Roadway safety is the responsibility of numerous agencies within each State.  Collaboration between agencies is critical to achieve the SHSP goals to reduce crashes on all public roads.  Active communication is required between Federal, State, regional and local government to improve safety.  In many States, the DOT is usually charged with the coordination between these agencies. 

State DOTs must also find ways to reach out to potential partners to encourage communication and enable all stakeholders to most effectively contribute to the State's ultimate safety goals.  Working as a team, through carefully cultivated partnerships, can eliminate redundant efforts, increase program efficiency, and effectively use limited financial and personnel resources.  Coordination and cooperation can be beneficial at any stage of project or program development.    

Partnerships

Many of the successes described by the scan States has been through the multi-agency collaboration and organizations which aligned priorities around the goals of the SHSP.  Collaboration between different organizations, including engineers, planners, educators, community leaders, activists, law enforcement, and emergency medical services can bring diverse safety expertise to existing programs and produce ideas for innovative approaches.  These partnerships are opportunities to share available resources, provide training, and develop innovative perspectives on solutions and countermeasures.  

Local Coalitions and Committees

When local agencies and organizations are able to collaborate, they can develop a collective understanding of the major safety issues and develop the best approaches to prevent or address safety issues.

In Minnesota, local agencies have formed multi-disciplinary Toward Zero Deaths (TZD) coalitions to address traffic safety issues in their communities. These coalitions address both infrastructure and behavioral safety issues in their communities.  The TZD program has resulted in statewide safety laws and outreach programs to address some of the root causes of crashes or injury (e.g., drunk-driving, seat-belt usage, texting, and teen driver inexperience).  The TZD program also contributed to the creation of additional hospital trauma centers to treat crash victims and reduce fatal crashes.

Minnesota has also encouraged and fostered partnerships and collaboration at the county level through the formation of the County Highway Safety Committee.  The Minnesota County Highway Safety Committee meets regularly and has actively lobbied for key safety laws and funding.  The Committee facilitated multi-agency projects that produced better unit costs and an increased scope of improvements on more local roadways than standalone projects.

Metropolitan Planning Organizations

Metropolitan Planning Organizations can be strong safety partners and advocates for local road safety.
 

Effective responses to common safety issues require strong and collaborative relationships between State, regional, and local transportation agencies.  Leadership from MPOs can encourage better data analysis, identify projects that reflect regional priorities, and enhance collaboration between stakeholders on local roadway safety programs. 

The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG), the MPO for counties in the Detroit metropolitan area, has taken a very active role in the region's highway safety efforts.  SEMCOG has adopted comprehensive approaches to safety planning by utilizing transportation data to forecast and mitigate potential hazards.  They have integrated transportation safety into a larger planning context to address shifting traffic, pedestrian, bicycle, and public transportation needs in their communities.  SEMCOG maintains and analyzes regional crash data using GIS technology and provides the results to the local member agencies and the public via web-based applications.  The web-based crash analysis tool allows local agencies to create a list of the intersections with the highest number of crashes (within 150 feet).  SEMCOG organizes and conducts RSAs on local roadways and pursues other local transportation safety efforts such as deer crash abatement and elderly mobility safety improvements.  SEMCOG's programs fulfill a need for its communities by consistently addressing shared issues and developing systemic solutions to minimize crashes.

The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC), a bi-State MPO for the Philadelphia/Trenton metropolitan area, established a multidisciplinary Regional Safety Task Force.  The task force is comprised of safety professionals from engineering, education, law enforcement, emergency services, and legislators in two States.  The task force meets quarterly to exchange information on safety strategies and resources that can reduce crashes and injuries in the region.  With guidance from the task force, DVRPC developed a Regional Safety Action Plan to reduce crashes by focusing support on the following efforts:

• Curb aggressive driving.
• Reduce impaired driving.
• Keep vehicles on the roadway.
• Sustain safe senior mobility.
• Increase seat belt usage.
• Improve the design and operation of intersections.
• Ensure pedestrian safety.

Through the Regional Safety Action Plan, DVRPC works to educate local engineers to identify potential safety issues, select effective countermeasures, and develop methods to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of countermeasures.  One of the task force's principal goals is to foster partnerships between safety stakeholders to improve safety in the bi-State region.  DVRPC also offers training resources, such as free workshops, for local stakeholders on safety topics.    

The Illinois Champaign-Urbana MPO identified a need for a safety specialist within their organization.  They partnered with another strong safety advocate, State Farm Insurance, to fund the position as a pilot program. Through this position, the MPO expanded its ability to conduct RSAs and to promote safety concepts within the region.  This special partnership helped to develop new local roadway safety projects.

Law Enforcement

Law enforcement is an active safety partner in a number of the scan States.  This partnership lends additional credibility to local roadway safety projects. The relationship between law enforcement and local transportation agencies is very important in Illinois, where law enforcement partners are able to elevate safety awareness at a local level with an authority that may not be possible for the State DOT.  IDOT and the State Police have organized quarterly meetings to discuss goals, areas of concern, and current actions.  

In New Jersey, relationships between NJDOT and law enforcement has been fostered through the common goal of reducing fatalities on the State's roadways.  Typically, the partnership is focused around the enforcement and educational aspects of transportation safety for local agencies and communities.  New Jersey also reported that the collaboration has come to include active engagement of law enforcement in road safety audits.  This collaboration develops more effective countermeasures to address local roadway safety issues because often times the officers bring information to the table that is not evident in the crash reports.

All of the partnerships discussed in this section are cultivated by active communication and investment of time by the State DOTs and other safety stakeholders. 

