ROCS, Phase 4 - UTC

The objective of this fourth phase of the Roadkill Observation Collection System (ROCS) project will be to implement the PDA based version of ROCS from Phase 3 on a Google Android –based smart-phone.

Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVCs) are becoming a larger component of overall crashes on U.S. roads, now representing approximately 5% of all collisions. In order to plan efforts to reduce WVCs, it is important to develop an accurate roadkill data collection system that efficiently gathers, stores, retrieves, maps, and analyzes data for transportation and natural resource agencies. Despite all the advancements that have been made in information technologies, most data on wildlife-vehicle collisions is still collected in sporadic efforts using a pen and paper or as an added task for highway patrol officers, park rangers or other traffic accident personnel. The information is difficult for users to analyze because of limited standardization and inconsistent or often poor spatial resolution. The Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University (WTI) has been working with the Federal Highway Administration and several state departments of transportation to develop a tool to help standardize accurate data collection of wildlife vehicle collision occurrences. This tool, called the Roadkill Observation Collection System (ROCS), integrates a handheld computer or personal digital assistant (PDA) with a global positioning system (GPS) that is supported by customized software to aid in easy, spatially accurate and consistent wildlife-vehicle collision data collection. Phase 1 of this research resulted in the successful development of a prototype system; Phase 2 consisted of field testing in five states plus Canada. Phase 3 addressed internet based means of storage and retrieval of data, desktop software to place data on maps or other images and programs to interpret and analyze data. Phase 4 will implement the PDA-based version from Phase 3 on a Google Android- based smart phone. With standardized and regular Wildlife Vehicle Collision monitoring efforts and spatially-accurate data, ROCS will be better able to determine where to prioritize highway-wildlife mitigation investments.