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  • Add-in Tool Aims for Zero Road Deaths

    First implemented in Sweden, “Vision Zero” is an initiative to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries, while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all. We have had a similar campaign in Hong Kong with a slogan — “Zero Accidents on the Road, Hong Kong’s Goal”. Systematically identifying hazardous road locations is an essential first step towards this vision.

    The research team, Professor Becky Loo (middle)

    The research team, Professor Becky Loo (middle), Dr. Tobias Grubenmann (left) and Mr. Tsoi Ka Ho (right) identified a cluster of hot zones in Wanchai, Hong Kong.

    Led by Professor Becky P. Y. Loo, Head of the Department of Geography at the University of Hong Kong, Dr. Tobias Grubenmann, Research Associate from the Department of Computer Science and Mr. Tsoi Ka Ho, PhD candidate from the Department of Geography utilized traffic crash data from the Transport Department to identify hazardous road locations. They developed and employed the Hotzone Generation Add-in with a three-step GIS-based methodology to visualize spatial clusters of traffic crashes and to identify hot zones for the entire road network of the city.

    A map showed spatial clusters of traffic crashes in the road network

    A map showed spatial clusters of traffic crashes in the road network.

    A map of the Mong Kok district illustrated some of the hot-zone clusters

    A map of the Mong Kok district illustrated some of the hot-zone clusters.

    For example, in Mong Kok district, much longer junctions of road near (i) Argyle Street — Sai Yee Street, (ii) Nathan Road — Mong Kok Road, (iii) Nathan Road — Argyle Street, and (iv) Waterloo Road — Argyle Street were identified as hazardous road locations by the Hotzone Generation Add-in in the research. Four major “black sites” identified by the Transport Department in 2018, where six or more pedestrian injury crashes happened in the previous one year / nine or more injury crashes happened in the previous one year, were actually part of the larger hot zones.

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