Spatial Analysis and Transportation System Review for Tourism … Spatial Analysis and… Sharaf A. Al-Kheder, Ahmad A. Al-Malabeh and Rudaina Al-Momani - 502 - the same prevailing

Jordan Journal of Civil Engineering, Volume 10, No. 4, 2016

- 501 - © 2016 JUST. All Rights Reserved.

Spatial Analysis and Transportation System Review for

Tourism Areas in Jordan:

Ajloun City As a Case Study

Sharaf A. Al-Kheder 1), Ahmad A. Al-Malabeh 2) and Rudaina Al-Momani 3)

1) Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Hijjawi Faculty for Engineering Technology, Yarmouk University, Irbid, Jordan.

2) Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment, Hashemite University, Zarqa, Jordan.

2) American Center of Oriental Research (ACOR) Library.

ABSTRACT

Traffic safety in Jordan is nowadays a major issue of concern due to the excessive increase in the number of

traffic accidents and the resulting losses at both human (fatalities and injuries) and economical levels. This

paper focuses, using Ajloun city in the northern part of Jordan (a major tourism area) as a case study, on

analyzing and assessing a number of important factors that contribute to the traffic safety problem in Jordan.

The focus is mainly placed on assessing the road and environment factors and their role in increasing the

traffic accidents’ rates. Spatial analysis through Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is utilized to

elaborate more about these contributing factors, such as ground topography, land use, road geometry,… etc.

The effort presented in this article supports the efforts of establishing a traffic accidents’ digital database in

Jordan for monitoring and emergency response purposes to provide safe and high accessible tourism

networks. High-accident locations were identified in the study area for detailed analysis. Results show that

road and environment factors, such as ground topography, road geometry, climate and pavement condition,

are of extreme relevance to the traffic safety problem in our study area and in Jordan as a whole. A number of

recommendations were highlighted at the end of the article in order to reduce the frequency and severity of

traffic accidents in the area.

KEYWORDS: Traffic safety, Tourism, Spatial analysis and assessment, GIS, Road and environment

factors.

INTRODUCTION

Traffic accidents are one of the major threats

affecting the people’s daily life dramatically while

traveling on roads from origin to destination.

According to Highway Capacity Manual (2000), an

accident can be defined as "any occurrence on a

roadway that impedes normal traffic flow". This

includes all types of vehicle- and pedestrian- related

accidents. Such accidents can be mainly related to one

or more of the three major factors (Rumar, 1985):

Driver, vehicle and roadway, with the driver being the

factor (individually or along with other factors) with

the highest contribution. Regardless of the causes of

such accidents, they are major contributors to deaths

over the globe; expected to become the fifth major

contributor to death rates by 2030 if continuing under Received on 15/4/2015. Accepted for Publication on 17/5/2015.

Spatial Analysis and… Sharaf A. Al-Kheder, Ahmad A. Al-Malabeh and Rudaina Al-Momani

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the same prevailing conditions worldwide (WHO,

2011). About 3500 fatalities on a daily basis and tens

of millions of injuries yearly are taking place on the

road networks worldwide as revealed by WHO (2011)

records. This global problem is increasing in scale,

especially in developing countries due to lack of efforts

and budgets directed to solve such urgent matter

(Berhanu, 2004). Increasing attention and efforts

internationally can be seen in the literature over the

past decade with the aim to model and reduce traffic

accidents’ severity and frequency. This is mainly clear

in the development of many theoretical and statistical

approaches to model traffic accidents as a function of

different variables. Lord and Mannering (2010)

provided a comprehensive review of the most recent

and powerful statistical models, including Random-

Parameter Models (Anastasopoulos and Mannering,

2009) and Finite Mixture (e.g., Park and Lord, 2009)

/Markov Switching Models (Malyshkina et al., 2009),

that have been recently successfully used for modeling

traffic accidents’ data and their causes. Data limitations

in terms of type and availability are so far the major

constraint for developing traffic accidents’ models to

represent a precise reflection of traffic safety on

highways (Lord and Mannering, 2010).

Artificial intelligence techniques for modeling

traffic accidents’ data is another approach that has been

extensively used in the literature. Neural networks

were used by many researchers to analyze accidents’

behaviors and patterns as in the works of Mussone et

al. (1999) and Dia and Rose (1997). Along this line

also is the work of Hosseinlou and Sohrabi (2009)

represented in using a neuro-fuzzy approach to predict

and identify traffic hot spots and their contribution to

the traffic safety issues on streets.

