User:Micwill

Michael R. Williamson
Michael Williamson is a PhD Candidate in Transportation Engineering at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, Illinois.

Education
MSCE, in Transportation Engineering, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, Illinois, August, 2011.

BSCE, in Civil Engineering, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, Illinois, December, 2010.

Thesis
Application of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Highway Safety Manual to Rural Illinois Roadways.

Abstract This paper documents the calibration of the Safety Performance Function (SPF) in the new Highway Safety Manual (HSM) for rural two-lane roadways for the State of Illinois and compares the calibrated SPFs with the SPFs in the HCM. Since the SPFs in the HSM were developed using data from multiple states, the models must be calibrated to account for local factors. These factors include driver population, roadway conditions, traffic volumes, weather conditions, and other regional specific factors. For this research, three years of crash data in Illinois, consisting of more than one hundred crashes from over thirty locations, were used to calibrate the models. Rural two-lane roadways account for 57 percent of all fatal crashes nationwide; however in 2010 66 percent of all fatalities in Illinois occurred on rural two-lane roadways. To further strengthen the need for safety improvement in rural areas, it is beneficial to provide more accurate SPFs to predict the crashes on rural Illinois highways for the purpose of determining safety improvements that will decrease the number of fatal crashes. In this study, calibration factors were developed for two SPFs. The calibrated SPFs give a better prediction of crashes on rural two lane roadways in Illinois.

Journals

 * Zhou H., Fries R., Williamson, Michael, Tian Z., Vaughn B, "Development of a Highway Incident Management Operational and Training Guide", Final Report Submitted to Illinois Center for Transportation, August, 2011.


 * Williamson, Michael, Zhou H., “Application of the Highway Safety Manual to Rural Illinois Roadways”. The Eighth International Conference on Traffic & Transportation Studies. (Accepted for publication 2011)

Conference Procedings

 * Williamson Michael, Zhou H., and Fries, R. "Traffic Signal Coordination for Highway Incident Management". 59th Annual Illinois Traffic Engineering & Safety Conference, Champaign, Illinois, October, 2010.


 * Williamson Michael. "Evaluation of the Highway Emergency Lane Patrol (H.E.L.P.) in Chicago Illinois". ITE Midwestern District Annual Conference, Minneapolis, MN, June 2010.


 * Williamson Michael. "Application of HSM to Rural Highways and Intersections in Madison County and St Clair, IL". Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Graduate Symposium, Edwardsville, IL April 2011


 * Williamson Michael, Zhou H. "An Overview of Highway Incident Management Training in the US". Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Graduate Symposium, Edwardsville, IL April 2011


 * Williamson Michael. "Application of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Official’s Highway Safety Manual to Rural Illinois Roadways”. ITE Midwestern District Annual Conference, Dubuque, IA, June 2011.


 * Williamson, Michael, Zhou H. “Development of Calibration Factors for Crash Prediction Models for Rural Two-Lane Highways in Illinois”. 60th Annual Illinois Traffic Engineering & Safety Conference, Champaign, Illinois, October, 2011.

Area of Research

 * Highway Safety
 * Highway Incident Management
 * Traffic Signal Operations

Leadership

 * Precinct Committeeman Effingham County
 * Institute of Transportation Engineers: SIUE Chapter President 2009-Present
 * Chi Epsilon: SIUE Chapter Vice-President 2010-2011
 * ITE Traffic Bowl Team Captain 2009-2011
 * Ancient Free and Accepted Masons: Lodge Officer
 * Heart Shrine Club: Parade Chair 2011-Present

Awards

 * BOOST Scholarship Recipient: Lake Land College
 * RJN Foundation Civil Engineering Scholarship Recipient: Southern Illinois University
 * Institute of Transportation Engineers Student Research Poster Competition winner 2010
 * Department of Civil Engineering SIUE Outstanding Graduate Student Award 2010-2011
 * Institute of Transportation Engineers Student Research Poster Competition winner 2011
 * Institute of Transportation Engineers Scholarship Recipient: Illinois Section 2011