1. ViDA Software Overview

2. Purpose and Use of ViDA Software
Apply star rating and safer roads investment plan protocols
Perform network-level safety planning analyses
Consider data for over 50 safety-related roadway design and traffic control attributes
Generate star rating maps and download files with star rating data
Generate safety roads investment plans
No detailed site-specific crash data needed
Network-wide crash data is useful for calibration

3. Coded Roadway Attribute Data
ViDA Analysis Process
Coded Roadway Attribute Data
Road Safety Scores
Star Ratings
Safer Roads
Investment Plans

4. Star ratings

5. Star Ratings
Star ratings have been used since the inception of RAP programs
Star ratings are assigned based on presence or absence of road design and traffic control features related to safety
Over 50 safety-related design and traffic control features are considered
Star ratings are in 1 to 5 scale:
5-star road (full range of known safety-related design and traffic control features)
1-star road (limited safety-related design and traffic control features)

6. Star Ratings Separate star ratings by user type: vehicle occupants
motorcyclists
pedestrians
bicyclists

7. Star Ratings Star ratings are a strong function of traffic speed:
Star ratings decrease with increasing speed
Two identical roadways with different traffic speeds will have different star ratings
Mean and 85th percentile speeds must be either measured or estimated

8. Key Safety-Related Roadway Characteristics
No. of lanes
One-way/two-way
Roadway width/lane width
Shoulder width
Horizontal alignment (esp. curve radius)
Vertical alignment (esp. grades)
Delineation
Road surface condition
Sidewalks

9. Key Safety-Related Roadway Characteristics
Roadside severity
Shoulder rumble strips
Access point density
Median type
Intersection type
Pedestrian facilities
Bike facilities
Area type (rural/semi-urban/urban)
Land use (commercial/residential)

10. Key Safety-Related Roadway Characteristics
Quality of curve
Quality of intersection
Quality of pedestrian crossing

11. Key Operational and Traffic Control Characteristics
Traffic volume
Motorcycle percentage
Pedestrian flow
Bicycle flow
Intersecting road volume
Speed limit
Mean traffic speed
85th percentile traffic speed

12. Example of Coded Roadway Data File19

13. Road Inspection Videos

14. Coding Safety-Related Road Attributes

15. Road Protection Scores
Road users
Crash types
Road attributes
Run off road
Risk factors
Vehicle occupants
Head on
Intersection
Run off road
Head on
Intersection
Risk factors
Motorcyclists
Along
Across
Risk factors
Pedestrians
Along
Across
Intersection
Risk factors
Bicyclists

16. Road Protection Scores
Road users
Crash types
Road attributes
Speed
Roadside severity – left
Roadside severity – right
Lane width
Paved shoulder
Curvature
Curvature quality
Delineation
Shoulder rumble
Road condition
Run off road
Vehicle occupants
Speed
Median type
Number of lanes
Lane width
Curvature
Curvature quality
Overtaking demand
Road condition
Head on
Speed
Intersection type Intersecting road volume
Intersection quality
Minor access density
Intersection

17. Road Protection Scores
Road users
Crash types
Road attributes
Speed
Sidewalk provision – left
Sidewalk provision – right
Side friction
Along
Pedestrians
Speed
Number of lanes
Median type
Crossing facilities
Crossing facilities quality
Across

18. Road Protection Scores
Road users
Crash types
Road attributes
Speed
Roadside severity – left
Roadside severity – right
Lane width
Paved shoulder
Curvature
Curve quality
Delineation
Road condition
Facilitates for bikes
Side friction
Along
Bicyclists
Speed
Crossing facilities
Number of lanes
Median type
Crossing facilities quality
Across
Speed
Intersection type
Intersecting road volume
Intersection quality
Minor access density
Intersection

19. Example Roads for Each Star Rating: Vehicle Occupants

20. Example Roads for Each Star Rating: Bicyclists

21. Example Roads for Each Star Rating: Pedestrians

22. Star Rating/Crash Relationships

24. Summary of Star Ratings for a Road Network

25. Example of Star Rating Variation Along a Road Section

26. SAFER ROADS INVESTMENT PLANS

27. What is a Safer Roads Investment Plan?
Safer Road Investment Plan: A plan that suggests specific safety improvements at specific locations on a selected roadway network
Input Data: Approximately 50 roadway and traffic characteristics for each 300-ft (100-m) segment of the roadway network
Processing Software: web-based ViDA software
Output: a safety improvement plan for your road network

