Traffic Management &

Road Safety
Dr. ir. Haneen Farah
Transport & Planning, TU Delft

1
What is traffic
management?

2
Traffic Management
Transportation
demand Speed
Road work zones
management management
(TDM)

Traffic incident Advanced traffic

management Ramp metering management
(TIM) technologies

Other?

3
Traffic Management
We need to select additional 3 to discuss in the lecture…

Transportation
demand Speed Road work
management management zones
(TDM)

Advanced
Traffic incident
traffic
management Ramp metering
management
(TIM)
technologies

Other?

4
Traffic Management
Transportation
demand Speed
Road work zones
management management
(TDM)

Traffic incident Advanced traffic

management Ramp metering management
(TIM) technologies

Other?

5
 Evaluating Transportation
Demand Management Traffic
Safety Impacts
__________________________

Crash
Mobility
risk

• How much people travel?

• How people travel?
• How it is related to crashes?

6
 Relationship with Safety: Simple & Complex

Simple
Transportation Demand

All else being equal, per

capita vehicle travel
Management (TDM)

affects crash frequency.

Complex
Many other factors also
affect crash rates (user
behaviour, vehicle, facilities,
mobility (exposure, mode
share))
7
 TDM Strategies
Transportation Demand Management (TDM, also called mobility
management) includes various strategies that increase transportation system
efficiency by changing travel frequency, destination, mode and timing.
Transportation Demand
Management (TDM)

8
 Transportation Demand
Management (TDM)
Examples of TDM Travel Impacts

9
 Relationship
Transportation Demand
Management (TDM)

Compact city: urban planning and design concept which promotes relatively high residential
density with mixed land use;
Urban sprawl: the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on
undeveloped land near a city. 10
 Relationship: Mobility & Safety
Transportation Demand
Management (TDM)

Among economically developed countries there is a strong positive relationship

between per capita vehicle travel and traffic deaths. 11
 Ian Savage (2013). “Comparing the Fatality Risks in The United States Transportation Across Modes and Over Time,” Research
Example: Safety Impacts of Mode Shifting

in Transportation Economics, Vol. 43, No. 1, pp. 9-22; at http://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/~ipsavage/436-manuscript.pdf.

Mode shifting can be done by making alternative modes more attractive or by increasing
the cost of automobile use. The safety impacts of such shifts are:

Comparing the Fatality

Transportation Demand

Risks in The United

States Transportation
Management (TDM)

Comparing the Fatality

Risks in Europe
Transportation
https://etsc.eu/transport-safety-performance-
in-the-eu-a-statistical-overview/

12
 How Much Safety Can Mobility Management
Provide?
Mobility management
Transportation Demand
Pay-As-You-Drive insurance
Management (TDM)
Parking Pricing and Parking Cash Out
Personalized marketing programs and
targeted improvements in walking, cycling
and transit service
London’s congestion pricing program
Residents of smart growth communities
Safety benefit
Reduce mileage by 10-12% and crashes by 12-15%
Reduce automobile trips by about 20% where applied.
If applied to 50% of all parking activity, crashes would
decline approximately by 10%.
Reduce local vehicle trips by 7-14%, and crashes 5-10%.
Reduced crashes within that charge area about 25%.
Tend to drive 15-25% fewer miles and have 20-40% fewer
per capita crash fatalities than residents of conventional,
automobile-oriented communities.
13
Traffic Management
Transportation
demand Speed
Road work zones
management management
(TDM)

Traffic incident Advanced traffic

management Ramp metering management
(TIM) technologies

Other?

14
Speed Management

http://www.dacota-project.eu/
15
 Speed management
Speed management Speed, and vehicles themselves, affect the:
• Level of service
• Road safety
• Quality of life
• Noise from traffic
• The environment
• The economy

Speed management can be defined as a set of

measures to limit the negative effects of excessive
and inappropriate speeds.

16
 Gaseous emissions as a function of speed

Speed management
United Kingdom (2005)

Source: UK Department for Transport

17
 Terminology
Speed management • Excessive speed means speeds above a prescribed speed limit.

• Inappropriate speed means speeds too high for the prevailing conditions, but within
the speed limit.

• Speeding encompasses both excessive and inappropriate speed.

Speeding is the number one road safety problem in many countries, often
contributing to as much as one third of fatal accidents and an aggravating
factor in all accidents.
18
 Relationship: speeding and accidents
Speed management Based on the principles of kinetic energy and validated by empirical data, Nilsson (1982;
2004) developed the following formula:

19
 Speeding statistics

20
 Speed management as an integrated package
Speed management  There is no single solution to the problem of speeding.

 A package of countermeasures is necessary, increasing the effectiveness of each

individual measure.

