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FHWA Highway Safety Programs

Key Strategies

Chapter 2 – Leadership, Collaboration, and Communication

Key Leadership, Collaboration, and Communication Strategies:

  • Assign leaders who are credible, accountable, and have excellent interpersonal and organizational skills.
  • Meet with new leaders to brief them on their role in supporting the SHSP and to persuade them to get involved.
  • Establish multidisciplinary collaborative efforts involving the 4E’s of safety.
  • Clearly and broadly communicate the SHSP vision, mission, and goals to all partners and stakeholders.
  • Use peer exchanges to learn from the experiences of other States.
  • Incorporate safety collaboration performance objectives into the position descriptions of those involved in SHSP implementation.
  • Establish a regime where the chairperson for the regularly scheduled highlevel safety meetings rotates among the various stakeholder groups.

Chapter 3 – Collecting, Analyzing, and Sharing Data

Key Data Collection, Analysis, and Sharing Strategies:

  • Conduct initial research into a range of available data sources.
  • Collect relevant data necessary to defi ne safety needs and support decisionmaking processes.
  • Prepare a traffi c records improvement strategic plan and data collection task forces or committees.
  • Provide training in the collection, analysis, and use of safety data.
  • Use data to select and implement appropriate systemic improvements to the transportation network and identify projects to improve safety at high-crash locations.
  • Use data to monitor and evaluate the outcomes and results of safety projects and programs.
  • Use data to justify the need for resources to support implementation of safety projects and programs.
  • Establish data sharing protocols to ensure all stakeholders are working from the same data sets and have access to the data they need.
  • Allow State and local agency partners to query safety data directly.

Chapter 4 – Emphasis Area Action Plans

Key Emphasis Area Action Plan Strategies:

  • Develop detailed action plans for each strategy in your SHSP.
  • Identify a facilitator to assist emphasis area teams in achieving consensus on action plan elements.
  • Identify performance measures as a basis for monitoring and evaluation and assign responsibilities to support accountability.
  • Assign responsibilities to support accountability.
  • Review and amend action plans as you proceed with implementation.
  • Provide emphasis area team members with a copy of the IPM.

Chapter 5.1 – Long-Range Transportation Plans and Transportation Improvement Programs

Key Integration Strategies – LRTP and S/TIP

  • Meet with planning offi cials at the DOT and MPO levels to discuss how to incorporate safety considerations into project selection and prioritization activities.
  • Participate in DOT and MPO visioning exercises to ensure safety is explicitly addressed.
  • Develop prototype vision statements that include safety language for presentation at DOT and MPO visioning exercises, MPO board meetings, public involvement meetings, and other forums to raise awareness.
  • Encourage the adoption of SHSP goals, objectives, and performance measures.
  • Provide the results of research and analysis conducted during the SHSP development process to identify strategies and projects for inclusion in LRTPs and S/TIPs.
  • Offer to serve on committees and teams that prepare and influence transportation plans.
  • Support MPO transportation safety planning forums to review crash data, introduce the SHSP, and discuss how safety can be integrated into their planning documents.
  • Attend statewide and local MPO board meetings to encourage a focus on safety.
  • Encourage MPOs to establish safety committees, adopt safety resolutions in support of the SHSP, and develop regional safety action plans reflecting appropriate elements from the SHSP.
  • Encourage and participate in the establishment of project prioritization weighting or ranking schemes that explicitly address safety considerations.
  • Encourage MPOs to use the SHSP emphasis areas as a source for programs in their annual Unified Planning Work Programs.
  • Ask the DOT and MPOs to require explicit documentation showing how S/TIP projects utilizing HSIP funds are directly linked to the SHSP.
  • Use peer exchanges to learn from the experiences of other States.

