A Novel Approach to Evaluate the Road Safety Index: A Case Study in the Roads of East Azerbaijan Province in Iran

Road safety index is an important indicator that has been recently introduced as a useful tool to measure the quality of life in many countries and cities. Road safety index is a complex index and it has at least three main components, including road user behavior, vehicle safety, and road infrastructure effects. Many researchers have selected studying road performance from road safety index perspective due to its feasibility and applicability. To calculate the road safety index, a novel approach was proposed using data envelopment analysis method. In this paper, the selected road safety indicators are classified into two groups, namely the desirable and undesirable indicators. The new approach was applied for a case study in the roads of East Azerbaijan Province in Iran. Inefficient roads were recognized applying the proposed method, and strategies were suggested to improve the efficiency of these roads.