 The most appropriate combination of measures will differ with circumstances.

21
 Speed management as an integrated package
Speed management The following steps are important:

Step 1: Setting appropriate speed limits

Step 2:Information about the speed limit

Step 3: Road/ technology engineering

measures

Step 4: Police enforcement to control the

intentional speeders

Step 5: Information and education for drivers

22
 Road engineering measures
Speed management At particular locations low speeds may be
crucial for safety, such as:

• near schools or homes for the elderly;

• at pedestrian crossings;

• at intersections;

At these locations, physical speed-

reducing measures can help to ensure
motor vehicles maintain a safe speed.

23
 Technological measures
Speed management ISA – Intelligent Speed Adaptation
• ISA - in-vehicle system that supports drivers'
compliance with the speed limit;

• Field trials and driving simulator studies show

positive effects on speed behaviour and expect
large safety effects;

• Around 1/4 of European car drivers consider a

speed-limiting device like ISA to be very useful
(SARTRE survey (2004));

• Actual experience with ISA seems to increase

acceptance.

www.prosper-eu.nl
24
 Technological measures
Speed management ISA is a collective term for various systems:
• The open ISA (informative or advisory system):
Warns the driver (visibly and/or audibly) that the speed limit is being
exceeded.
• The half-open ISA (the 'active accelerator‘):
Increases the pressure on the accelerator pedal when the speed limit
is exceeded. Maintaining the same speed is possible, but less
comfortable because of the counter pressure.
• The closed ISA (limits the speed automatically):
It is possible to make this system mandatory or voluntary. In the latter
case, drivers may choose to switch the system on or off.

25
 Technological measures
Speed management Could ISA have any potential negative side effects?

Compensation behaviour:
Drivers compensate by driving faster on road segments where the ISA system is not active.

Diminished attention:
ISA can result in reduction of attention for the road and traffic situation, when the system
is not active (for example, forgetting to slow down).

Over confidence:
Possibility of drivers completely relying on the speed limit indicated by the system, and
insufficiently observing the real-time circumstances.

Feeling frustrated:
The speed limiting by ISA can produce frustration in the driver and in other traffic.

26
 Technological measures
Speed management Dynamic Speed Limits
• Fixed speed limits represent the appropriate speed for average conditions.
• Dynamic speed limits take into account the realtime traffic, road and
weather conditions.
• Dynamic limits can better reflect the safe speed.
• A number of countries apply dynamic speed limits on their motorways,
related to traffic flow or weather conditions.

27
Traffic Management
Transportation
demand Speed
Road work zones
management management
(TDM)

Traffic incident Advanced traffic

management Ramp metering management
(TIM) technologies

Other?

28
 Venema, A., & Drupsteen, L. (2007a). Aanrijdgevaar wegwerkers: Deelrapport 1. Hoofddorp: TNO Kwaliteit van Leven.
Accident Records
Road Work Zones  0.5% of all serious Dutch traffic accidents happen near work zones at
highways.
 2% of all fatal accidents (2000-2009) in NL occurred during work in progress.
 Registration of road work accidents were found to be lacking detail and
consistency on a national and international level.

Fatal accidents during work in progress 29

 Accidents Trend
Road Work Zones

Share of serious accidents during road work per road type (Janssen &
Weijermans, 2008)

30
 Types of Accidents
Road Work Zones  31% of all collisions at work zones outside built-up areas are rear-end
collisions (twice the share in regular road condition crashes);
 Speeding and short following distances are main causes of these
collisions;
 Slightly higher probability of accidents for night-time road works
compared to daytime road work activities (corrected for the number of
vehicles and number of work zones per type);
 13% of serious road work accidents involve trucks while in regular
situations only 6%;
 Work zone crashes positively correlate with work zone length, traffic
volume and the number of closed lanes;

31
 Definition & types
Road Work Zones Zones where road work is conducted, such as road maintenance, guardrail
replacement, mowing etc., involving lane closures, detours and moving
equipment occasionally.

Dynamic Semi-dynamic with Static work zones

moving activities with cordon & cones

• Long term: refers to works staying in place at least overnight;

• Short term: refers to works staying in place for at least half a day but no more
than one day.

32
 Guidelines
Road Work Zones In the NL, work zones are designed according to the CROW work zone guidelines:

• CROW. Maatregelen op niet-autosnelwegen. In Werk in Uitvoering 96b, CROW,

Ede, 2014 edition, 2014. ISBN 9789066286474.

