Network Analysis of Road Traffic Crash and Rescue Operations in Federal Capital City

Abstract

Abuja is witnessing an upsurge of victims from Road Traffic Crash (RTC) which is mostly due to the attendant rapid increase in the volume of vehicles, traffic jams, bad driving, over speeding, insufficient road signs and bad conditions of vehicles that ply the roads. The problem is compounded by a lack of early emergency response. Geographic Information System (GIS) based travel time model was applied in the street network analysis to identify RTC black spots that are outside the close reach of Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) rescue points/health facilities in Federal Capital City (FCC). Five minutes, Ten minutes and Fifteen minutes travel times were used as the impedance factor. Remote Sensing and GIS techniques were used to carry out network analysis. This was achieved by conducting the closest facility operation in the ArcGIS network analyst extension using the time of travel from each FRSC zebra point location to the RTC black spot zones/health facility. The results were presented on road network maps and bar graphs. The areas where quick response and medical facilities are insufficient were identified. It was concluded that the available health centres can sufficiently service RTC black spots in FCC, but the FRSC zebra points are insufficient which renders rescue operations inefficient and thereby exposes RTC victims to more danger. In order to ensure that there is sufficient coverage for response times, it was suggested that additional zebra points be created.