Selection of road engineering safety schemes is generally based on prioritisation involving an economic evaluation of the costs to implement and maintain the scheme, and the expected benefits that will be derived. Inaccurate information used in this process can lead to the selection of inappropriate or less deserving schemes. Given the limited budget available for road safety improvements, any information that can be provided to practitioners to improve this evaluation will help maximise the benefits from limited resources. This paper discusses recent Austroads funded research to improve the accuracy of economic evaluations for road safety engineering treatments. Research conducted at ARRB includes: 1. improvements in the accuracy of the expected crash reduction benefit from various safety treatments; 2. information on calculating the cumulative effect of using more than one treatment at a location; 3. an investigation of treatment life; 4. provision of information on treatment costs. Results from each of these projects is discussed, and information provided on how prioritisation and selection of safety schemes can be improved based on this research. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E216178.
Samenvatting