28. How Can a Safer Roads Investment Plan Help Your Agency?
Plan focuses attention of the priority locations for safety improvement on your road system and the appropriate type of safety improvement(s) for each location
Requires a 30-minute investment in coding of on roadway attributes per mile of road
All results are based on benefit-cost analysis—only improvements that meet a minimum benefit-cost ratio that you specify are suggested

29. Who Can Benefit Most from Safer Roads Investment Plans?
Highway agencies without good crash data
no crash data available
manual crash reports but no automated data files
automated crash data files, but no location data other than verbal descriptions
Highway agencies without good crash analysis systems
Highway agencies with good road inventory data
Highway agencies with video coverage of its road system
in the age of Google Street View® and Bing Streetside®, that’s almost everyone

30. What Does a Safer Roads Investment Plan Provide?
Safer roads investment plan for a road network includes:
specific countermeasures to be implemented
specific implementation locations
quantitative cost estimates
quantitative safety benefits (in crashes reduced and dollars)
cost-effectiveness measures
benefit-cost ratios
all countermeasures meet a minimum benefit-cost ratio specified by the user
output in the form of tables, maps, and Excel spreadsheets

31. Safer Roads Investment Plans
Considers nearly 70 countermeasures
Each countermeasure is reviewed for each 300-ft (100-m) road segment.
A countermeasure is “triggered” if it makes engineering sense for the location
Once a countermeasure is “triggered” economic analysis is performed

32. Safer Roads Investment Plans
Countermeasures are retained in plan for a given 300-ft (100–m) road segment if:
countermeasure is not already installed
BCR exceeds minimum BCR specified by user
countermeasure is compatible with other cost-effective countermeasures for the same location
countermeasure is not overridden by a mutually exclusive countermeasure for the same location that is more cost-effective
countermeasure is consistent with countermeasures recommended for adjacent road segments

33. Safer Roads Investment Plans
All analyses are based on consideration of fatalities and serious injuries
Serious injuries are defined as Levels 3 through 5 on the Maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale (MAIS)
corresponds to A injuries and all or most B injuries on the KABCO scale
usRAP bases ratio of serious injuries to fatalities on actual crash data or assumes a 10:1 ratio

34. Safer Roads Investment Plans
User provides data or best available estimate for network-wide average fatalities per year
Program logic decides how to allocate those crashes to the various road segments on the network
Results can be reviewed/verified with download file

36. Safer Roads Investment Programs for Alternative Investment Levels
Minimum
BCR
K & A Crashes Saved (20 yr)
Pres Value
of Benefits
($ million)
Cost (20 yr)
Program 1
317
238.3
90.9
2.6 2
252
189.8
42.6
4.5 3
206
154.8
28.8
5.4 4
160
120.1
18.8
6.4 5
114
85.8
10.8
8.0

37. ViDA Software
Former usRAP Tools software (Version 2.2 model) has been succeeded by ViDA software (Version 3.0 model)

38. ViDA Sotfware
Performs network-level safety planning analysis to develop star ratings and safer roads investment plans
Web-based and easily accessed on-line
Software usage is free for all highway agencies and their consultants
Training is needed to use the software properly
Training is provided at regular intervals free of charge

39. ViDA Sotfware
Software uploads and processes input data for most roadway systems within a few minutes
Displays results on-screen and in downloadable Microsoft Excel® files
No detailed site-specific crash data needed
Network-wide crash data is useful for calibration

40. Software Licensing/Accreditation
Application of usRAP protocols and software requires accreditation
Highway agencies can be accredited to perform usRAP studies for themselves through training and experience
Universities, research agencies, and consultants can become accredited to perform usRAP studies for highway agencies through training and experience

41. Software Licensing/Accreditation
usRAP team will provide advice and support
usRAP team will review each accredited agency’s first project

42. Demonstration of usRAP Analysis Software

43. Questions?