when the traffic signal indication is red. These two types of
devices were installed separately at separate intersections, and a before and after study was
conducted to determine changes in crashes, red light running violations, and right turn on red
violations. It was determined that right turn on red violations were significantly reduced at
the LSBS intersection, while the intersection with the LED backplates exhibited significant
reductions in red light running violations. Additional intersections were later outfitted with
LSBSs and/or LED backplates, and an aggregate crash analysis for all treatment intersections
shows a reduction in red light running crashes over time since the devices were activated.

Texas Transportation Institute

Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County

Presented at the ITS America Annual Conference and Exposition, May 3-5, 2010, Houston, Texas

In November, 1999, the United States Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) awarded a major Intelligent Vehicle Initiative (IVI) grant to the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT). Minnesota’s project was a three-year Generation '0' Specialty Vehicle field operational test of technology providing lateral guidance and collision avoidance warnings to drivers in low visibility conditions. In addition to MnDOT and FHWA, there were a variety of other public and private partners participating in the project. Active operational testing was conducted over the winter of 2001-2002. The intent of the project was to identify the safety and operational impacts of the technology, to guide future decisions regarding installation on specialized vehicles, and to encourage the development and appropriate deployment of such systems on all vehicle platforms. The technologies were tested in four snowplows, a State Patrol squad car, and an ambulance on a fifty-mile rural highway. This paper provides an overview of the project including technologies and evaluation results.

Minnesota DOT

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

The reaction time constitutes a critical parameter for the overall stopping time of a vehicle, in
emergency braking situations. In the current paper, on-road reaction time measurements and
results are described, as an attempt of finding a stable relation between static and dynamic
values. The relevant tests were performed within the PhD dissertation of the author, where the
reaction time was one of the parameters used for modeling drivers’ behaviour, in order to
produce innovative algorithms for personalized driver warning provision for collision warning
and avoidance systems.

Centre for Research & Technology Hellas/Hellenic Institute of Transport

Presented at the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, November 16-20, 2008, New York, New York

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation (OECD) groups 30 member countries in a unique forum to discuss, develop and refine economic and social policies.In the recent past, much attention has been paid to the development of Intelligent Transport Systems that can improve the safety and efficiency of road transport while improving user comfort and convenience. All OECD member countries have been involved in developing or deploying these technologies to some extent. As this process has moved forward, a great deal of information has been developed concerning the benefits that can be realized over time with the full deployment of ITS. Among other things, safety benefits have been measured or estimated for a wide variety of technologies. This report has summarized and documented the current international perspective concerning the ability of ITS to address the road safety situation in the Member countries.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation (OECD)

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