Evaluating Road Performance and Condition as Part of Arctic Road and Transport Studies

Abstract

Increasing the efforts to improve road traffic safety (RTS) represents an important demographic, social and economic task and a high-priority area of public policy in the majority of countries. Especially challenging are the RTS issues in the Arctic Zone. This is due to poorly developed land transport infrastructure, remoteness, specific natural and climatic conditions, and sometimes even physical inaccessibility. Taken together, these factors cause significant constraints to road maintenance enterprises, resulting in inadequate maintenance, limited mobility, increased vehicle operating costs, increased number of road traffic accidents (RTA) and related human and material costs. This study explores the nature of the dependence between RTA risk and paving roughness. Based on the data obtained, a new software is proposed for analyzing the existing level of road traffic safety that uses the data on transport and operating conditions and can generate arrays of organizational and technical measures to pursue in order to improve the traffic safety within a given transport infrastructure or facility. The results of this study can be used in the decision-making towards improved management of public roads and increased levels of road and transport safety.