Crash Data email 1 of 4
Richard Canale
There have been some comments on this list about crash locations and safety concerns. I have been asked by a few individuals if I can share some reference material with them (as I have knowledge of them since these are used in the MPO decision making process). Instead, I have decided to do this general posting to the TMMA list. Here are three of the ways that MassDOT (Massachusetts Department of Transportation) tracks some of these issues that may be of relevance in evaluating Articles that are coming before this Town Meeting. These reports, in general, give rough cut of crash information that can give readers a sense of what recent history shows even with a number of caveats that the information is not complete. I will send three additional email messages that contain more information on each of these.
1. High Crash Location Clusters (“Top 200 list”) for motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists: This reporting measure is helpful in that it shows specific location clusters of where crashes occur, thus spotlighting that there may be something intrinsic to that location that might be remedied through intervention of some sort.
Lexington has seven high crash locations in addition to the
Route 2 and Route
128 corridors.
http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/highway/Departments/TrafficAndSafetyEngineering/CrashData/TopCrashLocationsAndMaps
2. MassDOT
Crash Portal Web Site:
The
data
posted on this website, including crash records and other
reports, are
collected for the purpose of identifying, evaluating, or
planning the safety
enhancement of potential crash sites, hazardous roadway
conditions, or
railway-highway crossings. There is an interactive module that
could be used
when trying to obtain a listing of crashes given specific
parameters (for
example, to obtain a listing of crashes occurring at dusk
between June 2007 and
October 2007 which involved a deer in the crash sequence of
events). The output
of this module will be a listing of specific crash reports which
can then be
exported. The Mapping module focuses on located crashes only and
should be used
when trying to obtain either a map of crashes or a listing of
crashes with a
specific geographic location. It can also be used in conjunction
with the Ad Hoc
module so that only crashes meeting specific criteria can be
spatially viewed
and/or listed and mapped.
A complete spreadsheet listing can be easily downloaded directly
from this site
for Lexington crashes for 2010 – 2012 which are the latest
available.
http://services.massdot.state.ma.us/crashportal/
3. The
MassDOT Traffic Office has
compiled a spreadsheet of Top 2007 – 2011 Bike-Ped locations
by various methods
for the Massachusetts Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory
Board:
The
current methodology for determining the top ranked communities
has been to examine
crash test data (which is incomplete) and utilize EMS ambulance
data statewide
(5 measures are included). MassDOT wants to fund and train
police to collect
information on infractions to determine areas in need of
attention. If training
feedback and results are positive, the program would move to
other communities.
MassDOT would also like to measure policy objectives, such as
measuring mode shift
changes from increased safety efforts.
The results show that Lexington ranks poorly on this suite of
five measures compared
to other Massachusetts communities.
Lexington’s composite score places Lexington as number 15
out of 351
communities (with number 1 as the least “safe”). This is not a statistically
validated
measure, but it gives a general state of where Lexington may
stand.
http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/GreenDOT/HealthyTransportation/MABicycleandPedestrianAdvisoryBoard.aspx
Richard Canale,
Lexington’s designee to the Boston MPO
Thomas, Ruth S
Drivers must stop for walked bikes as they are pedestrians.
What about ridden bikes? They really are moving vehicles--do moving vehicles in crosswalks have right of way?
Ruth Thomas, Pct. 4
Sent: Monday, March 30, 2015 12:21 PM
To: 'Members Town Meeting'
Subject: [LexTMMA] Crash Data email 1 of 4
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Margaret S Enders
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Elaine Ashton
> On Mar 30, 2015, at 12:21 PM, Richard Canale <r.ca...@rcn.com> wrote:
>
>
> 3. The MassDOT Traffic Office has compiled a spreadsheet of Top 2007 – 2011 Bike-Ped locations by various methods for the Massachusetts Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Board: The current methodology for determining the top ranked communities has been to examine crash test data (which is incomplete) and utilize EMS ambulance data statewide (5 measures are included). MassDOT wants to fund and train police to collect information on infractions to determine areas in need of attention. If training feedback and results are positive, the program would move to other communities. MassDOT would also like to measure policy objectives, such as measuring mode shift changes from increased safety efforts.