• CROW. Maatregelen op autosnelwegen. In Werk in Uitvoering 96a. 2016. ISBN

9789066286146.

• CROW. Richtlijn informatievoorziening op dynamische informatiepanelen. 2017.

In the US according to the MUTCD:

Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices

(MUTCD) - FHWA

33
 Objective of Traffic Management
Road Work Zones
What is the purpose of traffic management
at road work zones?

 To look after the safety of those doing work

within the construction sites;
 To ensure that traffic is routed conveniently
around the construction site (including
information to the road users);
 To ensure safety of all road users -
pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and motorists
using the adjacent roads.

34
 Layout  A transaction area: serves as an
informing and warning function and
Road Work Zones shows the speed limits and legal
commandments.

Typical Highway  A detour sign and cordon: are usually

set up to protect the work zone.
Construction Similarly, physical separation such as
Zone Layout traffic cones is also applied to separate
Based on work zone from traffic area.
CROW (2013)
 A buffer area and a clearance zone:
are regulated in case of work zone
intrusion.

 An activity area: in this area road

workers perform working and machinery
functions.

35
Layout

36
 Most Significant Risk Factors
Road Work Zones  Risk of collisions between road users and barriers, equipment,
vehicles or personnel associated with the RWZ;
 Risk of collisions involving only road users due to the disturb induced
by the RWZ to the normal traffic flow (e.g. side swept crashes due to
sudden lane changes, rear-end crashes due to sudden breaking).

Driver behaviour resulting in RWZ collisions includes:

o Excessive speed before or adjacent to the work zone;
o Changing lanes too late;
o Inappropriate following distances.

37
 Measures to Increase Safety
Road Work Zones Temporary traffic control (TTC) devices commonly used in work zones include:
• Flaggers
• Traffic signs
• Arrow panels
• Portable changeable message signs
• Channelizing devices
• Pavement markings
• Lighting devices
• Temporary traffic control signals
• Rumble strips

38
 Autonomous Impact Protection Vehicle
Road Work Zones

39
Traffic Management
Transportation
demand Speed
Road work zones
management management
(TDM)

Traffic incident Advanced traffic

management Ramp metering management
(TIM) technologies

Other?

40
 Traffic Incident Management
(TIM)

Steenbruggen, J., Kusters, M., & Broekhuizen, G. (2012). Best practice in European traffic incident management. Procedia-
Social and Behavioral Sciences, 48, 297-310.

Martin, P. T., Chaudhuri, P., Tasic, I., Zlatkovic, M., & Pedersen, T. (2011). Traffic Incident Management State of the Art
Review (No. MPC Report No. 10-229B). Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. 41
 Definitions
‘Incident’ is generally defined as “an unforeseen (unpredictable) event that
impacts the safety and capacity of the road network and that causes extra
delay to road users”. (EasyWay, 2010).

Traffic Incident Management (TIM) “consists of a planned and coordinated

multi-disciplinary process to detect, respond to, and clear traffic incidents so
that traffic flow may be restored as safely and quickly as possible. Effective
TIM reduces the duration and impacts of traffic incidents and improves the
safety of motorists, crash victims and emergency responders”.

EasyWay (2010). Guidelines for the deployment of Incident Management. Core European ITS Services and Actions, TMS-DG08, August 25th , 2010.
42
Definitions
The main goal of TIM is to (CEDR, 2009):

• To ensure the safety of all involved TIM responders, traffic

safety and the safety of casualties;

• To limit the impact of incidents on traffic flow and return traffic

flow to normality in the shortest time;

• To control the damage of the vehicles and load involved in

the incident as well as the road infrastructure.

CEDR: The Conference of European Directors of Roads 43

Types of Incidents
• Accidents
• Dropped cargo
• Stranded vehicles
• Collisions with vehicles carrying hazardous materials
• Highway maintenance and reconstruction projects
• Major weather events
• Terroristic attacks
• Animals on the road

44
Impacts of Incidents
Congestion Traffic safety Pollution

• Traffic incidents are the cause of about one-quarter of the congestion on

U.S. roadways (National Traffic Incident Management Coalition).
• Every 1 min a freeway lane is blocked due to an incident results in 4 min of
traveller delay time.
• The likelihood of a secondary crash increases by 2.8% for every minute
that the primary incident remains a hazard.
• Improved TIM reduces both overall incident duration and secondary crashes.

