UFTI Researchers Create a Decision Support System for Assigning Safety Service Patrols to a Roadway

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), along with a research team at the University of Florida led by Dr. Siva Srinivasan, have created a decision support system that will help managers decide if a roadway “warrants” the addition of a Safety Service Patrol (SSP). Traditionally, FDOT has provided safety patrols that assist with clearing road incidents on toll roads around the state, but where to place these units has been decided subjectively.

“Practitioners in the safety service patrol industry have lamented that there is no computational method for allocating resources, this research fills that need in Florida, with potential application nationally,” said Dr. Grady Carrick who is a consultant on the project.  Carrick is an alumnus of the transportation engineering program at UFTI, and he is also the principal of Enforcement Engineering, Inc.

Unlike the familiar “signal warrants” that guide the installation of traffic signals at candidate intersections, there are no such guidelines for safety service patrol decisions.  A computer tool was developed to facilitate the input of critical information about roadway segments necessary for the analysis.

“The analytical tool developed will help FDOT make informed decisions about deploying and expanding road ranger service patrols within the state,” Srinivasan said.

Where warranted, the tool also provides guidance on beat configuration and number of trucks recommended, based on the objectives to minimize fleet size, minimize response time, or maximize social benefit.

For more information about active and completed FDOT research projects, please visit the Research Center at http://www.fdot.gov/research.


Project Information:

Project Title: Warrants, Design, and Safety of Road Ranger Service Patrols
Summary

Final Report