Project 4.11: Safety Assessment of New England Roadways During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Project Summary:

Safety assessment of roadway facilities is a critical task to maintain the system operational efficiency and durability of transportation infrastructure. The comprehensive stay-at-home orders implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in massive reductions in traffic volumes, especially on major highways. Motorists have responded to these greatly reduced volumes by increasing their travel speeds; the result of this behavioral response has been an increase in the rate and incidence of fatal crashes. There is a clear DOT, industry, and agency need for recommendations to better plan and ameliorate impacts from another pandemic or other natural or human-caused disasters. Traffic data during the pandemic period represent characteristics that are not comparable to normal conditions. This project will employ an innovative approach to assemble traditional traffic volume data archived from permanent count stations along with data collected by smart and connected technologies to investigate the safety consequences of the demand reduction and speed increases due to the pandemic shutdown for the New England roadway infrastructure. The proposed research plans to investigate the traffic volume and speed data before and during the pandemic shutdown, analyze the frequency and severity of crash data collected in two New England states, Maine and Connecticut, and provide recommendations to more efficiently and safely manage the highway network of New England roadways during disruptions to traffic demand caused by other unforeseen emergencies and disasters.

Sponsors:
University Transportation Centers Program
University of Massachusetts Lowell
University of Vermont
University of Maine

Implementation of Research Outcomes:
This project is in its initial research phase. Implementation of Research outcomes will be reported upon completion of initial research.

Impacts and Benefits of Implementation:
This project is in its initial research phase. Impacts and benefits of the research will be reported after the implementation phase.

Related Links:
Coming Soon

Downloadable Documents