An integrated approach for urban road safety analysis

In line with the objectives of the European Union to halve the number of road deaths by 2030 compared to 2019 and to move close to zero fatalities by 2050, this work aims to contribute to these goals by proposing an investigative model based on GIS tools for defining urban and suburban blackspots (that is accident-prone locations) and thus identifying roads with higher safety risks. This study uses a small town in Sardinia (Italy) as an application case. The considered town has approximately 30,000 inhabitants and a suburban area connecting to other major cities in Southern Sardinia. Using a GIS-based methodology, both urban and sub-urban areas are analysed by constructing layers of various levels of analysis. The first level concerns the location of accidents, the second level considers traffic flows, the third level involves road maintenance while the fourth level considers accessibility aspects linked to traffic attractors present in the area (schools, hospitals, offices, residences, commercial activities, etc.). The overlay of the four layers (accidents, traffic flows, maintenance, accessibility) on a GIS map appears to be the innovative part of this contribution compared to the analysis of individual elements on road safety which is generally found in the literature. The overlay of layers will be the starting point for next studies to define new integrated KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to create an Urban Road Safety DSS.