26 June 2006Institute of Transportation Engineers District 6 Annual Meeting Intelligent Transportation Systems Lab Christopher M. Monsere Research Assistant

26 June 2006Institute of Transportation Engineers District 6 Annual Meeting

Intelligent Transportation Systems Lab

Christopher M. MonsereResearch Assistant ProfessorDept of Civil and Environmental EngineeringPortland State University

Sirisha Kothuri, Kristin Tufte, Robert L. Bertini,

School of Urban & Public AffairsPortland State University

Enhancing Targeted Traffic Enforcement Efforts in Portland, Oregon

Max Thorn Coffman and Christopher M. Monsere

School of Urban Studies and Planning andDepartment of Civil & Environmental Engineering

Intelligent Transportation Systems LaboratoryPortland State University

ITE District 6June 26, 2006

Honolulu, Hawaii



Outline• Background

• Project motivation

• Methodology

• Preliminary results

• Next steps



Background• Strong community support for traffic safety• 2002 - Safe Communities Coalition formed

with grant from Oregon DOT• July 2003 - Portland City Council approved

the Portland Traffic Safety Coordination Council

• November 2003 - Community and School Traffic Safety Account created– Source: Annual increase in traffic fines



Community and School Traffic Safety Partnership

• Community-based, coalition-led effort to improve Portland's traffic safety

• Three focus areas– Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety– Safe Routes to School– Reducing Driver Error

• Strategic and Focused Enforcement



Distribution of Program ResourcesTotal ~$2.5 million



Current Enforcement Toolbox• Regular Traffic Division enforcement

• 10 officers

• Automated enforcement– Red light running cameras

• 6 cameras

– Photo radar• 4 vans

• Strategic and Focused Enforcement (SAFE)– Identified high crash intersections and corridors– Target missions and automated enforcement to

high risk areas



Map: PDOT



Project Objectives• Research new ways to identify SAFE

corridors– Use new GIS crash data– Try alternate network screening techniques

• Identify state-of-practice approaches

• Benefits– Allocate scarce staff and resources– Judges - maps as supporting evidence



Methodology• In GIS, attribute crashes to segments

– average 400 feet (short!)

• Compare crash performance– across similar street types– note: traffic volume data not available yet

• Identify segments “above average”

• Add “driver error analysis”



Normalizing for Street Class

Minor street

Other arterial

Primary arterial

Secondary arterial

Crashes per mile per year

(zero values excluded)

2.08

11.31

15.79

27.02





Driver Error Analysis



Techniques for identifying corridors



0

1 0 0

2 0 0

3 0 0

4 0 0

5 0 0

6 0 0

7 0 0

8 0 0

0 5 , 0 0 0 1 0 , 0 0 0 1 5 , 0 0 0 2 0 , 0 0 0 2 5 , 0 0 0 3 0 , 0 0 0

D i s t a n c e A l o n g S a n d y ( f e e t )

Cumulative Number of Crashes

Cumulative Plot of Crash Rate per Mile per Year for Sandy Blvd

NE 39th Ave

NE 52nd Ave

Distance (feet)

Num

ber

of C

rash

es



- 1 0 0

- 8 0

- 6 0

- 4 0

- 2 0

0

2 0

4 0

6 0

8 0

1 0 0

0 5 , 0 0 0 1 0 , 0 0 0 1 5 , 0 0 0 2 0 , 0 0 0 2 5 , 0 0 0 3 0 , 0 0 0

D i s t a n c e A l o n g S a n d y ( f e e t )

N (x,d) - r0*d

NE 39th Ave

NE 52nd Ave

Oblique Plot of Crash Rate per Mile per Year for Sandy Blvd

Distance (feet)

Num

ber

of C

rash

es



Enforcement Enhancements

• High profile missions

• Corridor branding and signage

• Increased fine zones

• PDA ticketing



Photos courtesy of Sharon White

City Commissioner Sam Adams participates in a crosswalk enforcement mission with media coverage.

High Profile Missions







Branding, Signage and Increased Fines



Next steps

• Incorporate traffic volume data

• Consider other screening approaches

• Use new PDA ticketing data



PDA Ticketing

• Saves time

• Reduces error

• Archives data

automatically





Conclusions• Efforts may improve corridor selection

– add in traffic volumes– consider intersections separately– additional screening techniques

• Further research on “Safety Corridors”– Branding and Signage– Increased Fines

• Work with PPB to use new data sources– PDA ticketing



Acknowledgements• City of Portland

– Mark Lear– Greg Raisman– Sharon White

• Portland Police Bureau, Traffic Division– Comm. Bill Sinnott– Lt. Mark Kruger– Officer Michael Clary

• PSU ITS Lab– Peter Bosa– Aaron Breakstone Questions?

Documents

26 June 2006Institute of Transportation Engineers District 6 Annual Meeting Intelligent Transportation Systems Lab Christopher M. Monsere Research Assistant