45
Costs of Incidents
 In the Netherlands traffic accidents and delays are estimated to cost
€10.4-13.6B/year

 Delays alone cost €2.8- 3.6B/year.

 Delays attributable to incidents amounts to 12% of this, i.e. 336 – 432

M€ /year.

 TIM is estimated to avoid €100-130M in social costs compared to an annual

investment of €27M (high Benefit/Cost Ratio of between 4 and 5).

46
Timeline of an Individual Incident
The TIM cycle, adopted from England (UK FHA, 2009), contains the following
timelines (CEDR, 2011):

Initial Scene Restoration

Discovery Verification Recovery Normality
response management to normality

Different Phases Incident Management process (Zwaneveld et al., 2000).

The NL is the first country in EU where a formal structure for IM was introduced in the 90’s.
47
Traffic IM components
'On-Line' components: are those needed immediately in response to an
incident;

'Off-Line' components: are those that improve overall TIM effectiveness,

either before or after an incident.

'Up/Down Line‘: captures longer term issues that affect the overall way
that TIM operates.

48
Backbone of Traffic IM Practices
Ten points that form the backbone of Traffic IM practices:
1. Speedy detection and response;
2. Good information about location, severity and any attendant hazards;
3. Protection of the scene, and ensuring safety of responders, victims and the public;
4. Coordinated response with a clear structure of authority, roles and responsibility;
5. Reliable communications between responders and the public;
6. Provision of appropriate equipment, facilities, access paths and control centers;
7. Sufficient backup services to ensure speedy clearance to minimize congestion;
8. Training and debriefing systems;
9. Written guidelines and formal agreements where necessary;
10. Monitoring, performance assessment and feedback into practice.

49
Traffic Management
Transportation
demand Speed
Road work zones
management management
(TDM)

Traffic incident Advanced traffic

management Ramp metering management
(TIM) technologies

Other?

50
Advanced Traffic Management
System (ATMS)
 Is a subfield within the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) domain.
 Top-down management perspective that integrates technology primarily to
improve the flow of vehicle traffic and improve safety.
 Real-time traffic data from cameras, speed sensors, etc. flows into a
Transportation Management Center (TMC) where it is integrated and
processed (e.g. for incident detection), and may result in actions taken
(e.g. traffic routing, DMS messages) with the goal of improving traffic flow.

51
 CO-OPerative SystEms for Intelligent Road Safety

Farah, H., Koutsopoulos, H. N., Saifuzzaman, M., Kölbl, R., Fuchs, S., & Bankosegger, D. (2012). Evaluation of the effect of cooperative
infrastructure-to-vehicle systems on driver behavior. Transportation research part C: emerging technologies, 21(1), 42-56.

Farah, H., & Koutsopoulos, H. N. (2014). Do cooperative systems make drivers’ car-following behavior safer?. Transportation research part
C: emerging technologies, 41, 61-72.

52
 Introduction
In-vehicle technologies and co-operative services are attracting a lot of
attention in the transportation community and the general public.

Advanced Driver In-vehicle

Assistance Systems Information Systems
COOPERS

(ADAS) (IVIS)

To help drivers with the To assist drivers with

primary task of driving. other secondary tasks.

Intelligent
Co-operative Systems

 V2V – vehicle-to-vehicle communication

 V2I – vehicle-to-infrastructure communication
 I2V – infrastructure to vehicle communication COOPERS
53
 COOPERS Objective
The main objective of COOPERS is to enhance safe driving through
delivering of real-time messages on on-board units. These messages warn
drivers about near future critical events.
COOPERS

 Accident/ incident
 Traffic congestion
 Roadwork
 Lane utilization
 etc.

COOPERS is expected to have a direct impact on driving safety by

providing early warning about critical events which make drivers be better
prepared and respond in a safer manner. 54
 Approach
To assess the impact of COOPERS on driver behavior:

First stage Second stage

COOPERS

Advantages for testing new

technologies:
- Safe environment
- Ability to simulate risky situations
- Repeat the same exact scenario
- Real-life conditions
- Validating the simulator results
55
 HMI of COOPERS’ OBU
COOPERS

56
 Field Data Collection
For the field tests instrumented vehicles were used to collect data on the
driving performances of the participating drivers.
COOPERS

Data was collected on:

 Driving speed
 Longitudinal and lateral distances
 Longitudinal and lateral acceleration
 Relative distance and speed from surrounding vehicles detected. 57
 Experiment
Each test driver made:
 Short familiarization drive (~ 15 min)
 Short description about the COOPERS system (HMI, types of messages).
 2 test drives (COOPERS system ON/ system OFF).
 Pre-drive and post-drive questionnaires (~15 min each) on the expectations
from the system.
COOPERS

 50% of test drivers had the COOPERS system activated on the first drive,
and 50% on the second drive.

