A Surrogate Video-Based Safety Methodology for Diagnosis and Evaluation of Low-Cost Pedestrian-Safety Countermeasures: The Case of Cochabamba, Bolivia

Lynn Scholl, Mohamed Elagaty, Bismarck Ledezma-Navarro, Edgar Zamora and Luis Miranda-Moreno
Additional contact information
Mohamed Elagaty: Department of Civil Engineering McGill University, 817 Sherbrooke St. W., Office 391, Montreal, QC H3A 2K6, Canada
Bismarck Ledezma-Navarro: Department of Civil Engineering McGill University, 817 Sherbrooke St. W., Office 391, Montreal, QC H3A 2K6, Canada
Edgar Zamora: Inter-American Development Bank, Peter Bruneslaan 2-4, Paramaribo, Suriname
Luis Miranda-Moreno: Department of Civil Engineering McGill University, 817 Sherbrooke St. W., Office 391, Montreal, QC H3A 2K6, Canada

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 17, 1-22

Abstract: Due to a lack of reliable data collection systems, traffic fatalities and injuries are often under-reported in developing countries. Recent developments in surrogate road safety methods and video analytics tools offer an alternative approach that can be both lower cost and more time efficient when crash data is incomplete or missing. However, very few studies investigating pedestrian road safety in developing countries using these approaches exist. This research uses an automated video analytics tool to develop and analyze surrogate traffic safety measures and to evaluate the effectiveness of temporary low-cost countermeasures at selected pedestrian crossings at risky intersections in the city of Cochabamba, Bolivia. Specialized computer vision software is used to process hundreds of hours of video data and generate data on road users’ speed and trajectories. We find that motorcycles, turning movements, and roundabouts, are among the key factors related to pedestrian crash risk, and that the implemented treatments were effective at four-legged intersections but not at traditional-design roundabouts. This study demonstrates the applicability of the surrogate methodology based on automated video analytics in the Latin American context, where traditional methods are challenging to implement. The methodology could serve as a tool to rapidly evaluate temporary treatments before they are permanently implemented and replicated.

Keywords: traffic safety; pedestrians; surrogate measures; machine learning; developing countries (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/17/4737/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/17/4737/ (text/html)

Related works:
Working Paper: A Surrogate Video-Based Safety Methodology for Diagnosis and Evaluation of Low-Cost Pedestrian-Safety Countermeasures: The Case of Cochabamba, Bolivia (2019)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:17:p:4737-:d:262411

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().