2022: OSB Data and Analysis Showcase

A few things our hardworking team has accomplished

Scott Reigel

December 29, 2022

Introduction

The mission of our team is to enable decision makers and road users to make sound, consistent, information-based decisions ultimately reducing the number of crashes, injuries and fatalities on Vermont’s roads by building, implementing, and managing systems to analyze transportation safety data.

This year in review is an effort to showcase the projects we have completed and to share our capabilities with other units in the Vermont Agency of Transportation and the State of Vermont as a whole.

This StoryMap showcases work completed last year as well as work that is in progress and will be completed in 2023 and beyond

Maps

The data analysts in the Data and Analysis Section are also highly skilled GIS analysts. While many of our maps are created for a specific project or report, we are often tasked with producing stand alone cartographic products. Below are a small sample of maps the team has produced in 2022.

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High Crash Location Interactive Map

A HCL report is typically generated on a 2 year cycle. Road segments and intersections are analyzed for critical crash rates and compared to overall crash rates throughout the state. We have produced an interactive map that be used for future iterations of the High Crash Location map.

Crash Coding Map Tool

The Crash Coding Map Tool was created to streamline the process of obtaining an exact location for each crash based on the information provided by law enforcement.

Driver Equity

Serving all Vermonters' transportation needs is a central tenet of the Agency of Transportation. OSB has worked with internal and external clients to help identify areas where race and economic status potentially play a role in transportation outcomes.

HRRR Maps

A high risk rural roads (HRRR) assessment was performed for sections of Vermont highways where crashes per mile has reached a threshold of more than three crashes per mile in a 5-year period. The result was a list of locations used by the Highway Safety Improvement Program engineer for possible project prioritization.

Interactive RSAR and HSIP PDF Viewer

We updated an existing catalog of Road Safety Audit Reports (RSAR). A map application was put in place allowing users to find existing RSAR and HSIP points and segments for report viewing.

Updated ESRI Map for WebCrash

Our team collaborated with the crash reporting vendor to implement an ESRI based crash location map tool. The map tool works with Vermont's statewide road network and improves crash location accuracy.

Analysis

Much of what the OSB Data and Analysis Section does on a daily basis is crash and traffic data analysis, as well as sharing our findings in dashboards and other reports.

Driver Behavior PSA Dashboard

The OSB Data & Analysis team often works with our partners at the State Highway Safety Office. A campaign was spearheaded by OSB Leadership to address the increase in crashes related to driver behavior.

Smuggler's Notch Fact Sheet

The Smuggler’s Notch Fact Sheet gives overview information about stuck vehicle incidents. Built using Microsoft PowerBI, this interactive version is published online and designed to be printable.

DRE Dashboard

Local and State law enforcement agencies work together to enforce Driving Under the Influence rules in the state of Vermont. That would not be possible without the aide of certified Drug Recognition Experts. The dashboard is used to understand the workload and location of experts in the field.

Lane Departure Screening Tool

The screening is principally based on fatal and suspected serious injury (KA) crashes for the years 2016 to 2020, but for certain crash type/facility type combinations, it also includes suspected minor injury (B) crashes. The risk factors used for network screening were identified from logistic regression modeling and consist of roadway characteristics, traffic volume, and asset data. Read the technical report to learn how the risk factors were developed. To get a brief overview of the study and how to use this tool, click here to view the user’s guide.

Analysis Reports

The Data & Analysis Section is often tasked with compiling reports for targeted sections of Vermont’s roads. This has happened for a variety of reasons, but mostly due to a rise in major crashes.

VT-105 Report

Due to a significant increase in fatal crashes, the team was asked to do an analysis of VT 105. A subsequent report on a shorter section led to a road safety audit and additional resources being engaged to look at infrastructure and driver behaviors.

US-2 Colchester

Several fatal crashes brought attention to a stretch of US-2 in Colchester.

VT-22A Report

This is another corridor analysis conducted by the team to measure and analyze an increase in major crashes.

Other Projects

We had quite the year as far as projects go. One of our main focuses was working to improve our business process by implementing various project management tools. ! We also completed multiple projects to help out other groups at the Agency of Transportation.

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SHSP Dashboard Website

The State's Highway Safety Office asked us to make the State Highway Safety Plan information readily available for a wide audience. Our team produced a series of dashboards and an interactive website that is regularly updated with current crash data.

VT 105 Dashboard

GEARS Tracking Dashboard

Our State Highway Safety Office needed a better way to track the grant application process and keep tabs on invoicing. The GEARS Dashboard was born out of that need. The project was originally managed by the Performance Section but was handed off when the need for updates and additions became apparent.

Slow-Stop Paddle Survey

Very often we get requests to help other AOT units out when it comes time to present in front of the State of Vermont's House and Senate Transportation Committees. This was one of those.

Data Section Project Tracker

Since introducing the OSB Data and Analysis Project Tracker the section has implemented a semi-Agile approach project management

OSB Data Request Form

Utilizing Survey123, we developed a form for incoming data requests. This project management solution populates a SharePoint list for automated for project tracking.

Traffic Projection Calculator

Holy smokes!! A daunting process that used to be performed with pen and paper and require cross-referencing with a stack of traffic publications, traffic projections could eat up a lot of analyst time. With new access to the database holding our traffic data, SQL queries allowed us to pull data directly to an excel sheet that can run the calculations in a hurry.

Accomplishments

The key accomplishments of the OSB Data and Analysis team are highlighted here. It has been a big year for updating key processes conducted by the unit. There is always room for improvement and we are tirelessly working to increase increase efficiency.

Production Database

The MS2 production database allows our analysts to view and retrieve MS2's traffic count data for analysis and visualization using tools like Excel and Power BI.

EDE/Extended Tables

The EDE (enterprise data environment) allows easy access to Vermont's crash data. The extended tables are curated views of particular useful crash data for analysis that does not contain any PII (personally identifiable information). One example is the "PersonsExtended" table which contains useful age, gender and contributing circumstances content for quick analysis.

HPMS Module in MS2

TThe Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) requires all state transportation agencies to submit traffic statistics annually as part of the National Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) program. HPMS enables DOTs to prepare these data submissions to FHWA with confidence and ease, completing traffic-related HPMS requirements in days, not months. Upon completion of the annual traffic statistics for all count stations within the TCDS, the stations can be linked to the road network segments provided by the GIS group at a DOT. The linkage is managed via the MS2 HPMS module. Estimation routines in the HPMS module can be used to report AADT, D-factor, K-factor, and other traffic monitoring statistics for the entire road network.

SDE/OSB Geodatabase

As our team grows and the need for access to "our" data becomes imperative, a spatial data warehousing solution needed to be implemented. The OSB gdb houses features related to Vermont's transportation infrastructure and includes crash and traffic attributes.