A third direction of traffic safety research in the

literature is spatial modeling and geographical-based

analysis of accidents’ data (Moons et al., 2009). GIS

and GPS technologies were valuable to a great extent

in traffic accidents’ analysis, especially in terms of

identifying black spot (HAL) areas on highways

(Erdogan et al., 2008).

Traffic accidents are a serious issue in Jordan and

have resulted over the past decades in huge social

(fatalities and injuries) and economical losses. Traffic

accidents represent currently the second major cause of

death in Jordan (Al-Masaeid, 2009). Driver behaviors

represented in over-speeding, not giving the right of

way and lack of defensive driving represent the major

human factors that contribute to such excessive

increase in road accidents. Road environment is

another crucial factor in reducing traffic safety levels.

This is mainly clear in poor geometric and pavement

design, lack of maintenance and improper usage of

Traffic Control Devices (TCDs). This paper, using GIS

technology, focuses mainly on analyzing the road

environment factor and its contribution to road

accidents in Jordan taking Ajloun city (a major tourism

region in the northern part of Jordan) as a case study.

Results indicate a number of major findings as related

to traffic safety in tourism areas. First, effective

tourism planning strategies as related to proper

transportation planning policies are urgently needed in

tourism areas in Jordan to enhance the traffic safety

levels. Second, there is a need to develop a complete

GIS-based database of all natural and man-made

recourses in tourism areas for more efficient

transportation and traffic safety planning and

management. Third, there is an urgent need to enhance

the infrastructure system in tourism areas, especially

what’s related to transportation systems. Finally,

developing traffic safety policies and plans focusing on

major accident factors (faulty driving behavior and

poor highway geometric design) is of urgent need to

reduce the frequency and severity of road accidents.

STUDY AREA

Ajloun is located in the northwest side of Jordan at a

distance of about 75 kilometers from the capital Amman.

Ajloun governorate covers a total area of 412 km2 and is

considered the second smallest Jordanian governorate

after Jerash. Ajloun has a distinguished geographic

location as a connection point between major


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development areas in the north, including Jordan Valley,

Jerash and Irbid. Its geographic location along with its

remarkable weather and unique biodiversity system,

represented in the extensive green forest cover and

numerous water springs, make Ajloun a major tourism

destination at both national and regional levels. This

opened the door to different types of tourism activities

that include: ecotourism, hiking, cultural (heritage and

archaeological) tourism, agricultural tourism, adventure

tourism and caves’ tourism. Ajloun governorate is

divided into five major municipalities: Alshifa, Ajloun,

Aleun, Aljunied and Kufranja. Agricultural lands,

forests, residential areas and rural areas are mainly the

dominant land uses in Ajloun as can be seen in Figure 1.

With its diverse attractive resources [beautiful mountains

reaching 1200 m height above MSL, topography

covered with a variety of forests, marvelous weather all

year around, unique geological formations, valleys with

streams, valuable heritage (e.g., Ajloun Castel), areas for

hiking and camping activities and caves], Ajloun has

become a major tourism destination in Jordan, locally

and regionally.

SITE INVESTIGATION AND FIELD SURVEY

In order to practically identify the scope of

transportation and other related problems facing

tourism development in the study area, a field survey

targeting local community was performed. The sample

size of the survey was 600 persons covering the

different community categories in Ajloun. Out of these,

we received back 544 filled surveys representing

90.7% of the total surveys distributed.

The survey distribution and collection process took

almost one month. The data were analyzed through

calculating the means and standard deviations. The

survey consists of 20 items with 5 answering options

(very poor, poor, average, high and very high) on a scale

from 5 (very poor) to 1 (very high), respectively. These

5 answering options were divided into 4 groups (1-2, 2-

3, 3-4 and 4-5). To identify the cut points for the survey

correction, we divide 4 by 3 to give 1.33 and 1 was

added to this number where the high level becomes

equal to or less than 2.33 and 2.34-3.66 becomes average

and above, whereas 3.67 or more is poor.

The analysis results were classified into categories.

The first category measures the satisfaction level of

local community regarding transport and tourism

services through the 7 items shown in Table 2.

It’s clear through the total average of the first data

category shown in Table 2 that the local community

evaluation of the existing transport services in Ajloun

is in the average range approaching almost the poor

level. Item 2 (usage of guiding and directory signs) for

example took the value 3.25 (average level

approaching high level), which means that there is an

adequate existence of such signs in Ajloun. Figure 2

shows the opinion of the surveyed sample in item 2.