58
 Austrian Site
COOPERS

Austrian Test Site (ASFINAG)

 A12 “Inntal Autobahn” , Transit connection between Germany and Italy.

 Overall road section length 17 km.
 50 drivers were recruited by publishing specific adds
 Simulated messages were send to the drivers
59
 Simulated Messages

Service No. Definition

S5 Speed Advice 100km/h
S1a Accident
COOPERS

S6 Congestion
S3 Roadwork
S2 Rain
S1c Wrong way Driver
S4b Lane Keeping – Lane 1
SL100 Speed limit 100 km/hr
60
 Analysis Approach
 Examine whether the traffic conditions were similar in both drives.
 Macro level analysis:
• Driving speed behavior
• Lane-changing behavior
COOPERS

• Headway distribution
 Micro level analysis
• Car-following behavior

61
 General Traffic Conditions
Average Speed Average occupancy
Driver No
OFF ON OFF ON
2 106.62 106.16 4.23 3.89
3 108.07 106.29 4.29 4.98
5
7
100.71
106.47
101.98
107.66
4.16
4.598
4.12
4.41
No significant differences were
8
9
107.09
103.81
107.88
105.02
4.63
5.69
4.09
4.48 found in the traffic conditions when
10 106.86 100.61 4.48 5.19
11 85.5 100.11 9.71 4.61 COOPERS was ON versus OFF.
12 102.69 101.01 3.76 3.81
13 102.39 103.51 3.58 3.87
15 100.21 100.18 4.55 4.89
COOPERS

16 106.15 107.27 3.73 4.19

17 99.76 101.98 4.11 3.89
18 99.51 101.59 5.39 4.402
19 100.58 101.22 4.71 4.97
20 95.52 96.897 6.33 6.61
21 103.86 98.299 6.01 5.83
24 86.36 96.54 9.76 6.91
25 102.26 103.22 4.19 4.03
27 101.17 100.10 4.42 4.39
28 112.14 111.49 3.35 3.51
29 104.29 102.95 4.26 4.99
30 104.2 102.01 4.67 4.71
32 99.81 100.53 4.25 4.01
33 97.4 99.73 6.26 6.09
36 105.27 105.19 4.94 5.15
37 101.91 100.68 5.82 6.2
38 100.83 100.48 4.38 4.44
42 98.18 97.36 6.33 6.51
43 100.32 100.88 4.73 4.61
44 97.86 99.68 5.43 5.48
45 100.62 99.15 4.86 5.89
48 102.24 103.15 4.17 3.66
49 99.79 104.56 4.95 3.81
50 98.82 100.16 5.7 5.3 62
 Speed Profile
COOPERS

63
 Macro level: Average Driving Speed
30

COOPERS OFF
25
COOPERS ON

Frequency Distribution
20
COOPERS

15

10

0
80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98 100 102 104 106 108 110 More

Driving Speed (Km/hr)

64
 Lane-changing behavior
COOPERS

65
 Lane-changing frequency
COOPERS

66
 Headway Distribution
6000
COOPERS OFF
COOPERS ON
5000

Frequency 4000
COOPERS

3000

2000

1000

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120
Headway (meter)

67
 Micro level: Car-following behavior
COOPERS Generalization of the GM Nonlinear Car Following Model (Ahmed, 1999):

Responsen (t) = sensitivityn (t) X stimulusn (t-τn)

68
 Illustration of Results
COOPERS

69
 Illustration of Results
COOPERS

70
 Summary & Conclusions
 Providing dynamic and updated traffic information to drivers by COOPERS
have a significant impact on the driver behavior.

 COOPERS increases drivers’ awareness and alertness to the events ahead

which is reflected in their earlier reduction of their driving speeds, earlier
COOPERS

reaction and lower sensitivity .

 The reduction in the average driving speed and increase of the headways are
expected to positively impact traffic safety.

71
Key Messages
• There are different means for traffic management:

Transportation
demand Speed
management Road work zones
management
(TDM)

Traffic incident Advanced traffic

management Ramp metering management
(TIM) technologies

• They can take the form of road engineering measures, traffic

engineering measures, or technological measures;
• The aim is to improve traffic flow, traffic safety and quality of
travel.

72