MIRE, the Model Inventory of Roadway Elements, is a recommended listing of roadway inventory and traffic elements critical to safety management. There are a total of 202 elements that comprise the MIRE listing. These elements are divided among three broad categories: roadway segments, roadway alignment, and roadway junctions. Examples of the MIRE data elements include:

• Roadway classification.
• Paved surface characteristics.
• Number and type of travel lanes.
• Shoulder, median, and roadside descriptors.
• Curve and grade information.
• Traffic control devices.
• Intersection features.
• Interchange and ramp descriptors.
• Pedestrian and bicyclist facilities.
• Traffic volumes.

MIRE is intended as a guideline to help transportation agencies improve their roadway and traffic data inventories. It provides a basis for a standard of what agencies can consider a good/robust data inventory, and helps them move towards the use of performance measures. Most States lack the critical elements in the MIRE listing on all public roads and also the funding to collect this information using traditional methods (7). More information on MIRE is available on the FHWA website, https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/safety/data-analysis-tools/rsdp/about-roadway-safety-data-program.

A critical step toward acceptance and implementation of MIRE is the conversion of MIRE (which is now a listing of variables) into a management information system (MIS). The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has undertaken the MIRE MIS project to assist States in developing and integrating the MIRE into an MIS structure that will provide greater utility in collecting, maintaining, and using MIRE data. The proposed MIS design will include the exploration, development, and documentation of the following:

• Mechanisms for data collection.
• An efficient process for data handling and storage.
• Details of data file structure.
• Methods to assure (1) the integration of MIRE data with crash data and other data types, and (2) that access to these data can be accomplished through the MIRE MIS.
• The identification of performance metrics to assess and assure MIRE data quality and MIS performance.

The collective data concept falls under the first objective of the MIRE MIS project – to explore the mechanisms for MIRE data collection. A distributed data collection application, suitable for use on a mobile device such as an iPhone, iPad, Android phone or tablet, or a Windows-based phone, may provide an opportunity for an agency to cost-effectively collect many of the MIRE elements. The intent of this application would be to provide the public a way to assist in the collection of MIRE elements, in turn reducing costs of the DOT's data collection effort and allowing more funds to go towards safety improvement projects.

The data collected with this application would focus around traffic data elements and would integrate the functionality of these connected devices such as GPS, data connectivity, camera, video, accelerometer, and keypad data entry. If DOT's could harness just a portion of the mass of people that have connected smart phone devices, it would reduce their effort in collecting traffic safety data.

One of the largest challenges for State DOTs is collecting data on local roads. Collective data could provide a mechanism to cost-effectively populate local road or local intersection