Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Road Traffic Crash Hotspots in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal
Date
2024-07
Authors
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Publisher
I.O.E
Abstract
Kathmandu Valley is one of the rapidly urbanizing cities in Nepal, which registers the highest incidence of road traffic crashes compared to other regions in the country. Identifying the dangerous road sections where the crashes happen frequently (or simply hotspots) is a critical initial move towards devising effective strategies for reducing the future severe incidences in the Valley. On this account, this thesis aimed to pinpoint the hotspots in the Valley by examining the spatial and temporal patterns of reported traffic crashes. The study also took an additional step by investigating relationship of hotspot occurrences with two spatial factors; population density and land use.
The study utilized three years of crash data (2019-2021) collected from Traffic Police Office, and road network polylines obtained from Survey Department. Of the total data, 23,278 (79.55%) crashes and 912.54 km of road network were analyzed. The temporal distribution reveals a notable increasing trend of crashes and their severity. The incidence of fatalities and severe injuries reaches its highest level during the month from October to April. The highest frequency of crashes is recorded during the weekday morning rush hours, from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM, in the afternoon time, from 12.00 PM to 4:00 PM and in the evening around sunset, from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM, but severer incidences are reported during night hours and during weekends
Description
This thesis suggests a hotspot identification and prioritization methodology that can be effectively employed even with a scarcity of high-quality crash and spatial data, a common issue in Nepal. The thesis findings also equip the local transportation authorities with targeted insights not only on the hotspot areas highlighting the importance in terms of severity, collision type, days and times, but also the typical local risk factors that require rectification and enhancements to achieve desired road safety conditions.
Keywords: Traffic Crashes, GIS, Spatial Analysis
Keywords
Traffic Crashes, Spatial Analysis, Temporal Analysis, Getis-Ord Gi