Development of “Winter Condition” Operational Performance Functions (OPFs) for Ontario Highway and Freeway Road Segments for Ministry of Transportation Ontario

Many real-world industries depend on the safe and efficient functioning of transportation systems, facilities and infrastructures. One of the main concerns for such industries is vehicle accidents. The Ministry of Transportation Ontario (MTO) currently uses very basic models to determine the operational performance functions (OPFs) for all highways. The drawback of the current models is that they do not account for changes in environment factors, such as adverse weather, which is abundant during winter months in Canada. Such environmental factors are important since the effects of rapidly changing winter weather conditions can have a significant impact on driving conditions. The main objective of this project is to develop a set of winter OPFs for highways in Ontario. The development of winter OPFs will provide a tool for the assessment of safety performance of highway infrastructures under adverse weather condition, and will allow for the identification of highway segments that have low levels of safety.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Viliam Makis

Student:

Multiple

Partner:

Ontario Ministry of Transportation

Discipline:

Engineering - mechanical

Sector:

Automotive and transportation

University:

University of Toronto