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The Third Transportation Student Research Symposium

Abstract Detail

Name	School	Title of presentation
Jennifer Kennedy	UMass Amherst	Traffic Safety on Congested Massachusetts Roadways

Roadway congestion is considered to be one of the main contributors when looking at both travel delay and economic impacts in transportation. However the issue of traffic safety in congested driving conditions is mostly overlooked, this presentation will examine the relationship between the two. Comparing crash types and associated hospital charges, during peak and off-peak travel times, on specific roadways will define characteristics of a congested condition crash. Using this Massachusetts crash data, eight roadways are considered for congestion analysis, including four urban interstates and four urban arterials during both time frames. Also included for comparison were an additional 8 similar urban roads where congestion is less of an issue. Results of the data analysis reveal less severe crashes associated with the more congested roadways, primarily resulting in rear-end collisions. Also to be discussed is the higher median hospital charges found for the congested roadways in off-peak hours and the similar results for the comparison roads during peak time.

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Last updated January 9, 2009