(Include introduction to the Large-Animal Vehicle Collision Hotspots Project)

Project Objectives:

1) Identify AVC hotspots on major Florida roads within the Florida Wildlife Corridor
2) Create a data layer for use in transportation project planning occurring within the Florida Wildlife Corridor.

Data and Methods:

• Based on existing data of animal-vehicle collisions
  • Black Bear, Florida Panther, American Crocodile and animal-related accident reports
• Utilized Getis Ord GI* statistic in ArcGIS to identify three levels of significance
  • Assesses probability of a road segment having a significantly higher-than-random proportion of observed collisions
  • Confidence levels of 99%, 95%, and 90%
  • Unit of measure: 1 mile road segments

Results:

•246 total hotspots; 104 hotspots at 99% confidence level; Highest # of hotspots in Districts 1 (84) and 3 (73)

•Hotspot layer tables include road and traffic characteristics and segments associated with conservation lands or proposed road projects