Furthermore, Table 2 presents the security and safety

level in Ajloun as the second survey data category. The

results of this data category show that local community is

satisfied with the safety and security levels in Ajloun.

Table 1. Means and standard deviations for the first data category

Level Std. Dev. MeanItem ID# average 1.03 3.61 Road network quality 1 average 0.99 3.25 Usage of guiding and directory signs 2 average 1.11 3.62 Quality of hotel services 5 poor 1.07 3.67 Quality of restaurants 6 average 1.09 3.57 Availability and level of public transit 7 average 1.07 3.56 Cleanliness level of Ajloun 9 poor 1.13 3.80 Availability of gardens and parks in Ajloun 14 average 1.07 3.58 Total

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Table 2. Means and standard deviations for the second data category

Level Std. Dev. Mean Item ID#

average 1.28 3.65 Bus station location in terms of proximity to tourism places and safety

16

average 1.14 3.30 Efforts to reduce traffic accidents

18

average 1.23 2.55 Police availability to control traffic and to ensure safety

19

average 1.29 2.76 Spread of tourism police centers in different locations of Ajloun tourism sites

20

average 1.24 3.07 Total Average

SPATIAL ANALYSIS AND TRANSPORTATION

SYSTEM REVIEW

The results of the survey performed in the previous

section shows clearly the major drawbacks in the

infrastructure and superstructure tourism-related

system in Ajloun that needs special attention by both

government and local community. This section focuses

mainly on reviewing some of these issues, such as the

transportation-related problems with in-depth analysis

to develop tourism industry in the region. Data used in

the spatial analysis were prepared using Geographic

Information System (GIS) and a number of field

surveys. GIS provided thematic layers associated with

different attributes that were used to spatially analyze

the scope of each problem and to develop the proper

mitigation plan. GIS is a powerful tool for tourism

planning and management and needs to be

implemented in present and future plans for region

development. ArcGIS 9.2 software was used for the

GIS analysis part.

GIS IN TOURISM PLANNING

The connection between GIS and tourism planning

emphasizes the importance of studying tourism from a

geographic perspective that can lead to a good chance

for sustainable tourism management practices. The role

of GIS is clear in preparing the tourism management

plans and solutions through building tourism,

descriptive and spatial database depending on the

available data sources (topographic maps, aerial

photos, satellite images, as well as descriptive and

statistical data).

DATA COLLECTION

Our study depends on a number of information

sources that include: field study, maps, aerial

photographs and GPS data. Maps represent the main

source for collecting spatial data. Paper topographic

maps were the most important data source used in this

study to draw the topographic maps, identifying urban

centers and villages and highlighting the road

networks. This was done using ArcGIS software by

digitizing all spatial data in the proper projection to be

used later in spatial analysis.

The process of getting the base map ready for GIS

work involved importing scanned topographic maps to

ArcMap and rectifying them to the proper projection.

This allowed for extracting the needed spatial data

from all related layers. After entering a number of

reference points, the topographic map was

georeferenced into the real earth coordinates. Image

mosaic was performed for the three adjacent


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topographic maps to cover the study area. Google Earth

images covering the study area represented also

another important data source for collecting spatial

data.

GPS data also represented an integral part of our

database. Accident GPS coordinates were collected

from the police department. ArcGIS was used to study

the distribution of such accidents to identify black

spots in our study area for safety considerations. Each

accident was plotted on the map using its unique

coordinates resulting in accident shapefiles.

All of the previously mentioned geographic and

descriptive data were used to build the database for this

study. The data were converted into the proper digital

format through scanning and digitizing. Microsoft

Excel was also used to add the needed attributes to the

produced shapefiles.

DATA ANALYSIS

TOPOGRAPHY ANALYSIS

Ajloun has a rough mountainous topography that

affects inversely different infrastructure services, such

as highways, traffic safety and other aspects due to lack

of funding to establish high quality infrastructure

components. This adversely affects tourism in the

region. In this section, we will try to understand the

topography of Ajloun to plan the tourism services.

The study area shows a high variability in elevations

above mean sea level. Using the scanned topographic

maps, contour lines were digitized in ArcGIS to produce

the digital format of the study area contour map. The

contour map was converted into TIN surface to better

understand the topography of the region (Figure 3). As

can be easily noticed, elevations can go from as low as

zero or less below mean sea level to as high as 1247 m.

