Speed management in regional towns and on freeway ramps

This project seeks to identify speed management issues in regional towns and on freeway on-ramps and apply road safety treatments. The project will not only potentially contribute to the reduction of road trauma but also to provide a model for evidence-based, efficient road safety interventions in WA using an integrated approach of video analytics and more traditional before-after road safety treatment evaluation.

In alignment with Western Australia’s (WA) Minister for Transport’s commitment to the National and State Road Safety Strategies of reducing road-related deaths and serious injuries by 50% by 2030, this project seeks to address speed and safety management in regional towns and on freeway on-ramps.

Participants

• Main Roads Western Australia
• University of Western Australia / PATREC

Project background

Regional towns: Addressing speeding concerns

In regional towns along major highways, there is a perceived issue with vehicles exceeding speed limits through the town sites, low-cost treatment options have been proposed to mitigate this. These treatments are hypothesised to reduce vehicle speeds and crash risks, potentially saving lives, and preventing serious injuries.

Conventionally, the effectiveness of these road safety treatments has been gauged using uncontrolled before-after assessments that fail to effectively assess the impact of an intervention.

This research formally evaluates treatments using a randomised approach to the allocation of sites as either a treatment or control site. By understanding their impact on vehicle speeds, we can gain greater certainty about their benefits.

This knowledge will inform decisions on their appropriateness and potential for earlier deployment in other relevant locations on the road network.

Freeway ramps: A critical focus

Crash analysis has revealed that a particular type of freeway on-ramp design had a higher Fatal and Serious Injury (FSI) crash density per kilometre across the entire network. Addressing this issue is not only crucial for safety but also economically beneficial.

By researching and implementing effective treatments on freeway on-ramps, we can better identify and implement a suitable treatment to address the road safety concerns and achieve acceptable benefit-cost ratios. This will facilitate better investment prioritisation and programming, supporting our safe mobility targets and ultimately contributing to saving lives. Drone videos will be used to do exploratory analysis of vehicle trajectories and speed profiles, which will help inform relevant treatment options for future projects.

This project aims to not only contribute to the reduction of road trauma but also to provide a model for evidence-based, efficient road safety interventions in WA using an integrated approach of video analytics and more traditional before-after road safety treatment evaluation.

Project objectives

This project aims to contribute to improving road safety in WA, aligning with the state and national goals of reducing road trauma and enhancing safe mobility for all road users, with the objectives to:

• Assess the effectiveness of low-cost road safety treatments in reducing vehicle speeds in regional towns through a randomised controlled experiment.
• Gain a preliminary understanding of vehicle dynamics on freeway ramps through trajectory analysis and speed profiles based on drone videos. This analysis may identify risk factors and patterns in these high-crash-density areas, informing safety interventions.

Please note …

This page will be a living record of this project. As it matures, hits milestones, etc., we’ll continue to add information, links, images, interviews and more. Watch this space!