COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course instructs highway design project managers, planners, designers, and traffic and safety reviewers in the application of the Interactive Highway Safety Design Model (IHSDM) software and provides guidance on interpretation of the output.

IHSDM is a suite of software tools to evaluate safety of two-lane rural highways. The software, developed for FHWA, was released in 2003 after several years of research and development to provide state-of-the-art techniques for safety analysis. IHSDM contains five tools that can be used to apply the most recent safety analysis techniques in a relatively straightforward and automated manner. For more information about IHSDM, go to http://www.tfhrc.gov/safety/ihsdm/ihsdm.htm.

Participants gain hands-on experience with the software. Therefore, the training facility must be equipped with computers. There should be no more than two participants per computer. Minimum system specifications for the computers are as follows: Operating System - Microsoft Vista, Windows XP or Windows 2000 Professional; HTML Browser - Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, or Foxfire; Spreadsheet Program, Microsoft Excel or equivalent; Hardware - At least 450 MHz Pentium III (or equivalent) CPU, 256 MB RAM or greater desirable, 800x600 high colors (16 bit) display; and 300 MB free disk space

OUTCOMES:

Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to:

• Describe key capabilities and limitations of IHSDM
• Evaluate a two-lane rural highway using IHSDM
• Recognize when and how IHSDM can be used in the project development process

TARGET AUDIENCE:

Highway design project managers, planners, designers, and traffic and safety reviewers with at least one or two years of experience with highway design, preferably two-lane rural highway design.

If you have questions about this NHI training, please contact NHI at nhicustomerservice@dot.gov or 877.558.6873.