Outreach

To successfully address local roadway safety, State DOTs need to find cohesive and unobtrusive ways to build relationships and trust with local transportation agencies.  The scan States are building relationships through outreach activities such as conferences, individual interaction with local engineers, and regional education efforts. 

Conference Presentations

State DOTs need to communicate with county and municipal engineers to increase local participation in and understanding of local safety programs.  Heavy workloads and busy schedules force State DOTs to concentrate on forums that can maximize the delivery of information.  Local engineering conferences offer an opportunity to present safety program information to local road practitioners. 

Alabama has a very active County Engineers Association.  ALDOT uses the Association's annual meetings to conduct training and information-sharing sessions.  ALDOT presents critical information, which may include changes to application procedures, new statewide priorities, or the types of safety projects most likely to receive approval, at these meetings.  The county engineers have cited the meetings and the overall collaboration between ALDOT, the FHWA Division Office, and local agencies as key to developing successful projects.

The County Road Association of Michigan (CRAM) holds an annual County Engineers' Workshop.  MDOT representatives typically participate in this workshop, as part of an outreach effort to discuss safety issues related to new and upcoming projects, effective countermeasures, local agency program applications, and other related topics.  The workshop is not solely focused on safety, but transportation safety is one of the primary areas of discussion.  This workshop fosters continued collaboration between the State and county officials and results in improved Federal safety project applications from county engineers.

State-Local Liaisons

Georgia DOT's off-system safety coordinators serve as a liaison between State and local agencies.
 

It can be difficult for State DOTs to find effective ways to provide continuous and direct assistance to local engineers given the myriad of local transportation agencies spread throughout a State.  Many States are unsure how to engage local agencies in the overall safety program process.

GDOT created Off-System Safety Coordinator positions within each of the seven field districts to manage their local road safety program.  The program, referred to as Off-System Safety Program, works with local governments to provide safety improvements on local roadways.  Off-System Safety Coordinators are consultant positions, primarily comprised of retired staff members from GDOT, with extensive experience in working with the local agencies.  Individuals chosen to fill these positions often have previously established long-standing working relationships with county and municipal engineers.  This improves their ability to respond to inquiries and work effectively with policymakers. 

The established relationships between the Off-System Coordinators and the local agencies are a valuable tool to engage local agency participation in the HRRRP application process.  GDOT solicits interest from the local agencies, which then request assistance from the Off-System Coordinators and GDOT District Engineers to address safety concerns.  Coordinators and GDOT engineers then meet with the local agencies and conduct field assessments to identify safety needs and countermeasures. The Off-System Coordinators assist the local agencies by providing technical knowledge and traffic engineering expertise to identify safety problems, develop countermeasures, and prepare cost estimates.   

The coordinators in this program provide local agencies with oversight and assistance with Federal-aid requirements.  For the local agencies that do not have engineering staff, the assistance from the State representatives is critical to implement safety countermeasures. The mentoring provided by the liaisons has developed champions for safety in the participating local agencies.

MPO Committees

Local agencies may have difficulty coordinating across jurisdictional boundaries.  Regional planning agencies can serve as a bridge to work with a broad array of safety stakeholders in a region and coordinate across jurisdictional boundaries. MPOs can also effectively educate the public about safety issues in the region.

The South Jersey Transportation Planning Organization (SJTPO) created a Community Traffic Safety Program (CTSP) – the South Jersey Traffic Safety Alliance (SJTSA) – to address safety needs in their four-county region.  The Alliance brings together traffic safety professionals from the fields of law enforcement, education, fire, rescue, engineering and planning to develop region-wide traffic safety programs, share successful practices, exchange information, and support capital projects. SJTPO staffs the SJTSA with one full-time program manager and three part-time transportation safety specialists using metropolitan planning (PL) funds.  

The Alliance conducts outreach efforts to improve citizen awareness of transportation safety issues and steps they can take to improve safety in the region.  Some of these programs include the following:

• Buckle Up Stencil, Saved By The Seat Belt Club, and Seat Belt Surveys – outreach programs to educate drivers about the benefits of seat belt use and encourage greater seat belt use by drivers and passengers in motor vehicles.
• Bounty Program – outreach education program to educate the public about the proper disposal for old and used car seats as well as the danger of reusing these seats.
• Defensive Driving – outreach program to improve driver skills and driving techniques to prevent crashes and violations.
• Awards Program – outreach program to publicize the achievement of transportation safety champions, chosen from nominations from their peers, in the fields of education, engineering, planning, enforcement, and community awareness.

These programs focus on preventative measures that reduce both crashes and crash severity on local roadways.  The MPO brings together local transportation agencies to coordinate and conduct educational programs across the SJTPO region.

Summary

Partnerships and outreach efforts practiced by the scan States usually involve collaboration between multi-disciplinary groups, including engineering, planning, education, law enforcement, emergency services, and political representatives.

• Metropolitan Planning Organizations are safety champions who provide coordination and public outreach to local agencies in New Jersey, Michigan and Illinois.
• The Minnesota County Engineer Safety Association is uniquely positioned in the State to impact local road safety policies and funding. As a collective group they are able to lobby for policies and programs that address their roadway safety and share information among local agencies.
• State DOTs use County Engineer Safety Association meetings and workshops to present information about the Federal-aid process.  The meetings or workshops clarify statewide priorities, expose a large group of local engineers to the Federal-aid process, and improve the quality of project developed by county engineers. 
• Minnesota's Toward Zero Deaths community coalitions develop safety awareness at the local level through collaboration of multi-discipline stakeholders addressing safety in their communities.
• IDOT and NJDOT nurture relationships with law enforcement through the common goal of both groups to save lives on the roadway network.
• GDOT leverages the relationships of retired employees with local agencies by bringing them back as consultants to work closely with local agencies on safety issues.