Safety evaluation of variable speed limit system in British Columbia
El Esawey, Mohamed; Sengupta, Joy; Babineau, John E.; Takyi, Emmanuel;
Abstract
This study reports the safety benefits associated with the installation of Variable Speed Limit System (VSLS) on provincial highways in British Columbia (BC), Canada. A VSLS is an intelligent transportation system (ITS) that aims at increasing the safety level on highways by varying the speed limit according to downstream operational condition and/or weather conditions. The analysis made use of police-attended serious crashes (i.e. fatal + injury) that took place during winter seasons. Three winter seasons were available as a before-implementation period, and three winter seasons were available as an after-implementation period. The results of a simple-before-and-after showed overall reductions of 35.8% and 36.8% in winter serious collision (WSC) frequency and rate, respectively, were found for the evaluation corridors. An Empirical Bayes (EB) before-and-after safety evaluation was also carried out to ensure that the results are reliable. The EB analysis showed an overall reduction of 34.4% in WSC. An economic assessment of the system was undertaken and the results showed that the benefits of implementing a VSLS exceeded the system cost with an overall benefit-cost (B/C) ratio of 4.3 and a Net Present Value (NPV) of C$34.41 million. The results of this study may motivate stakeholders who are interested in pursuing similar systems for mitigating weather-related safety challenges.
Other data
Title | Safety evaluation of variable speed limit system in British Columbia | Authors | El Esawey, Mohamed ; Sengupta, Joy; Babineau, John E.; Takyi, Emmanuel | Keywords | benefit/cost analysis;Safety evaluation;Variable Speed Limit System | Issue Date | 1-Jan-2022 | Publisher | TAYLOR & FRANCIS INC | Journal | Journal of Transportation Safety and Security | Volume | 14 | Issue | 10 | Start page | 1776 | End page | 1797 | ISSN | 19439962 | DOI | 10.1080/19439962.2021.1960663 | Scopus ID | 2-s2.0-85112069140 | Web of science ID | WOS:000683225600001 |
Attached Files
File | Description | Size | Format | Existing users please Login |
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VSLS_Safety_JTSS.pdf | 2.2 MB | Adobe PDF | Request a copy |
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