California PATH - Current Research - Transportation Safety

PATH Transportation Safety Research
Ching-Yao Chan, Program Leader

Transportation Safety research at PATH continues to extend traditional areas of competency at PATH, mainly in vehicle-highway cooperation and communication, and "science of driving" investigations on driving behavior, and in implementation of prototype vehicle-highway safety systems. In this past year, new areas of research have extended to efficient means to investigate crashes, rail-highway crossings, and importantly to Caltrans, means to understand high crash concentrations in order to embark on road safety improvements.
Specific project groupings include:

Intersections and Cooperative Systems - crossing path vehicle crashes, safety aspects of cooperative driver-assist systems, Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII) with Expedited VII and VII California

Driver behavior - modeling and applications for safety and countermeasure studies of car following and lane changes, at roadway intersections, at-grade crossings

Employee Safety - work zone warning signals, snow removal equipment Emerging areas include speed enforcement, heavy truck safety, pedestrian safety and research with older driver safety.

PATH Transportation Safety Task Orders:

5202 - Effects of Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control on Traffic Flow Testing Drivers' Choices of Following Distance
5204 - Pedestrian/Bicycle Safety in a SMART Corridor
5208 - Investigation of Driver Behavior at Rail Crossings
5500 - The Naturalistic Driver Model: Development, Integration, and Verification of Lane Change Maneuver, Driver Emergency and Impairment Modules
65A0068 - Development of the Advanced Rotary Plow (ARP) for Snow Removal Operations
65A0089 - Innovative Grade Crossing Safety Measures for the San Joaquin Rail Corridor
6201 - San Joaquin Rail Corridor Crossing Survey
6203 - Bicycle Detection and Operational Concept at Signalized Intersections
6205 - Workzone Safety Improvements through Enhanced Warning Signal Devices
6206 - Develop Methods to Reduce/Prevent Vehicle Backing Accidents
6209 - Driver/Pedestrian Understanding and Behavior at Marked and Unmarked Crosswalks
6210 - Red Light Running Avoidance
6211 - Estimating Pedestrian Accident Exposure
6212 - Assessing Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) Systems in California
6214 - ITS Band Roadside to Vehicle Communications in a Highway Setting<
6215 - Methods for Identifying High Collision Concentration Locations for Potential Safety Improvements
6216 - Expedited Crash Investigation—With the use of Technological Tools for Crash Documentation and Processing
6217 - VII California Development and Deployment: Proof of Concept
6218 - Evaluation of Traffic and Environment Effects on Skid Resistance and Safety Performance of Rubberized Open Graded Asphalt Concrete
6219 - Evaluate the Effectiveness of Ladder Style Crosswalks
6220 - Reduce Accidents Involving Driver Fatigue
6221 - Evaluate the Causes of Pedestrian and Bicyclist Traffic Fatalities and Injuries, and Establish Appropriate Countermeasures for use in California
6222 - Identifying Factors that Determine Bicycle and Pedestrian-Involved Collision Rates and Affect Bicycle and Pedestrian Demand at Multi-Lane Roundabouts
6600 - Quantifying the Performance of Countermeasures for Collision Concentrations Related to Ramp/Freeway Mainline Junctions
6601 - Safety of HOV Ingress/Egress along Limited Access Buffer Separated Faciities
6602 - Evaluation of Wet Weather Accident Causation Criteria
6603 - Methods to Address Headlight Glare
6604 - Evaluation of an Animal Warning System Effectiveness
6607 - California Cooperative Intersection Collision Avoidance System (CICAS)
6608 - CICAS Urban and Suburban Assisted Left-turn (USUAL) System
6609 - Onboard Monitoring and Reporting for Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety
6610 - DATA Collection Project/Strategic Highway Safety Plan