News>>special transportation Seminar
Wednesday May 13: "Automated Speed Enforcement on Freeways: Evaluation Results and Future Research Challenges" presented by Simon Washington, PhD, Professor of Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering, Arizona State University
Special Date, Location and Time: 10-11:30 a.m., 406 Davis Hall
Driver speed selection—in particular speeding—is thought to contribute to and in some cases cause traffic crashes as well as influence crash severity and cost. This assertion is substantiated by both physics principles as well as empirical evidence. Australia and numerous countries in Europe and Asia have implemented automated speed enforcement cameras on limited-access highways—in some jurisdictions quite aggressively. The international experience regarding automated speed enforcement suggests a general safety benefit of such programs; however, a number of complex behavioral, political, operational, and technical analysis issues remain relatively unexplored. In 2006 the city of Scottsdale, Arizona, implemented the first fixed-camera photo speed enforcement program (SEP) on a limited access highway in the U.S. The nine-month demonstration program spanned from January 2006 to October 2006 and was implemented on a 6.5 mile urban freeway segment of Arizona State Route 101 within the city limits of Scottsdale. Prior to this program the U.S. experience was limited mostly to red-light-running cameras and mobile camera systems on non-access controlled roadways.
Washington will present detailed results of a comprehensive analysis of the impact of the SEP on speeding behavior, crash frequencies, crash costs, and travel times. The impact of the SEP on crashes was estimated using three evaluation methods: a before-and-after (BA) analysis using a comparison group, a BA analysis with traffic flow correction, and an empirical Bayes’ BA analysis with time-variant safety—a newly motivated analysis procedure. Washington will also discuss the interesting history of the program, its support and implementation, and the former Arizona Governor’s statewide program adoption. The demonstration and statewide programs highlight some provocative research challenges—many of which will require multi-disciplinary perspectives and teams to solve. These challenges will be discussed, highlighting the complexities that will require innovative research approaches.
Washington's research interests include statistical and econometric methods, transportation safety, transportation planning, and travel behavior. He is prime author on the textbook Statistical and Econometric Methods for Transportation Research, and has authored or coauthored more than 100 technical papers related to safety and planning.