This represents a real challenge in setting out the needed

infrastructure for developing the study area.

Furthermore, the steep slopes related to the rough

geography, associated with poor infrastructure, cause

serious traffic safety issues. This is more obvious during

winter, characterized by heavy snow and rain, where

extensive rates of traffic crashes take place. Traffic

accidents for Ajloun region can be associated with other

road topography-related problems that include: poor

stopping and passing sight distances on the highway,

sharp horizontal and vertical curves’ alignment,

excessive rates of superelevation, poor highway

geometric design, poor drainage, poor design of

intersections, absence of grade-separated intersections

(bridges and/or tunnels) and low quality pavement

materials. Unfortunately, all of these problems and more

exist in the region adversely affecting the traffic safety

level causing large numbers of fatalities/injuries and

property damage associated with such traffic accidents.

A major review is needed for the exiting highways’

topography to reduce the severity of the above

mentioned problems and provide a safer highways’

environment in the region. To reduce the effect of poor

drainage and water flooding during winter, the existing

highways should be properly redesigned in accordance

with the exiting valleys and water streams in the area.

This will allow for proper usage of drainage systems,

including culverts, manholes and pipelines to enhance

the skid resistance on the highway and hence reduce the

possibility of traffic crashes.

In relation to topography, weather variability within

the study area may also contribute to the current traffic

safety issue. Three climates are present in the region;

cold Mediterranean climate in the high mountains

(more than 1000 m above MSL), warm Mediterranean

climate in areas with heights between 400 and 1000

meters and semi-desert climate at heights below 400

meters (Shihadah, 1990). Such weather variability can

affect pavement conditions, visibility and sight

distances on highways and other traffic parameters,

leading consequently to severe traffic accidents.

Differences in rain/snow precipitations among these

climates in winter can also increase traffic accidents’

frequency when traveling between such climates,

especially with the poor highway design elements

available.


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Figure (3): GIS TIN surface for the study area

Another issue related to topography is the extensive

forest cover in the region. This is clearly affecting sight

distance and visibility on highways, especially at

nighttime. Lighting systems on highways are not

adequate to provide enough visibility under such

circumstances. Besides, the quality of existing traffic

signs and pavement markings is not that good. All of

these factors contribute significantly to accidents and

thus a thorough review is needed.

ACCESSIBILITY PROBLEM

Archaeological investigations in Ajloun showed the

presence of more than 250 archaeological sites

scattered all over the governorate dating back to very

ancient dates (some reaching 8300 BC). Some of these

sites are not accessible at all with only a few sites being

accessible by unpaved rough roads. Many of the other

sites have limited accessibility being mostly connected

by minor roads with low capacity and low level of


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service. Added to this fact is the limited or absent

adequate parking areas near such sites especially in

holiday seasons. Poor public transit services (mainly

buses and taxies) are added to the accessibility problem

in Ajloun. All of these facts put negative remarks on

tourism development in Ajloun and serious efforts are

needed to enhance this status. Furthermore, the existing

transportation systems in Ajloun are insufficient in

terms of quantity, quality, connectivity and

serviceability to serve the population in the region

(349580 according to 2005 census).

INFRASTRUCTURE PROBLEMS

This section provides a detailed assessment of

infrastructure-related problems in Ajloun tourism area.

This includes problems mainly related to the road

network, traffic safety and land use violations. GIS is a

very useful tool in providing spatial domain for these

problems for better visualization and analysis.

ROAD NETWORK PROBLEMS

The road network and transport system in Ajloun,

given all the recent developments mainly represented

by the third tourism project sponsored by USAID, still

carry many threats and challenges that affect local

community safety and tourism sustainability. Most of

the road network in Ajloun (mainly CBD area) is

poorly designed missing the minimum criteria

specified by AASHTO. Limited number of lanes

(mostly one or two) and tight width of the right of way

caused serious traffic jams on the network. Illegal on-

street parking is another issue causing traffic

congestion in Ajloun. Added to this is the fact of

frequent failure of some traffic signals in the city

causing a serious confusion problem for the traffic

stream. Absence of pedestrian services, as well as

overpass or underpass, create inconvenience in

pedestrian and tourists mobility in the city. The road

network also doesn’t provide alternative ways from

origin to destination due to lack of physical

infrastructure, causing a serious issue in traffic

management in the city. Poor traffic signage system

adds to this problem. Furthermore, traffic-related issues

are a concern, such as interruption of traffic by existing

businesses on the streets and absence of traffic safety-

related studies to assess the transport system efficiency.