> The results show that Lexington ranks poorly on this suite of five measures compared to other Massachusetts communities. Lexington’s composite score places Lexington as number 15 out of 351 communities (with number 1 as the least “safe”). This is not a statistically validated measure, but it gives a general state of where Lexington may stand.
>
> http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/GreenDOT/HealthyTransportation/MABicycleandPedestrianAdvisoryBoard.aspx
Friday I was walking in the bikepath crosswalk on Bow St. with the dog when a dark blue prius came upon us so fast, without any signs of slowing down, I honestly thought I was about to become a statistic until he swerved into the oncoming lane missing us by about 4 inches. So, I'm all for pedestrian safety, since I don't enjoy that feeling of having my life flash before my eyes when crossing the street. I know Bow Street isn't on the top list of problem areas in Lexington, but so many drivers take it so fast that it's not the first time I've been scared for my life and I'm not at all surprised that Lexington is high on the list of unsafe communities.
Does Lexington's higher ranking, indicating it is less safe than other communities, mean the state will be more forthcoming with state or federal money to help implement some of the pedestrian safety measures, including traffic calming and more vigilant enforcement as much of the description appeared to be about bicycles? It seems everyone has a story of nearly getting run over in a crosswalk and, though better sidewalks and crossings are needed, I wonder if hoping for more enforcement would be possible.
Elaine Ashton, Pct. 1
Richard Canale
> Does Lexington's higher ranking, indicating it is less safe than other
> communities, mean the state will be more forthcoming with state or
> federal money to help implement some of the pedestrian safety
> measures, including traffic calming and more vigilant enforcement as
> much of the description appeared to be about bicycles?
communities, who had at least three of the five rankings in the top 10%
and who were Mass in Motion communities. "MassDOT is developing an
educational campaign and focusing on top - ranked communitiesInitial
budget for this project is $1.5M +. MassDOT wants to fund and train
of attention. If training feedback and results are positive, the program
would move to other communities. MassDOT would also like to measure
policy objectives, such as measuring mode shift changes from increased
safety efforts."
Paul Chernick
Reply-To: <r.ca...@rcn.com>
Date: Monday, March 30, 2015 at 12:21 PM
To: Lex TMMA <lex...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [LexTMMA] Crash Data email 1 of 4
--
Dinesh Patel MD
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/lextmma/D13F7C06.7BC44%25paul.chernick%40verizon.net.
David L. Kaufman
-- Aristotle
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/lextmma/D13F7C06.7BC44%25paul.chernick%40verizon.net.
Fen...@aol.com
RichardThat is so nice of you to spend your valuable time and provide us information.All of us are looking into health , safety of public specially children's , elderly , pedestrians and tourists who come to see this historical town.Harrington , Bedford street looks like a love triangle - go left or right or straight - always worried about some thing happeningPlease see the picture from the battle green -- close to Harrington street———taken early in the morningWe need compassionate citizenry to figure out how can we improve the safety? Or can we and that is what the long term volunteers and knowledgable people like you and others suggest.Dialogue and debates on issues this and many are true hallmark of democracy so nice that we are all involved — we are also reading the pulse of our constituents—Precinct 6-- and from all of this I am sending my thoughts——I am not in favor of Traffic light at the intersection of Woburn and Mass Avenue as part of Center streetscape project although good thoughts ---Perhaps we need to rethink beauty, history, safety and what is best for allBestThanksDinesh PatelPrecinct 6Dinesh Patel MD
Looks like the Harrington cluster includes more than collisions with car leaving Harrington. Perhaps it includes inattentive drivers coming south on Bedford running into cars that have stopped to allow cars to cross to and from Harrington.
