Mehrdad AhangarCani; Mohammad Reza Malek
Abstract
Extended Abstract
Introduction and Objective
Road traffic accidents impose numerous social, economic, and cultural costs upon various societies, especially developing countries. Identification of accident blackspots is a method proposed to deal with car accident risks. Among various events associated ...
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Extended Abstract
Introduction and Objective
Road traffic accidents impose numerous social, economic, and cultural costs upon various societies, especially developing countries. Identification of accident blackspots is a method proposed to deal with car accident risks. Among various events associated with transportation network, road traffic accidents play a significant role, because of their specific features, including high frequency, high intensity and the chance of direct involvement of all members of the community.This problem is more conspicuous in developing countries such as Iran. The present study aims to identifyaccidentblackspotsand to prepare risk map for road trafficaccidents in Babol city using volunteered geographic information.
Materials and methods
According to the characteristics of the study area, the present study takes advantage of criteria such as distance from population centers, proximity to city squares, distance from footbridges, and proximity to road intersections to identifyaccidentblackspotsand a prepare risk map for roadtraffic accidents in Babol city. Accident blackspots detected by volunteered geographic information, along with the criteria determined by applying analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and analytic network process (ANP) were compared in a pairwise manner, and their respective weight was calculated to showtheir specific level of impact. Ultimately, a risk map was produced for the risk of road traffic accidents obtained from each method. In order to evaluate the accuracy of the identified accident blackspots obtained from volunteered geographic information, as well as the accuracy of susceptibility maps, ROC curve and Kappa Coefficient were applied to police official records.
Results and Discussion
According to the findings, Jame Mosque shopping center, Shahabnia shopping center, intersection of Farhangstreet and Velayat square were identified as the most accident-prone areas in Babol city. Also, among the prespecified criteria, distance from population centers and distance from intersections are considered to be the most important criteria, respectively. Results obtained from the evaluation criteria indicatedhigh accuracy of volunteered geographic information, and thus it is concluded that this kind of information can be effective in determining the accident blackspotsinBabol city. Also, the ANP method works better than AHP method in preparing the risk map of accidents.
Conclusion and Future works
Due to the large number of road accidents, especially in developing countries,the issue of accident blackspotsand providing a risk map for road trafficaccidents are an essential part of roads safety. In the present study, volunteered geographic information was used, along with multivariate decision-making methods of analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and analytic network process (ANP) to identifyaccident blackspots based on number, causes and severity of accidents and to develop a risk map for driving accidents in Babol city. Moreover, the criteria of distance from population centers, proximity to the city squares, distance from the footbridges, and adjacency to intersections were used to determine accident blackspotsand to prepare a risk map for driving accidents in Babol city. According to the results, Jame Mosque shopping center, Shahabnia shopping center, Farhang intersection and Velayat square were identified as the most accident-prone points in Babol city. Also, distance from population centers and distance from intersectionswere identified as the most important criteria, respectively. Evaluation criteria demonstrated that volunteered geographic information can be effective and accurate in determining accident blackspotsinBabol city. Also, the ANP method worked better than AHP method in preparing the risk map of driving accidents. The method proposed in this study to identify accident blackspots and preparedriving accidents risk maps can be generalized to other areas. Basedon the characteristics of specific routes, other criteria such as arc radius, longitudinal slope can alsobe used. It is also suggested that the results of other methods used for investigation ofaccidentblackspotsand production of risk maps based onvolunteered geographic information (VGI) are compared with the results of the present study.
Sara Haghbayan; Mohammad Reza Malek
Abstract
Extended Abstract
Introduction
Recently, different volunteered Geographic Information (VGI)databases and websites have been launched for a variety of purposes and different groups of users. Various groups and portals collect and share these data. Thus, there is a huge potential for the participation ...
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Extended Abstract
Introduction
Recently, different volunteered Geographic Information (VGI)databases and websites have been launched for a variety of purposes and different groups of users. Various groups and portals collect and share these data. Thus, there is a huge potential for the participation of millions of people who can act like remote sensors and share their data with other members of the group without any cost.Therefore,diffrent users with different skill levelscan provide spatial data through personalized measurements. Various research perspectives have shown that sometimes Volunteered Geographic Information can compete with business data.The present research seeks to solve the problems in searching and finding properties, and describe indoor space using visual components in web-basedplatforms. The impact of spatial information on satisfaction of residentsortheir problems has made this research especially important.Most of related studiessought to provide models for estimationof prices, and the impact of environmental factors on the price of real estates. They also have endeavored tocreate websites for residential real estatesearch with an emphasis on descriptive information.The present research seeks to describe indoor space of residential real estate using spatial tools.In this regard, criteria like height, dimensions, topological relationships, shape, color, geographic location, and directional relationships are considered.Description of residential properties’ indoor space requires information in both spatial and descriptive dimensions. Due to the especial potential of Geospatial Information System in the simultaneous visualization of spatial and descriptive information, spatial analysis was used in the present study.
Clearly, any research is performed based on a set of presuppositions. Particularly when we seek to theoretically investigate a process like modeling or design an information system, the work scope will be very wide and serious challenges will occur without proper assumptions. The present study assumes equal spatial perception, verbal expression and visualizationabilityin all people. It is also assumed that all estate visitors havecell phones equipped with cameras and Global Positioning System and their response to qualitative relationships is better than that of quantitative relationships. Moreover,real estateis used as a synonym for apartmentin this research.
Materials & Methods
Considering the critical role of the ordinary users and the fact that survey processes are usually expensive and time consuming, volunteered spatial information environments are the most appropriate way of gathering people’s spatial perception. Not only these environments are rather easy to use, but also they simultaneously receive up-to-date information from the participant and provide them with appropriate services according to their status.
After modeling and designing, the proposed systemwas implemented in Visual Studio 2012 platform using ASP.NET framework andC#language. Server Structured Query Language (SQL) Database 2012 was usedto save spatial information. Tehran District 14 (longitude: 51.46207, latitude: 35.66905) was chosen as the study area and data collected from several residential properties was recorded in our database.
Results & Discussion
Results indicate more than 65 percent conformity between the mental image generated using the proposed method and the reality. Users’ satisfaction with the proposed model was compared with their satisfaction with three popular Iranian sites, and a foreign site regarding. The impact of tools applied in these websites was also investigated. Results indicate 78.78% satisfaction with the proposed system, which is the highest level of satisfaction as compared to other studied websites.Moreover, compared to other toolsinvestigated in the present study,virtual tours and thenmaps are more in visualization.Sincespatial perceptions depends on various parameters such aspersonal interests, spatial dimensions, gender, age, education, culture, and fields of study, different groups were investigated in the present study.
Conclusion
Using information collected inVolunteered Geographic Informationenvironments, ordinary people can share information and use each other’s experiences and opinions. This improves their knowledge level and results in a better understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of different real estates. Due to increased knowledge level, people will not select undesirable properties. This will create a competitive market and increase designers and engineers’attention to indoor space, which will consequently increase ordinary users’welfare.