Safety Assessment of New England Roadways During the COVID-19 Pandemic (4.11)
Safety assessment of roadway facilities is a critical task to maintain the system operational efficiency and durability of transportation infrastructure. The comprehensive stay-at-home orders implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in massive reductions in traffic volumes, especially on major highways. Motorists have responded to these greatly reduced volumes by increasing their travel speeds; the result of this behavioral response has been an increase in the rate and incidence of fatal crashes. There is a clear DOT, industry, and agency need for recommendations to better plan and ameliorate impacts from another pandemic or other natural or human-caused disasters. Traffic data during the pandemic period represent characteristics that are not comparable to normal conditions. This project will employ an innovative approach to assemble traditional traffic volume data archived from permanent count stations along with data collected by smart and connected technologies to investigate the safety consequences of the demand reduction and speed increases due to the pandemic shutdown for the New England roadway infrastructure. The proposed research plans to investigate the traffic volume and speed data before and during the pandemic shutdown, analyze the frequency and severity of crash data collected in two New England states, Maine and Connecticut, and provide recommendations to more efficiently and safely manage the highway network of New England roadways during disruptions to traffic demand caused by other unforeseen emergencies and disasters.
Language
- English
Project
- Status: Completed
- Funding: $70000
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Contract Numbers:
69A3551847101
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Sponsor Organizations:
Transportation Infrastructure Durability Center
University of Maine
Orono, ME United States 04469Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology
University Transportation Centers Program
Department of Transportation
Washington, DC United States 20590University of Vermont, Burlington
College of Engineering and Mathematics
33 Colchester Avenue, 109 Votey Building
Burlington, VT United States 05405-0156 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
5717 Corbett Hall
Orono, ME United States 04469-5711University of Massachusetts Lowell
One University Drive
Lowell, MA United States 01854 -
Managing Organizations:
Transportation Infrastructure Durability Center
University of Maine
Orono, ME United States 04469 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
5717 Corbett Hall
Orono, ME United States 04469-5711Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology
University Transportation Centers Program
Department of Transportation
Washington, DC United States 20590 -
Project Managers:
Dunn, Denise
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Performing Organizations:
Transportation Infrastructure Durability Center
University of Maine
Orono, ME United States 04469 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
5717 Corbett Hall
Orono, ME United States 04469-5711 -
Principal Investigators:
Shirazi, Ali
- Start Date: 20201101
- Expected Completion Date: 20230515
- Actual Completion Date: 20230630
- USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: COVID-19; Crash rates; Crash severity; Disaster preparedness; Highway facilities; Safety analysis; State departments of transportation; Traffic data; Traffic volume
- Geographic Terms: New England
- Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Security and Emergencies;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01851435
- Record Type: Research project
- Source Agency: Transportation Infrastructure Durability Center
- Contract Numbers: 69A3551847101
- Files: UTC, RIP
- Created Date: Jul 14 2022 7:50PM