From: Richard Canale <r.ca...@rcn.com>
Reply-To: <r.ca...@rcn.com>
Date: Monday, March 30, 2015 at 12:21 PM
To: Lex TMMA <lex...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [LexTMMA] Crash Data email 1 of 4
There have been some comments on this list about crash locations and safety concerns. I have been asked by a few individuals if I can share some reference material with them (as I have knowledge of them since these are used in the MPO decision making process). Instead, I have decided to do this general posting to the TMMA list. Here are three of the ways that MassDOT (Massachusetts Department of Transportation) tracks some of these issues that may be of relevance in evaluating Articles that are coming before this Town Meeting. These reports, in general, give rough cut of crash information that can give readers a sense of what recent history shows even with a number of caveats that the information is not complete. I will send three additional email messages that contain more information on each of these.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1. <!--[endif]-->High Crash Location Clusters (“Top 200 list”) for motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists: This reporting measure is helpful in that it shows specific location clusters of where crashes occur, thus spotlighting that there may be something intrinsic to that location that might be remedied through intervention of some sort.
Lexington has seven high crash locations in addition to the Route 2 and Route 128 corridors.
http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/highway/Departments/TrafficAndSafetyEngineering/CrashData/TopCrashLocationsAndMaps
<!--[if !supportLists]-->2. <!--[endif]-->MassDOT Crash Portal Web Site: The data posted on this website, including crash records and other reports, are collected for the purpose of identifying, evaluating, or planning the safety enhancement of potential crash sites, hazardous roadway conditions, or railway-highway crossings. There is an interactive module that could be used when trying to obtain a listing of crashes given specific parameters (for example, to obtain a listing of crashes occurring at dusk between June 2007 and October 2007 which involved a deer in the crash sequence of events). The output of this module will be a listing of specific crash reports which can then be exported. The Mapping module focuses on located crashes only and should be used when trying to obtain either a map of crashes or a listing of crashes with a specific geographic location. It can also be used in conjunction with the Ad Hoc module so that only crashes meeting specific criteria can be spatially viewed and/or listed and mapped.
A complete spreadsheet listing can be easily downloaded directly from this site for Lexington crashes for 2010 – 2012 which are the latest available.
http://services.massdot.state.ma.us/crashportal/
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]-->
<!--[endif]--><!--[if !supportLists]-->3. <!--[endif]-->The MassDOT Traffic Office has compiled a spreadsheet of Top 2007 – 2011 Bike-Ped locations by various methods for the Massachusetts Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Board: The current methodology for determining the top ranked communities has been to examine crash test data (which is incomplete) and utilize EMS ambulance data statewide (5 measures are included). MassDOT wants to fund and train police to collect information on infractions to determine areas in need of attention. If training feedback and results are positive, the program would move to other communities. MassDOT would also like to measure policy objectives, such as measuring mode shift changes from increased safety efforts.
The results show that Lexington ranks poorly on this suite of five measures compared to other Massachusetts communities. Lexington’s composite score places Lexington as number 15 out of 351 communities (with number 1 as the least “safe”). This is not a statistically validated measure, but it gives a general state of where Lexington may stand.
http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/GreenDOT/HealthyTransportation/MABicycleandPedestrianAdvisoryBoard.aspx
Richard Canale,
Lexington’s designee to the Boston MPO
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Richard Canale
I am not sure that the data does not also include cars merging from Hancock Street onto Bedford Street towards the center, since that does not seem to have a separate accident listing, and it has plenty of traffic.This winter the view up Bedford St. was often obscured by a large snow drift. Long lines at rush hour cause some people to make the right to cross onto Harrington from Hancock instead of the merge.
Richard Canale
The intersection crash cluster analysis method, developed by Geonetics for MassDOT, is a comprehensive method designed to locate crash clusters. At the heart of the method is a 25 meter (82 ft.) fixed search distance around each crash. In basic terms, this radius controls how far the application will search for adjacent crashes. Using a 25 meter radius, the analysis method found nearby crashes and merged their areas together, thus creating clusters. If two distinct clusters are found to share a common crash, the two clusters are merged into a single cluster. This method of search-and-merge results in a set of many distinct clusters of different sizes and shape. The application then stores these clusters to the GIS output file, along with the count of crashes within the cluster. The clusters were then ranked by the number of Equivalent Property Damage Only (EPDO) crashes contained within their boundaries.
David L. Kaufman
In practice, there is. .... Yogi Berra
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Dinesh Patel MD
Dinesh Patel MD
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