Application of GIS for Crash Data Management in Sarasota County, Florida

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

8-2004

Abstract

This paper describes how Sarasota County in Florida has recently implemented the Accident Information Management System (AIMS) to manage its crash records. To improve traffic safety for the citizens of Sarasota County, traffic engineers use the reporting and display functions of AIMS to study intersections or road segments with the highest crash rates. This information is used to determine possible solutions to improve traffic safety. Crash reports can be compiled in AIMS in a database format and then retrieved in any number of different ways. The major value that Sarasota County Public Works Traffic Engineering and Operations places on the AIMS database is its Geographic Information System (GIS) based process of plotting crashes by intersection location (or road segment) and by crash type in a 3-dimensional view. The major functions of AIMS includes crash record management, query and sorting, 3-dimension plots of crash frequency by location, crash analysis, graphics display of results, collision diagram drawing, crash rate computation, and report generation. Each of these major functions can be applied as analytical or presentation tools. Due to the importance of public safety and wide spread use of GIS-based software, Sarasota County Public Works has sought out and successfully implemented AIMS for its countywide crash data management system. This paper discusses the major features of AIMS with examples of how Sarasota County's Traffic Engineering and Operations has used its features as tools to problem solve. The primary purpose of this problem solving has been to improve traffic safety with the use of a GIS-based system for crash data management. In addition, this paper provides Sarasota County's improvement checklist for signalized intersections, and conclusions based on the county's experience using AIMS.

Was this content written or created while at USF?

Yes

Citation / Publisher Attribution

ITE 2004 Annual Meeting and Exhibit, Compendium of Technical Papers, Washington, D.C., August 2004

Share

COinS