Using an earlier lane departure warning system (LDWS) that employs standard GPS data rather than expensive cameras or maps, Minnesota researchers have enhanced and refined the system, moving closer to an affordable product to warn drivers about dangerous lane drift and approaching curves.
Continue reading Improved In-Vehicle Lane Departure Warning System Approaches Commercial UseCategory Archives: Traffic and Safety
Separated Bike Lanes: Filling the Gaps in Design Guidance
In recent years, many U.S. cities have been installing separated bicycle lanes (SBLs) as part of their nonmotorized transportation networks. SBLs are bicycle pathways that employ paint and a vertical element as a buffer to separate motor vehicle traffic from bicycle traffic. They reduce crash risk, increase safety and comfort, and encourage more people to use bicycles as transportation.
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MnDOT Prepares to Use Future Vehicle-to-Vehicle Messaging
Manufacturers are developing vehicles that can “talk” to each other. “Connected vehicles” will be able to convey their position, speed and acceleration. Sending this information to other vehicles and relevant infrastructure is expected to enhance highway safety, but it also may help transportation agencies better manage traffic.
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Smartphone App Aims to Help Drivers Switch to More Sustainable Transportation Modes
This article was originally published in Catalyst, May 2021.
Using an innovative mobility app, U of M researchers are pointing the way for drivers to shift their travel toward more sustainable modes such as transit, park-and-ride, walking, and biking.
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New Project: COVID-19 Impacts on Speed and Safety for Rural Roads and Work Zones
Although Minnesotans drove significantly less in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a substantial increase in fatal motor vehicle crashes. MnDOT Traffic Safety Engineer Derek Leuer and his colleagues want to know why, particularly in rural areas where fatalities and injury rates were higher.
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New Project: What COVID Travel Reductions Tells Us About Effective Congestion Relief
As Minnesota worked to slow the transmission of COVID-19 in 2020, travel on MnDOT roadways dropped sharply and carried with it a corresponding drop in congestion.
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Improving Winter Road Weather Alerts on Highway Dynamic Message Signs
MnDOT maintains nearly 400 dynamic message signs (DMS) along Minnesota highways that display real-time information to warn motorists of roadway incidents, construction or congestion ahead that could pose a hazard or cause delay. DMS use to convey weather alerts has been limited to blizzards and other very isolated winter conditions. MnDOT has been concerned about the timeliness of weather messages and the chance that such messages could be overused, possibly leading motorists to take them less seriously.
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New Project: Understanding Post-COVID Safety Concerns, Perceptions and Preferences of Transit and Shared Mobility Users in Minnesota
Transit ridership dropped significantly last year in Minneapolis, Duluth and other cities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Urban Rapid Transit Reduces Traffic on Nearby Roads
Light rail transit and bus rapid transit in the Twin Cities provide urban residents with fast, safe and reliable transportation. These transitways have the potential to attract more riders and further reduce automobile traffic, relieving the growth of congestion on nearby roads as people decide to be transitway passengers rather than motorists.
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Local Guidance for Bicycle Facility Design
A quick reference guide is now available to help local agency planners and designers select the best bicycling facilities for their system. This guide walks local agencies through the selection and design process, and directs users to specific places within design manuals for details on facility questions.
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Crossroads 