Among the other issues is the need of a better

public transport system (mass transit) to serve both

local community and tourists. This will reduce personal

car usage and provide a more environment-friendly

transport system. Enhancement or/and transfer of the

current bus stations is needed as well, because of their

current random distribution within the city distracting

the environmental image of Ajloun.

The current main bus terminal can be extended to

reduce current hazards to pedestrians. This can be done

through developing nearby lands as part of the

terminal, removal of nearby random shops owned by

the municipality affecting pedestrian and traffic

movements and organizing the new parking spots. This

also involves providing a shaded waiting area for

pedestrians waiting in adverse weather conditions

(mainly winter) and proper drainage system as the bus

station is located in a valley area. Figure 4 shows the

proposed extension.

There is also a need to establish paid parking

facilities in order to reduce illegal on-street parking. A

good choice would be to build a multi-storey parking

on a suitable piece of land. The proposed location lies

on two of the most important highways in the city,

which will serve the most crowded part of Ajloun.

Finally, there is an urgent need to develop a

pavement management system for all road networks to

assess the pavement conditions in Ajloun, quantify and

prioritize maintenance requirements and allocate

budget resources. Such action will enhance both

driving comfortability and safety on Ajloun highways.

As a sample study, we select one highway to study its

pavement conditions. This highway leads to the main

bus parking and is witnessing heavy traffic conditions

between Ajloun and other main cities. Field work was

done, where the road was divided into sections and


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each section was studied individually. A table for each

section was prepared (Figure 5; Shahin, 1994)

describing different distress types on the highway in

terms of quantity (in meters) with a sketch for each

type.

Figure (4): Proposed bus parking extension

Overall, there are severe pavement conditions on

Ajloun highways and an urgent action is needed to

perform a complete field study to rehabilitate and/or

reconstruct them as appropriate. This will enhance

traffic movements and reduce accidents’ frequency and

severity resulting from sudden change of lanes to avoid

such obstructions.

TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS

Accidents have a noticeable impact on tourism

attractiveness, being considered one of the safety

elements. Special attention needs to be given to study

road accidents, their severity levels, spatial distribution

and frequency on highways. As a sample study,

Ajloun’s available traffic accidents data for the years

2007 and 2008 were collected from Ajloun traffic

police department. Available spatial, quantitative and

qualitative information for each accident in the covered

time span was recorded. Collecting the data was a real

challenge and took around two months. The absence of

digital database for traffic accidents in Jordan was the

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design and pavement conditions at each intersection.

Conducting traffic safety awareness workshops and

seminars for general public and mainly for people who

are involved in traffic accidents will help. Special

studies are needed that focus on the main traffic

accident reasons: overspeeding, faulty passing and

sudden braking. Finally, traffic licensure procedures

need to be reviewed and assessed.

LAND USE VIOLATIONS

Protected lands and tourism sites in Ajloun are

threatened by different land use violations that came

mainly from nearby construction projects. According to

Jordan law number 21 for the year 1988 and the

modified law number 23 for the year 2002/article 13;

(a) No approval can be given for any construction

including buildings and walls within 5-25 m distance

from a heritage site for any compensation. (b) Based on

an approval from the minister, the distance mentioned

in part a of this article can be increased under any of

the following conditions: (1) to protect or maintain the

heritage site, (2) to increase the area of the heritage site

or (3) to guarantee that the site will not be blocked by

any nearby constructions.

The law provides strict protection for these sites.

However, a number of violations can still be noticed in

the area. Some examples are Ajloun ancient mosque

(Figure 7) and Ajloun natural reserve (Figure 8).

Comparing the current Ajloun ancient mosque

condition with the law zones (buffer shown in Figure

7), it can be clearly seen that the law was not applied.

Serious threats to the mosque are very clear from

nearby shops, buildings, roads and car parkings.

Ajloun natural reserve is recognized by an amazing

biodiversity system, including mountains (up to 1100

meters above MSL), valleys and other features. Parts of

the reserve are occupied and threatened by adjacent

farms and construction projects as can be seen in

Figure 8.

GIS can be used to monitor the changes in land use

near Ajloun natural reserve through satellite and aerial

images. All threats can be recognized, quickly

quantified and reported to the related authorities.

Figure (6): Traffic accidents’ data for the years 2007 and 2008

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- 514 -

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