Spatio-temporal analysis of public transit crashes in Viña del Mar and Valparaíso, Chile

The conurbation of Viña del Mar and Valparaíso presented the highest number of public transit crashes in Chile with a total of nearly 350 fatalities and severely injured victims between 2014 and 2018. These crashes are caused mainly due to the imprudence of the driver yielding collisions between two or more moving vehicles, impacts with stationary objects, and falls of passenger from buses. This study performed a spatio-temporal analysis of traffic crashes that involved microbuses and taxi-buses to identify emerging and disappearing hotspots and coldspots during the study period. The results revealed that most crash hotspots due to the imprudence of the driver persisted in time in Viña del Mar, and crash hotspots due to signage disobedience sporadically appeared in Valparaíso. Hotspots of collisions and falls of passengers are types of crashes that emerged solely in Viña del Mar, as well as new, consecutive, and sporadic hotspots of severely injured victims. While morning historical hotspots emerged in Viña del Mar, consecutive, persistent, and sporadic hotspots of crashes appeared in the downtown area in both cities. The results of this study will aid authorities, transportation professionals, and planners make informed decisions about traffic safety.