Data Fusion for Nonmotorized Safety Analysis

This project explored an emerging research territory, the fusion of nonmotorized traffic data for estimating reliable and robust exposure measures. Fusion mechanisms were developed to combine five bike demand data sources in Austin, Texas, and the fused estimate was applied in two crash analyses. The research was divided into three sequential stages. The first stage involved developing and applying a guideline to process and homogenize available data sources to estimate annual average daily bike volume at intersections. The second stage was focused on developing and applying the fusion framework—demonstrating the efficacy of multiple fusion algorithms, including two novel mechanisms, suited to the data characteristics and based on the availability of actual counts. The analysis of actual and simulated data illustrated that the fusion methods outperformed the individual estimates in most cases. In the third stage, the fused data were applied in both macro (hot-spot analysis in block group level) and micro (individual safety-related perception) models in Austin to ascertain the significance of incorporating exposure in safety analysis. While the fusion framework contributes to the research in the field of decision fusion, the demand and crash models provide insights to help stakeholders formulate policies to encourage bike activity and reduce crashes.