A PC oriented geographic information system (GIS) database for road safety improvements

Road safety improvements are a complex issue. To arrive at satisfactory improvements requires a thorough knowledge of the underlying facts. In road safety engineering, these basic facts include accident, highway and traffic data. Using such data makes it possible to investigate the underlying principles relating to the occurrence of various types of accidents. Through such analysis it is possible to develop design standards which incorporate safety measures into the design of roads. Also it helps to identify and treat those components of the transportation system which result in the most effective improvements in road safety. Microcomputer technologies have helped in many ways to improve quantitative data analyses and decision making. Many agencies at international, national, and local levels have therefore established computer databases to meet their particular requirements. A PC oriented accident data base is of great benefit to the organisation. However, the traditional programs and software used in creating the accident databases cannot be applied when it comes to the digital location coding, using the system for processing the accident data with its geographic component and performing any geographic analysis with the data. Geographic Information System (GIS) technology provides the needed solution. GIS is a computerized database management system for analysing and managing spatial data. This study describes the establishment of a PC based GIS database developed to deal with road safety analysis, safety management and the evaluation of safety improvements. The study deals with these phases: establishment of detailed databases containing information on accidents, traffic flow characteristics, selected road physical data, digitized locations of the road network; integration of the above databases into a GIS; definition and development of GIS based applications to road safety and management; and design and development of a user interface in the use of the developed GIS accident database system. The system as developed was demonstrated on the Hadar area, which is the central business district of Haifa, a city in Israel. Emphasis was placed on road safety analysis including the generation of periodic reports on predefined accident types (e.g., severity, pedestrian accidents etc.); the analysis of specific road safety issues (e.g. child accidents near schools) and area-wide analysis of the study area. The results of this demonstration clearly show the applicability of using GIS as a tool in road safety studies and in enhancing decision making in safety management.