Improving Highway Safety with ITS
Length: Approximately 8 hours
Description
This course is an introduction to ITS-based strategies and tools available for improving highway safety. This course is intended for ITS, transportation operations, and safety professionals, including, but not limited to, planners, operators, designers, emergency management, and maintenance personnel. This course is divided into five lessons, each intended to introduce or illustrate concepts relating to the development and deployment of ITS strategies to address safety issues.
Objectives
Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to:
- Explain the overall magnitude and importance of highway safety
- Recognize and discuss the contribution ITS can make in improving highway safety
- Identify applications in the connected vehicle program that are primarily safety related
- Describe the framework for considering ITS countermeasures within your safety planning process
- Exploit practical opportunities for collaboration among Safety and ITS personnel
- Employ several ITS and Safety resources
Outline (click to display)
Lesson 1
- Highway Safety is Critical
- Putting It Into Perspective
- How Much Does a Collision Like This Cost?
- Collision Costs: Your Thoughts
- Challenge of Highway Safety
- Focused Approach to Safety
- Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP)
- HSIP: National Report
- Funding Opportunities
Lesson 2
- Traditional Safety Approaches
- Need for Innovation
- ITS Approaches
- Connected Vehicle Technology
- Safety Applications
- Automation and Transportation Safety
Lesson 3
- The Safety Planning Process
- Safety Analysis Data Needs
- Identifying Safety Problems
- Prioritizing Safety Problems
- Identifying Potential Countermeasures
- Assessing and Selecting Countermeasures
- Assessing Alternative Treatments: Resources
- Implementing Selected Countermeasures
- Monitoring Performance and Effectiveness
- How ITS Supports Safety Countermeasures
Lesson 4
- Focus Area 1: Intersection & Interchange Crashes
- Detector-Control System (D-CS)
- Intersection Warning System
- Variable Lane Signs
- Red Light Violation Warning (RLVW)
- Stop Sign Gap Assist (SSGA)
- Focus Area 2: Pedestrian & Bicycle Safety
- Rectangular Rapid Flash Beacons (RRFB)
- High-intensity Activation crossWalk (HAWK)
- Automated Adapted Signals
- Transit Safety Application SmartWalk
- ITS Bicycle Safety Measures
- Automated Adapting Signals
- Focus Area 3: Roadway Departure Crashes
- Advanced Warning Systems
- Curve Speed Warning System
- V2I Curve Speed Warning (CSW)
- Road Weather Management Program
- Curve Speed Warning System
- Variable Speed Limits
- Animal Warning Systems
- Lane Departure Warning Systems
- Connected Vehicles & Road Weather: An Illustration
- New England Compass
Lesson 5
- Safety & ITS Collaboration
- Collaboration and Coordination
- ITS and Safety Resources
- FHWA Safety Countermeasures Matrix
Contributor(s)
Cheryl Lowrance
