Recommended Citation
Chen, E., and A. P. Tarko. Best Practices for INDOT-Funded Work Zone Police Patrols. Publication FHWA/IN/JTRP-2012/36. Joint Transportation Research Program, Indiana Department of Transportation and Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, 2012. https://doi.org/10.5703/1288284315039DOI
10.5703/1288284315039
Abstract
Transportation agencies across the U.S. are expending a great deal of effort to improve highway work zone safety. Among those efforts is a special fund for work zone enforcement established by the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT). The allocation of enforcement funding was based on expert knowledge and weights and scores applied to work zone characteristics considered relevant to traffic safety. The objective of the reported project was to develop a rational and defendable tool for programming police enforcement that maximizes the safety benefits of police enforcement in INDOT work zones.
To understand what affects work zone safety, the research team carried out an extensive literature review, designed field experiments to evaluate the effect of selected enforcement strategies on drivers’ behavior in work zones, and developed speed models incorporating the effect of police enforcement. The estimated speeds were used to derive CMFs that express the effect of the police enforcement strategy on work zone safety. Finally, the research team combined all of the developed components in a method of predicting the costs and the safety benefits in works zones under various enforcement strategies. This last method was included in the optimization tool for programming police enforcement in a group of planned work zones.
The described project developed an optimization tool implemented in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet with the OpenSolver add-in. The tool is flexible, straightforward, and easy to use. The user should be able to quickly become familiar with the required input, results, and obtained solution.
Report Number
FHWA/IN/JTRP-2012/36
Keywords
work zone safety, police enforcement, enforcement optimization, Mixed Integer Programming
SPR Number
3529
Performing Organization
Joint Transportation Research Program
Sponsoring Organization
Indiana Department of Transportation
Publisher Place
West Lafayette, Indiana
Date of this Version
12-2012
Appendix 5
Technical Summary.pdf (648 kB)
Technical Summary