Geospatial Data for Transportation Safety: Top 3 Use Cases

According to the US Department of Transportation, more than 370,000 lives have been lost in traffic accidents over the past decade. Despite strong efforts to reduce the fatality rate, there has been an increase in roadway fatalities in recent years, underscoring the need for effective urban planning to support transportation safety. 

Though planning plays an important role in supporting transportation safety, GIS professionals have grappled with stale and outdated data and have had to contribute significant time and resources manually digitizing features to get the high-precision data they need. Fortunately, this is changing. This blog explores how AI-powered geospatial data is playing a transformative role in helping municipalities and states improve transportation safety. Keep reading to learn how. 

Transportation safety concerns

Enhancing transportation safety is essential for preventing accidents, injuries, and fatalities, as well as safeguarding the well-being of passengers, pedestrians, and communities. However, transportation challenges from population growth and an increase in urbanization have created significant safety challenges. Today, it is estimated that over 80% of the US population lives in urban areas, a substantial increase from 64% in 1950. This demographic shift, coupled with the strain on transportation infrastructure, has resulted in increased congestion, longer commute times, and poorer quality of life for residents. The surge in urbanization has also resulted in more vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists sharing limited road space, amplifying the risks associated with commuting and contributing to the alarming rise in fatalities in recent years.

Transportation safety and equity

It is important to recognize the interconnected nature of transportation safety and transportation equity, as disparities in transportation access can contribute to safety risks. In the US, many individuals facing accessibility and safety transportation inequities often experience broader social and economic disparities. For instance, traffic collisions, a leading cause of death for teenagers in the US, disproportionately impact marginalized communities. Supporting safe transportation goes hand in hand with creating more equitable transportation.

Challenges in obtaining transportation mapping data

The US roadway network is intricate, with various levels of government overseeing different aspects. Collaboration between Departments of Transportation (DOTs) and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) is common, as they work together to develop and sustain transportation infrastructure. Whether states or municipalities are engaging in transportation planning it is important to have comprehensive, accurate, and up-to-date geospatial data.

Unfortunately, planning departments face challenges in getting the high-precision transportation data they need. Data sourced from open platforms tends to be fragmented, stale, or lacking in detail. However, developing first-party data through manual digitization is often a very expensive, tedious, and time-consuming process. Even if a region has a comprehensive geospatial dataset of its transportation networks, maintaining its accuracy over time is challenging. 

Top 3 applications of geospatial data for transportation safety

Fortunately, AI is addressing the challenges faced by transportation planning departments in obtaining high-precision geospatial data. Ecopia AI’s (Ecopia’s) AI-powered mapping systems utilize high-resolution imagery to extract comprehensive vector layers for critical transportation infrastructure, including sidewalks, crosswalks, bike lanes, turning lanes, medians, intersections, tree canopy, and more. 

Recognizing the evolving transportation needs of communities, Ecopia’s global partner network provides frequent imagery updates to ensure our AI-based systems continuously capture change in real-world transportation infrastructure.  This means that Ecopia’s AI-based solutions not only enhance efficiency, saving communities time by providing detailed transportation features at scale, but also make it possible to keep maps up-to-date, providing current data to support decision-making. 

Ecopia not only streamlines the workflow for GIS professionals but also achieves a level of accuracy equivalent to that of a skilled GIS professional manually digitizing a map. This unparalleled precision sets it apart from other automation tools. The following sections of this blog illustrate how Ecopia has partnered with communities across the US to help improve efficiency and transportation safety. 

1. Supporting pedestrian safety and ADA compliance

After 10 staff members at the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) spent over a year manually digitizing transportation features, they were seeking a more efficient solution to get the high-precision transportation data needed for planning in the region. Ecopia partnered with CMAP and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to develop the region’s first HD map of land cover and transportation networks for an area spanning over 12,000 square miles. 

The dataset includes 26 land cover types like roads, sidewalks, crosswalks, and advanced transportation features including turning lanes, medians, stoplines, and more to provide a complete view of the region’s land use and pedestrian mobility network. This data is used to support a number of planning applications to promote pedestrian safety and transportation equity in the region including compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which aims to ensure safe and equitable transportation access for individuals with disabilities.

2. Multimodal transportation network safety

People navigate transportation networks in different ways and high-precision geospatial data plays an important role in supporting the safety of all users across all modes of transportation. For example, high-precision geospatial data can help pinpoint gaps in sidewalk or crosswalk infrastructure.

To support their multimodal transportation planning in their region, the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA) partners with Ecopia to digitize their extensive transportation network, which spans over 20,000 square miles, in just three months. Ecopia’s extraction of detailed transportation features helps the county to enhance multimodal transportation for increased safety, accessibility, and sustainability supporting safer ways for people to move throughout the community. For example, the insights derived from analyzing tree canopy have helped the county assess how shade can help combat urban heat effects and improve safety for pedestrians in a climate battling extreme heat.

3. Transportation safety analysis to support Vision Zero

Vision Zero is a road safety initiative that aims to eliminate traffic fatalities and injuries, often involving analysis of past accidents and the effectiveness of current infrastructure. The Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) selected Ecopia to create HD right-of-way transportation maps to help meet the region’s Vision Zero and active transportation planning initiatives.

In just two months, Ecopia efficiently extracted transportation feature vector data for over 2,000 miles of road from high-resolution aerial imagery. The high-precision data provided to the county, including laneway widths and configurations, bike routes, and sidewalk infrastructure, giving them the information they needed to support the safety of transportation networks in the region in a timely and cost-effective manner. 

Powering a safer tomorrow with AI-based mapping 

These are just a few examples of governments that have partnered with Ecopia to support transportation safety in their region. Not only are advancements in AI technology helping provide decision-makers with the data needed to improve transportation safety, but federal funding opportunities are also supporting MPOs and DOTs for safe transportation planning. 

To learn more about how AI-powered geospatial data can support transportation planning initiatives to improve safety in your community, get in touch.