Publication Year:
Original publication: Highway Safety Manual Case Study 2: Implementing a New Roadway Safety Management Process with AASHTOWare Safety Analyst™ in Ohio
ODOT's use of AASHTOWare Safety Analyst™ (SA) allowed it to develop multiple screening methods in the network screening process resulting in greater identification of rural corridors and projects.
Issue
Application of the Highway Safety Manual (HSM) and related safety data tools.
Key Accomplishments
“Ohio DOT is excited about the opportunities that SA provides the highway safety engineering community by allowing the end users to easily perform network screenings and countermeasure evaluations with a high level of statistical rigor.”
– Jonathan Hughes, ODOT
- Establishing a process that advances the capacity to perform roadway safety analysis while also shortening the time needed to conduct the analysis.
- Improving data collection and data quality.
- Working with IT staff (a crucial step) to ensure hardware and software needs were met in all offices.
Results
Applying various HSM screening methods identified ways to overcome some of the limitations of existing practices. For example, the agency's previous mainframe methodology typically over-emphasized urban “sites of promise,” or those locations identified for further investigation and potential countermeasure implementation.
Benefits
- The extensive data gathering effort increased output reliability, allowing the agency to direct safety funds to locations where transportation improvements have the greatest potential to reduce severe (fatal and injury) crashes.
- A big advantage of AASHTOWare Safety Analyst™—in comparison to the previous mainframe process—is the ability to quickly apply the more sophisticated screening methods within the HSM.
Contact
Jonathan Hughes, P.E.
Ohio Department of Transportation
(614) 466-4019
Jonathan.Hughes@dot.state.oh.us