THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AREA TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEM IN ŁÓDŹ AND CHANGES IN THE LEVEL OF ROAD TRAFFIC SAFETYIN THE YEARS 2007–2024

<ns3:p>The objective of the analysis was to assess the effectiveness of the Area Traffic Control System (ATCS)in Łódź as an instrument for improving road traffic safety. The application of Interrupted Time SeriesAnalysis (ITSA) enabled the identification of shifts in trends regarding the number of road accidents,road collisions, fatalities, and injured persons before and after the system’s implementation. Theresults clearly indicate that the deployment of the ATCS contributed to an overall improvement inroad safety conditions in Łódź. In the case of road accidents and the number of injured persons, thesystem significantly accelerated the previously observed downward trend. Regarding road collisions,the ATCS reversed the earlier upward trend, resulting in a sustained reduction in the number of suchevents in subsequent years. The analysis of fatalities revealed an immediate post-implementationdecrease (albeit without a lasting change in the long-term trend), which may stem from the inherentlyrandom nature of these events. Despite certain model limitations (such as not accounting for externalfactors including legislative changes, public safety campaigns, or traffic volume fluctuations), theconsistency and statistical significance of the findings support the conclusion that the ATCSconstitutes a key factor in enhancing road traffic safety in Łódź. The results confirm that IntelligentTransportation Systems can serve as an effective tool for reducing the frequency of road incidentsand their associated consequences.</ns3:p>