Knowledge-Based GIS for the Identification, Analysis and Correction of Hazardous Highway Locations

摘要

Traditional approaches to identifying and analyzing hazardous roadway locations, such as those presented in Missouri's Manual on the Identification. Analysis and Correction of High Accident Locations, consist of using statistics to generate a list of high accident locations (which are not necessarily hazardous), and to investigate and analyze each of the sites listed. There exist several problems associated with this approach which are discussed in detail in Zegeer and Spring. A 1993 study, by Spring, addressed problems associated with the exclusive use of statistics for identifying hazardous locations and resulted in the development of a knowledge-based geographic information system (KBGIS) whose prime focus was the identification of hazardous highway locations using engineering knowledge. Another complementary 1988 study by Spring resulted in the development of a demonstration prototype expert system (Hazardous Location Analyst-HLA) which analyzes hazardous intersections and establishes countermeasures for each. Subsequent studies subjected the system to tests, the results of which may be used to enrich and refine its knowledge base. The objective of this paper is to describe work completed at the University of Missouri-Rolla which examined the feasibility of a "turn-key" system for the site identification and analysis processes within the framework of the generic highway safety improvement program using a KBGIS approach.