Chapter 5.2 – Highway Safety Improvement Programs

Key Integration Strategies – HSIP

  • Program HSIP funding to implement strategies aligned with the SHSP emphasis areas.
  • Familiarize the SHSP team with the HSIP Manual.
  • Participate in FHWA’s HSIP Assessment Toolbox.
  • Identify the infrastructure-related emphasis areas in the SHSP.
  • Develop policies and procedures to ensure the SHSP is considered during project prioritization.
  • Encourage a systems approach for implementing proven effective countermeasures.
  • Engage safety stakeholders and other partners to ensure more comprehensive and effective multidisciplinary solutions.
  • Train local governments, MPOs, and consultants in safety analysis techniques and countermeasure selection.
  • Use the SHSP process to review and evaluate the safety impacts of projects proposed by DOT Districts.
  • Reserve funds specifi cally for projects that align with the SHSP.
  • Mainstream safety features (i.e., rumble strips, etc.) into the scope of general construction projects to conserve scarce safety funds.
  • Provide technical assistance and traffi c engineering expertise to locals.

Chapter 5.3 – Highway Safety Plans

Key Integration Strategies – HSP

  • Ensure personnel working on SHSP and related programs and projects are familiar with HSP performance measures.
  • Conduct data analysis to focus on the greatest problem areas consistent with the SHSP emphasis area identifi cation process.
  • Focus the grant development and selection process on priority problem areas consistent with SHSP emphasis areas and strategies, e.g., revise grant solicitation announcements to include SHSP priorities.
  • Bring multiple agencies together during the programming process to improve project selection and ensure consistency with SHSP priorities and strategies.
  • Provide grant funds to local coalitions, nonprofits, and advocacy organizations to address issues specific to their jurisdictions and areas of expertise.
  • Use peer exchanges to learn from the experiences of other States.

Chapter 5.4 – Commercial Vehicle Safety Plans

Key Integration Strategies – CVSP

  • Ensure personnel working on SHSP and related programs and projects are familiar with MCSAP requirements.
  • Identify SHSP emphasis areas and/or strategies related to CMVs and include them as State-specific objectives within the CVSP.
  • Use data for problem identifi cation consistent with the SHSP.
  • Incorporate SHSP education and enforcement strategies into the CVSP (i.e., safety belts, aggressive driving, work zones, etc.).
  • Encourage State trucking associations and commissions to collaborate with a broad range of safety stakeholders.
  • Collaborate with law enforcement, motor vehicle administrators, and engineers to develop joint training and campaign programs.
  • Develop an Award for Excellence in Commercial Vehicle Safety, in collaboration with the State Association of Chiefs of Police to acknowledge local law enforcement agencies.
  • Integrate safety and SHSP elements into the State and local freight planning processes.
  • Reach out to local stakeholders by training, certifying, and collaborating with them on CMV inspection programs.

 

Chapter 6 – Marketing

Key Marketing Strategies

  • Develop a Statewide strategic marketing plan.
  • Address overall transportation safety rather than just the SHSP document.
  • Brand the effort with a unique identity.
  • Gain support from new safety stakeholders.
  • Use newsletters and safety summits to keep stakeholders interested and active.
  • Educate the public and elected offi cials about the SHSP and safety issues.
  • Provide opportunities to highlight different aspects of the SHSP through news media.
  • Coordinate media and communications messaging among all SHSP partners.
  • Prepare materials to distribute through public relations channels and earned media.

 

Chapter 7– Monitoring, Evaluation, and Feedback

Key Monitoring, Evaluation, and Feedback Strategies

  • Establish a timeline for reviewing and updating the SHSP, identifying key data inputs, reporting cycles, and other schedules (e.g., STIP) with which the review should be coordinated.
  • Monitor the implementation effort and issue periodic, standardized progress reports for each emphasis area.
  • Use a tracking tool, at least a spreadsheet, to organize and manage the monitoring process and to formalize reporting and sharing of information.
  • Use data-driven evaluation techniques and collect baseline data prior to implementation; consult standard data collection and analysis references as necessary to ensure credible results.
  • Define performance objectives that determine what constitutes “success” prior to countermeasure selection and implementation.
  • Select suitable performance measures that are clearly related to performance objectives to make sure the appropriate data are collected pre-and postimplementation.
  • Make sure the SHSP implementation team is familiar with safety-related performance measuring tools.
  • Use the results of monitoring and evaluation to identify opportunities to update or revise the SHSP.