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Safety Data

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New Data-driven Approach to Support Safety Countermeasures with Short Service Lives

Problem

Local agency engineers have declined participation in the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) because the one-time infusion of safety funds is overshadowed by increasing maintenance costs, which are the sole responsibility of the local agency.

Noteworthy Solution

FHWA's Minnesota Division partnered with Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and Minnesota's county engineers to develop a new project funding approach for the state that removes the maintenance funding barrier. This approach changes the classification for some projects typically classified as maintenance so they are eligible for HSIP funding.

This practice is from the FHWA publication "Noteworthy Practices Manual - For Local Agencies Implementing Federal-Aid Highway Safety Improvement Program Projects." Download a PDF of the entire manual or view the HTML version.

Implementing New Technology

Problem

Local agencies may have limited expertise with new/innovative safety countermeasures. This limits the agency€™s ability to address key crash factors.

Noteworthy Solution

In 2012, Thurston County in Washington State conducted a data-driven safety analysis to identify and prioritize potential safety projects that would be eligible for Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) funds.

In late 2013, Thurston County determined that wet/icy pavement contributed to 47% of crashes and identified high friction surface treatment (HFST)€”a new and innovative technology proven effective at reducing crashes, particularly on wet pavements€”as a solution. However, Thurston County had no prior experience with HFST and neither the Washington State Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) nor the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) could answer Thurston County€™s questions about local implementation (installation costs, materials, and ongoing maintenance issues). To resolve the unanswered HFST inquiries, Thurston County worked with LTAP and FHWA to coordinate a peer exchange and pilot project.

This practice is from the FHWA publication "Noteworthy Practices Manual - For Local Agencies Implementing Federal-Aid Highway Safety Improvement Program Projects." Download a PDF of the entire manual or view the HTML version.

Fletcher Avenue Complete Streets Redesign – Hillsborough County, Florida

Vision Zero Success Story – Infrastructure

Background

The Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), in the Tampa, Florida region, identified several corridors in the roadway transportation network that would benefit from infrastructure enhancements to improve the safety, mobility, and accessibility of all users, particularly pedestrians and bicyclists. Through early crash analysis, the MPO identified the top 20 severe crash corridors, later adopted in its Vision Zero Action Plan. The MPO Board supported prioritizing funding in the transportation Improvement Program for redesigns that included safety for all modes.

Fletcher Avenue, near the University of South Florida (USF), was one of the targeted corridors. From 2011-2013, the section of Fletcher Avenue from Nebraska Avenue to Bruce B. Downs Boulevard averaged over 1,100 total daily pedestrian crossings. Additionally, the corridor had a high pedestrian crash rate with 31 pedestrian crashes.

Rainier Avenue South Redesign – Seattle, Washington

Vision Zero Success Story – Infrastructure

Background

The Rainier Valley neighborhood located in southeast Seattle is home to one of the City’s most culture-rich and diverse populations. Rainier Avenue South is a principal arterial street that connects residents and communities along the former regional rail corridor. The area surrounding Rainier Avenue South includes many land uses like retail, schools, and parks. These uses are pertinent to pedestrians, cyclists, transit users, and drivers.

It was also the corridor with the highest number of traffic crashes in Seattle; the corridor had a per mile crash rate that is greater than other streets in the City that carry more than twice the volume of traffic as on Rainier Ave South. The City launched Vision Zero efforts in 2014, one of which was working with the community to redesign a one-mile segment of the eight-mile corridor for the pilot phase of the Rainier Avenue South Corridor Safety Project. The City implemented changes to the piloted segment between South Alaska Street and South Kenny Street over a weekend in August 2015.

Rainier Avenue South carries over 13,000 people daily on transit, is a freight and emergency response route, and serves between 19,700 and 26,600 vehicles each weekday. Studies in the corridor show that between 1,000 and 2,000 vehicles per day travel along the corridor at a speed greater than 10 miles above the 30 miles per hour (mph) posted speed limit. The total average number of annual crashes over the 10 years prior to the redesign was 95 crashes, 9 serious injury crashes, and 1 fatality crash.

Systemic Safety Analysis – San Diego, California

Vision Zero Success Story – Data

Background

In 2015, the City of San Diego adopted a Vision Zero approach to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries on City streets by 2025. This approach included the development and implementation of strategies in the areas of engineering, enforcement, and education. A key element of the City’s Vision Zero program was to use data to select projects with the greatest safety benefit. This data-driven philosophy was encapsulated in the City’s Systemic Safety Analysis Reporting Program (SSARP). The Safe Transportation Research and Education Center at the University of California, Berkeley assisted with the development of SSARP, which included standardizing processes to perform crash analyses, identifying safety issues, and developing a list of low-cost proven safety countermeasures. The systemic safety approach evaluated the City’s entire roadway network, rather than individual high-crash locations, and identified high-risk roadway features correlated with common crash types.

Florida: Advanced Lighting Measurement System

  • The Safety Concern: Collecting crucial data on lighting intensity was labor intensive, expensive, and dangerous.
  • The Solution: Deployment of an Advanced Lighting Measurement System.
  • The Result: Significantly higher quantities of data collected using this safer, more cost-effective methodology.

(2015 National Roadway Safety Awards - Winner)

Minnesota: Implementation of Data-Driven Safety Solutions

  • The Safety Concern: County roads in Minnesota account for half of all fatal crashes, but less than a quarter of vehicle-miles traveled in the state.
  • The Solution: Development and implementation of County Road Safety Plans (CRSP) for all 87 Minnesota counties, emphasizing low-cost, systemic improvements over high-cost reactive treatments.
  • The Result: 330 low-cost, proactive safety improvements on the county road network, and a 25% reduction in the county road fatality rate during the four-year period following the CRSP process.

(2017 National Roadway Safety Awards - Winner)

Road Safety Improvement Program – Garfield County, WA

Despite a commitment to work with Federal and State Agencies to make roadway safety a top priority and move “Towards Zero Deaths” (TZD), Garfield County, WA lacked a data-driven, systematic process for identifying and addressing crash patterns and safety improvement needs on the county roadway network. This was of particular concern for Garfield County, which is a small rural jurisdiction with limited resources to invest in capital projects. Fully committing to goals set forth for the TZD initiative required establishment of a plan that identified feasible goals, applicable countermeasures, and efficient processes to prioritize investments.

(2019 National Roadway Safety Awards - Honorable Mention)

Data- and Technology-Driven Strategic Guardrail Management Program

In Virginia, approximately two thirds of fatalities are the result of roadway departure crashes. Various national research studies indicate that having appropriate guardrail can produce a crash reduction factor of up to 40 percent for roadway departure crashes. Therefore, the repair, replacement, and/or upgrade of guardrail systems is critical to the safety of the traveling public.

(2019 National Roadway Safety Awards - Winner)

Virginia Uses SMART SCALE to Evaluate Safety Benefits of Proposed Projects

Background

To ensure the best use of limited transportation funds when selecting projects for the State’s long-range transportation plan, the Virginia Department of Transportation uses the SMART SCALE tool to help establish priorities. Transportation projects are scored on an outcome-based process that is transparent to the public and aids decision makers in making sound transportation investments.