IHSDM Tutorial

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IHSDM Tutorial - Introduction

Purpose:

The purpose of this Tutorial is to provide users with a guided overview of the IHSDM
software. Upon completing the self-paced tutorial, the user should have a basic
understanding of the IHSDM software and its components, and experience in applying
IHSDM to evaluate the safety of a highway design.

The Tutorial does not cover all details of the software. For more information, the user is
encouraged to refer to the IHSDM Help.

To access the IHSDM Help:

1. Go to the IHSDM main interface
2. Click on “Help” from the menu bar
3. Click on “Help browser… ”

Structure:

The Tutorial uses a case study approach to illustrate the functionality and applicability of
IHSDM. Each lesson includes a brief Overview with links to related documentation, and
exercises that lead users through the software via step-by-step instructions.

The Tutorial consists of:

- Introduction
- Lesson 1: Introduction to the IHSDM Pike Case Study
- Lesson 2: Data Entry
- Introduction to IHSDM Safety Evaluation Modules:
o Lesson 3: Policy Review
o Lesson 4: Crash Prediction
o Lesson 5: Design Consistency
o Lesson 6: Traffic Analysis
o Lesson 7: Intersection Review
o Lesson 8: Driver/Vehicle
- Lesson 9: Output/Reporting
- Lesson 10: Crash Prediction Module (CPM) Calibration
- Lesson 11: IHSDM Economic Analyses Tool (EA Tool)
- Lesson 12: Using IHSDM with Data in Mileposts

In Lesson 1, the case study is introduced. A plan/profile sheet and a tabular summary of
alignment data help to familiarize the user with IHSDM Pike – an existing highway used
throughout the Tutorial to illustrate IHSDM capabilities.

1 Introduction
 IHSDM Tutorial

In Lesson 2, a series of exercises provide practice in inputting highway/intersection data.

In Lessons 3-8, the exercises focus on running the IHSDM Evaluations to evaluate the
safety of IHSDM Pike and interpreting the output.

In Lesson 4, all exercises are designed for the Crash Prediction Evaluation, which is a
faithful implementation of the Highway Safety Manual Part C - Predictive Methods.
Exercises are given for rural 2-lane highway, rural multilane highway, urban/suburban
arterial, and freeway segments (including speed change lanes), freeway
ramps/interchanges (including ramps, C-D roads and ramp terminals), and roundabouts.
There is also an exercise for conducting a crash prediction evaluation on a site set, which
is an alternative data input method.

In Lesson 9, exercises provide experience with creating and modifying IHSDM output,
i.e., Evaluation Reports and Graphs. In Lesson 10, exercises provide experience with
modifying the Crash Prediction calibration factors through the Administration Tool. In
Lesson 11, exercises demonstrate how the IHSDM Economic Analyses Tool (EA Tool)
can be used to conduct economic analyses. The EA Tool uses existing CPM Evaluation
results from an archived project to estimate crash costs and to conduct a Benefit-to-Cost
analysis. In Lesson 12, exercises demonstrate how to set the IHSDM data display to
mileposts, enter data in mileposts, and view evaluation results in mileposts.
“Tutorial” Folder Contents:
The IHSDM software home directory/folder contains a “Tutorial” folder, which includes:
- Tutorial_Table-of-Contents.pdf
- Tutorial_Intro.pdf (this file)
- Lessons files (PDF files):
• Includes step-by-step instructions for Lessons 1-12
(Tutorial_Lesson_#.pdf)
- Hwy66.Horiz.xlsx – spreadsheet containing some horizontal alignment data
for “Highway 66”; used in Lesson 2 – Data Entry.
- Calibration_site_data.xlsx – spreadsheet containing calibration site data;
used in Lesson 10 – Crash Prediction Module (CPM) Calibration
- IHSDM Pike-Urban Arterial-Driveways.xlsx – spreadsheet containing
driveway data; used in Lesson 4 – Crash Prediction
- ihsdm.project.IHSDM Pike Project.zip - Archived Project containing data
for Lesson 3 to 8 (except for Exercise 4.4-4.8)
- ihsdm.project.Example Project 1 -Tutorial Lesson 9.zip – archived
IHSDM project file, used in Lesson 9 – Output/Reporting.
- Ihsdm.project.IHSDM Pike-Rural Multilane.zip - Archived Project
containing data for Crash Prediction Module (lesson 4) Exercise 4.4
- Ihsdm.project.IHSDM Pike-Urban Arterial.zip - Archived Project
containing data for Crash Prediction Module (lesson 4) Exercise 4.5

2 Introduction
 IHSDM Tutorial

- ihsdm.project.HSM Ch 18 SP#.zip (where # = 1 through 5) – Archived

Projects containing data for Crash Prediction Module (lesson 4) Exercises
4.6.2 to 4.6.6
- ihsdm.project.Siteset-Rural Multilane.zip – Archived Project containing
data for Crash Prediction Module (lesson 4) Exercise 4.7
- Ihsdm.project.Ramps – HSM Ch19 SP1.zip – Archived Project containing
data for Crash Prediction Module (lesson 4) Exercise 4.8.1
- ihsdm.project.HSM Ch 19 – Sample Project 2.zip - Archived Project
containing data for Crash Prediction Module (lesson 4) Exercise 4.8.2
- ihsdm.project.Entrance Ramp - HSM Ch 19 SP3.zip - Archived Project
containing data for Crash Prediction Module (lesson 4) Exercise 4.8.3
- ihsdm.project.Ramp Terminal - Ch 19 SP4.zip - Archived Project
containing data for Crash Prediction Module (lesson 4) Exercise 4.8.4
- ihsdm.project.A4 Ramp Terminal 1-Way_Stop HSM Ch 19 SP5.zip -
Archived Project containing data for Crash Prediction Module (lesson 4)
Exercise 4.8.5
- ihsdm.project.B2 Ramp Terminal AWSC_HSM Ch 19 SP6.zip - Archived
Project containing data for Crash Prediction Module (lesson 4) Exercise 4.8.6
- ihsdm.project.Example Freeway.zip – Archived Project containing data for
Crash Prediction Module (lesson 4) Exercise 4.8.7
- ihsdm.project.Example Freeway-Economic Analysis.zip – Archived
Project containing data for IHSDM Economic Analyses Tool (EA Tool)
(lesson 11) Exercises 11.1 through 11.5
- ihsdm.project.PA I-70 Alt 2A_training.zip, ihsdm.project.PennDOT I-70-
Alt-2A.zip, and ihsdm.project.PennDOT I-70-Alt-3.zip - Archived projects
containing data for Crash Prediction Module (lesson 4) Exercise 4.9
- ihsdm.project.Roundabout Exercise 4-11-1.zip and
ihsdm.project.Roundabout Exercise 4-11-2.zip - Archived projects
containing data for Crash Prediction Module (lesson 4) Exercises 4.11.1 and
4.11.2

Getting Started with the Tutorial:

Before beginning the Tutorial, the IHSDM software should be installed.

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3 Introduction