Toward a Multi-State Consensus on Rural Intersection Decision Support:

Objectives

Gain understanding of issues involved with national rural intersection crashes by collecting and analyzing information from participating states.

Develop system that meets national needs for rural intersections. Identify intersections in participating states having crash rates

and severities above critical levels, and validate need for a nationally deployable rural intersection decision support system.

Provide design guidelines and assist with the installation of intersection instrumentation in participating states.

Analyze data returned from test intersections to identify whether regional differences exist in driver behavior at rural intersections.

Validate system performance and create foundation for a multi-state field operational test of a rural intersection decision support program.

Task1 Project Management

Coordinate state activities (between states participating in this pooled fund study and with the national IDS program)

Schedule the driver interface workshop (April 20) Disseminate research results to participating

states. Travel coordination for state representatives to

pooled fund meetings performed by Mn/DOT.

Task 2 State Crash Analysis

For each member state, analyses focused on identifying critical rural intersections will be performed.

Will request specific crash information from the crash database in each state. We will then provide to each state a list of intersections with crash rates and severities above the critical level as well as a recommendation for the experimental intersection.

In the event that some states lack particular data in their crash reporting/recording systems, modifications to the analysis developed for the national IDS project will be made to best compute similar statistics.

Deliverables: Reports summarizing the rural intersection crash problem in each member state, a list of rural intersections with crash rates above the critical level, and a recommendation for an intersection to be instrumented and studied further.

Task3 Intersection Design Workshops

Two interactions with the representatives from each member state are planned. First: A design brief describing the proposed driver

infrastructure interface(s) will be provided to each of the member states; a review/critique of the proposal will be requested. Feedback provided by participants will be used to determine which interface(s) will be replicated in the HumanFIRST driving simulator.

• Early FEBRUARY (mailing) Second: Once the interface design set has been

defined, a workshop will be held for representatives of the participating states.

• 20 APRIL in Minnesota

Task 3 Intersection Design Workshops

Once the design is “finalized,” it will be tested under the national IDS program in the HumanFIRST driving simulator to determine driver response and acceptance.(This is primarily the IDS project)

Deliverables: A prototype design, drawings and specifications for a rural IDS driver-infrastructure interface.

Task4 State Intersections

Facilitate construction of a data collection system for installation at experimental intersections in those states who wish to collect data regarding the behavior of its citizens at rural intersections, and who wish to participate in the anticipated FHWA sponsored Field Operational Test of this IDS program.

The instrumentation of these intersections will be a joint process between Minnesota and the participating states. Minnesota will send an engineer to each state to analyze and model chosen intersection.

We will provide intersection design guidance and assistance in bringing the intersection online.

Each state will be responsible for the purchase of the surveillance equipment to be installed at each intersection and the construction of the infrastructure needed to support the surveillance equipment.

Task 4: Purpose

Data collected from multiple states can be used to determine whether regional differences in the gaps that motorists accept and how they proceed through an intersection.

Results will indicate whether a single DII design will function throughout the US, or if the system will have to be modified to accommodate regional differences. Display differences Timing issues

We will be well positioned to participate in a national operational test of these rural intersection decision support systems. System will be nationally deployable.

Task 4: Two phases

Intersection design Intersection build

Sub-Task 4.1 Intersection Design

Will travel to each state that chooses to instrument an intersection. Will create a high accuracy geospatial database of the experimental

intersection. A request will also be made to the state DOT to provide design, as-built, planametric, digital terrain models (DTM), and photogrammetric data if such data is available.

Once the database and other design data is available, will provide a design of the intersection indicating the location of sensors, control cabinets, power drops, and phone lines. Details regarding sensor foundations and masts, power requirements, etc. will be provided.

From this design document, each state will then be able to build the infrastructure needed to support the IDS instrumentation as well as procure parts based on a detailed parts list to be provided.

Each state will be financially responsible for the construction of the infrastructure and the procurement of the surveillance system which will be installed in subtask 4.2.

Sub-Task 4.1 Intersection Design

Deliverables: A design document from which a test intersection data collection system can be built and a parts list for the experimental intersection so necessary equipment may be purchased and subsequently installed.

Sub-Task 4.2 Intersection Build

Once the infrastructure has been completed and states complete the equipment procurement process, we will travel to each state to assist with/guide the installation of sensors, communication, and computational equipment at the intersection and bring it on line.

Once the system is brought on line, its performance will be validated and the system will be released. A data communications line to the University of Minnesota will also be completed and validated.

Deliverables: Technical support for installation and testing of the data collection system in each state.

Task 5 Intersection Data Collection

Data from each of the test intersections will be collected via a phone line from each intersection daily for subsequent analysis.

To facilitate this data collection activity, a data server and data backup system will be procured and application specific software written. (Provisions can be made to provide states with data from their experimental intersections.)

Once the system is designed, tested, and validated, data will be collected daily, archived, and backed up to assure data integrity.

Data will be collected from the time an intersection is brought on line until the project ends.

Task 5 Intersection Data Collection

On occasion, as part of the data collection process, limited demographic data for the drivers making intersection entry decisions will likely be required.

Each member state will be asked to collect its demographic data. The data collected will include age, gender, and time.

Deliverables: An operational remote data collection system with archival and data back-up capabilities. Data can be provided to each state if requested.

Task 6 Intersection Data Analysis

Will determine whether statistically relevant regional differences exist in the gaps drivers accept and the trajectories taken to enter the mainline traffic stream.

If differences are found to exist, quantification of these differences can be used to determine the degree to which the baseline rural IDS system needs to be modified to accommodate these differences.

Deliverables: A national database describing the behavior of drivers at rural expressway intersections. A report summarizing the results of the data analysis and quantification of regional differences in driver behavior will also be provided.