Predicting Imminent Crash Risk with Simulated Traffic from Distant Sensors

The aim of this research was to investigate the performance of simulated traffic data for real-time crash prediction when loop detector stations are distant from the actual crash location. Nearly all contemporary real-time crash prediction models use traffic data from physical detector stations; however, the distance between a crash location and its nearest detector station can vary considerably from site to site, creating inconsistency in detector data retrieval and subsequent crash prediction. Moreover, large distances between crash locations and detector stations imply that traffic data from these stations may not truly reflect crash-prone conditions. Crash and noncrash events were identified for a freeway section on I-94 EB in Wisconsin. The cell transmission model (CTM), a macroscopic simulation model, was applied in this study to instrument segments with virtual detector stations when physical stations were not available near the crash location. Traffic data produced from the virtual stations were used to develop crash prediction models. A comparison revealed that the predictive accuracy of models developed with virtual station data was comparable to those developed with physical station data. The finding demonstrates that simulated traffic data are a viable option for real-time crash prediction given distant detector stations. The proposed approach can be used in the real-time crash detection system or in a connected vehicle environment with different settings.