Applying GIS-T for Heavy Truck Safety Analysis IMPROVING MOTOR- CARRIER AND HIGHWAY SAFETY HAS BECOME A PRIMARY FOCUS OF MANY TRANSPORTATION AGENCIES IN NORTH AMERICA. THIS FEATURE DISCUSSES THE BENEFITS AND CONSTRAINTS OF APPLYING GIS-T FOR HEAVY TRUCK S

and highway safety has become the number one priority for many transportation agencies in both the United States and Canada. 1 In the United States, this is reflected by the recently announced goal of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to reduce truck-related fatalities by 50 percent over the next 10 years. In Canada, this commitment is evident by the comprehensive initiative “Road Safety Vision 2010,” which identifies a target of a 20 percent reduction in fatalities or serious injuries in accidents involving commercial vehicles by the year 2010. 2 To achieve these reductions in the frequency of truck collisions within the context of expectations of large growth in truck traffic will necessitate major decreases in truck-collision rates—possibly in the order of one-half to even one-quarter of current rates. This implies severe technical and policy challenges and changes. During the past decade, government initiatives directed at heavy truck safety have concentrated on improving the mechanical fitness of trucks, controlling driver hours of work, and auditing and rating motor-carrier safety performance. While most would agree that these are both sensible and desirable initiatives, they ignore the significant safety enhancement opportunities offered by road design, traffic engineering and highway maintenance. Because of the geographic nature of these three elements, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are an ideal tool to use in the analysis and evaluation of heavy truck safety. GIS-T allows for the manipulation of data on a geographical platform; facilitates integration of different databases through the use of geographical identifiers; and allows the engineer to conduct extensive and expansive condition-based analyses. This feature presents some of the results and experiences gained from applying GIS-T in the research of heavy truck safety

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