Plan4Safety

As part of the Transportation Safety Resource Center (TSRC) program, the center has developed Plan4Safety; a decision support tool for the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) and multiple users throughout the state. The program is designed as a crash data analysis tool that allows users to quickly filter and analyze crash records while also merging specialized data sources with the crash records system to offer additional opportunities for in-depth analysis.

The software currently integrates four years of NJ crash data (2003-2006), averaging 320,000 reportable crashes per year for a total of 1.3 million records. Approximately 65% of these records have been geocoded for use in GIS by the NJDOT Bureau of Safety Programs (BSP). Currently, 35% of all crash reports have no SRI (state route identifier) or milepost location, and therefore must be geocoded manually. Data cleaning is in progress to achieve close to 95% geocoded crashes; this effort has been initiated by the TSRC, utilizing student labor. All geocoded crashes are then transferred to NJDOT for inclusion in the state’s crash database for state use. The quality of data is improving for new crash data as law enforcement officers slowly add additional training and tools to their repetoire and practice. NJDOT is also working on efforts to improve data collection from enforcement offices as well as data ‘scrubbing’ with help from TSRC staff.

Previously, Plan4Safety had been PC based; however, this platform proved to have limitations on both speed and quantity of data that the program could accommodate. The web version of the software has been under development simultaneously with the PC version and was just released to the TSRC Advisory Board in August, 2007. Due to the web version being hosted on a platform of servers, massive volumes of data can be accommodated with little effect on the execution speed. Additionally, with the program online, users can use the software from any internet capable computer without the concern of requiring a powerful machine that was needed to run the PC version. Most importantly, the program is secure by way of using user names and passwords to protect content and allow users a unique ID that allows them to save filters and preferences. The web version of the software will start to be released incrementally in January 2008.

The future layers of Plan4Safety include the network screening layer, economic analysis, diagnosis and evaluation. A comprehensive network screening layer will be implemented for the January release. This layer will integrate current methodologies that safety engineers follow to locate high crash intersections or segments; it will also integrate many analytical techniques to improve existing methodologies. The layer includes a model to predict crash frequencies and severities for selected roadways. This effort is a foundation for the next diagnostic and economic analysis layers that will assist managers to disseminate limited budgets to higher priority locations for safety improvements.

This program represents the accomplishments of a team of professional staff, faculty, and graduate students. Plan4Safety is a unique and powerful tool that we hope to share with the transportation community at large as we currently build it for the state of New Jersey.

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