Determining the Effectiveness of Commercial Vehicle Safety Alerts

Status: Completed 2024

Funding Agency: Ohio Department of Transportation through Cleveland State University and the Federal Highway Administration

Abstract: 

The Ohio Department of Transportation partnered with Drivewyze to send real-time safety and mobility alerts to commercial motor vehicle drivers through electronic logging devices. No data-driven analysis had quantified the benefits of commercial vehicle safety alert systems on highways, which left the agency without evidence for further investment. This project evaluated the Drivewyze congestion and sudden slowdown alerts on Ohio interstate freeways and assessed the wider set of Drivewyze services. The team ran three surveys covering commercial vehicle drivers, trucking companies, and state departments of transportation, followed by interviews with state DOTs on in-house alert systems. The data-driven analysis combined historical Drivewyze alert data, crash records, and INRIX speed and travel time data to measure the effect of alerts on congestion-related and secondary crashes, comparing 2018 and 2019 against 2022 and 2023 and excluding the pandemic years. Drivewyze was the most common alert system among drivers surveyed, at a 28.25 percent penetration rate. The benefit-cost ratio for congestion-related commercial vehicle crashes came to 22.56 against ODOT's investment in the system.

Investigators: Dr. Mohammad Jalayer, PhD., Dr. Emmanuel Kidando, PhD. (Cleveland State University), Dr. Angela Kitali, PhD. (University of Washington Tacoma), Jeffrey L'Amoreaux

Links to Publications: https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/86086