Using AlgoTraffic Data To Improve Traffic Incident Management

University Transportation Centers Program2020PDFTech ReportHainen, AlexIslam, NaimaMcNamara, MargaretJones, StevenSmith, RandyUniversity Transportation Center of AlabamaUniversity of Alabama. Department of Civil and Environmental EngineeringAlabama. Department of TransportationUnited States. Department of Transportation. University Transportation Centers (UTC) ProgramUnited States. Department of Transportation. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and TechnologyUniversity Transportation Center for AlabamaAlabamaUnited StatesTraffic dataTraffic incidentsIncident managementData storageTraffic speedTraffic crashesSPR 930-967Traffic crashes are key contributors to non-recurrent congestion. The Federal Highway Administration estimated that Traffic Incident Management (TIM) efforts in the USA are credited with reducing annual delay by 129.9 million hours with an associated cost savings of $2.5 billion (U.S. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration, Dec 2008). Traffic incidents are frequent and life-threatening to motorists and responders, particularly secondary crashes. A secondary crash is one which occurs at the tail end of a queue caused by an initial event, such as a crash or construction. Despite the fact that traffic crashes are heavy contributors to non-recurrent congestion, the interface between crashes, incidents, and congestion has not been fully explored in context with new data sources. Over the past few years, ALDOT has taken a transportation systems management and operations (TSMO) approach to manage intelligent transportation system (ITS) assets and monitor congestion across their road network. Regional Traffic Management Centers (RTMCs) have been established in four of the five regions to monitor data and information from a newly developed ALGO Traffic web interface. The ALGO Traffic platform provides real-time feeds for cameras, speed sensors, and other pieces of infrastructure. This platform and data are used by RTMC operators to monitor and log crashes and other various types of incidents (disabled vehicles, construction, queues, etc.). The University of Alabama (UA) through the Center for Advanced Public Safety (CAPS) has recently begun working on phase-II of the ALGO Traffic Platform, which will continue to add functionality for TMC operators.143