Evaluation of the Road Safety Audit Initiative on Alberta Highways

摘要

This paper describes how Alberta Transportation (AT) initiated a trial Road Safety Audit (RSA)program in 2004, and developed guidelines for implementation on selected projects. Theprogram’s key objective is to promote highway safety improvements by proactively identifyingand addressing safety concerns during all facets of highway planning and construction, beforethe new facility is opened to the public. Since implementation, AT has performed a number ofRSA, ranging from $8,000 to $50,000 each. In this paper, two very different example projects(one high-cost systems interchange project and one low-cost at grade intersection project) willbe evaluated using Crash Modification Factors from the Highway Safety Manual to estimatewhat impacts if any resulted from performing the RSA. These preliminary attempts at analternate method of evaluation may become more useful as the content is added to the HighwaySafety Manual In conclusion, the authors will present potential next steps to improve upon theRSA guidelines for AT.