(October 9) Using Aerial Imagery Data to Improve Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety

The research utilizes high-resolution imagery data provided by an aerial imagery provider. Using AI and ML algorithms the team detects, extracts, and analyzes roadway features from the collected imagery, identifying pavement markings and other safety-related infrastructure. The study focuses on the assigned quality marking score and the changes over time, incorporating AADT and crashes to investigate their relationships. The quality marking score represents how markings (e.g., crosswalks) change over time: they fade, they stay the same or they get repainted. The geo spatial analysis results show a positive correlation between markings, AADT and crashes especially at locations with faded markings. This method is compared to traditional data collections methods offering a direct assessment of its practical applications in Florida.

Achilleas Kourtellis, PhD
Deputy Program Director, Intelligent Transportation Systems, Traffic Operations, and Safety
Center for Urban Transportation Research

Achilleas Kourtellis, PhD, is Deputy Program Director and Teaching Faculty for the ITS, Traffic Operations, and Safety program at the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) at the University of South Florida, where he has worked with the ITS program since 2006. His research spans connected and automated vehicle deployment and evaluation, connected-vehicle communications and cybersecurity, transportation safety, naturalistic driving behavior, and the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning to transportation operations. He has served as Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator on federally and state-funded projects sponsored by USDOT, the Federal Railroad Administration, the Florida Department of Transportation, and the National Institute for Congestion Reduction, including automated transit shuttle demonstrations, connected-vehicle pilot evaluation, unmanned aircraft systems for corridor-wide traffic surveillance and incident detection, and AI-enabled detection systems for rail and roadway safety. Dr. Kourtellis holds a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of South Florida and is a member of ASCE and ITE.