Idaho Integrates its SHSP with Other State Plans and Programs

The Idaho practice is discussed after the following introduction about SHSP integration.

Other states in this SHSP Integration Noteworthy Practices series: DE, ME, MD, ND, WA

Introduction to SHSP Integration

The Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) is a statewide-coordinated safety plan that provides a comprehensive framework for reducing the number of deaths and serious injuries on all public roads. In each State, the SHSP identifies the State's safety goals, objectives and key emphasis areas. It is intended to serve as an ‘umbrella’ plan that is integrated into other State transportation plans and guides the State's roadway safety investment decisions.

Integration Defined

Integration is the act of bringing together or incorporating various parts into a whole. Integration is relevant and important to a State's planning process because every State has numerous transportation plans; each one potentially addressing safety in a different way. The SHSP is the mechanism to bring these safety “parts” together to form a consistent and “whole” safety program for the State.

The Purpose and Benefits of Integration

The purpose of integration is to coordinate and focus the State's roadway safety efforts to maximize the State's ability to save lives.

Through integration, the safety needs of the State can be addressed more strategically and resources can be shared more effectively. As illustrated in Figure 1, integration encourages State partners to strive toward common goals, collectively implement appropriate strategies and actions, share resources to meet or exceed the State's goals and objectives, and most importantly to save lives.

Other potential integration benefits include:

• The use of consistent data and analysis methods.
• Improved allocation of resources to more effectively produce safety improvements.
• Improvements to safety culture across State, regional, and local agencies.
• A reduction in the administrative burden on States and local agencies.

Integration of Plans and Processes

State transportation plans and programs that the SHSP should be integrated with include the Statewide Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP), State Highway Safety Improvement Programs (HSIPs), the Commercial Vehicle Safety Plan (CVSP), the Highway Safety Plan (HSP) Metropolitan Transportation Plans (TIPs), and various modal and regional transportation plans. The relationship of these plans is illustrated in Figure 2.

An integrated SHSP positions the State DOT and its safety partners to collectively address the State's safety challenges on all public roads through coordination and consistency among with the following State and regional plans and programs:

• LRTPs to promote a long-range vision that incorporates safety priorities.
• HSIP projects to be consistent with the SHSP emphasis areas and strategies.
• STIPS/TIPS to align programming of projects with SHSP strategies and countermeasures.
• CVSPs to facilitate exchange and collaboration between the commercial motor vehicle safety community and the broader safety community.
• HSPs to ensure a consistent, data-driven approach to improving highway safety, especially in SHSP emphasis areas.

In addition, the SHSP should integrate with city and county planning processes to ensure consideration of safety concerns on all road types.

SHSP Integration Indicators

Indicators that the SHSP and other transportation plans and processes are integrated include the following:

• Other transportation plans incorporate elements of the SHSP and include consistent and supporting safety goals, performance measures, objectives, and strategies.
• The priorities and goals of other transportation programs and plans are considered when developing the SHSP.
• Safety partners have access to and use of common safety data, analysis, and methods for determining safety priorities.
• The SHSP is developed with sustained input from disciplines and agencies representing the 4Es of safety (engineering, enforcement, education, and emergency medical services).
• Safety partners assist in the implementation of SHSP strategies.
• SHSP stakeholders and experts are included in other transportation planning processes.
• SHSP priorities and strategies are considered in project prioritization and programming.
• Various sources of funding are used to achieve safety goals.
• Progress towards safety goals is measured jointly and regularly.

Idaho

Background

The Idaho Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) incorporates the input of numerous safety partners and is closely integrated with other State traffic safety plans. Idaho's SHSP brings partners together from across the State to address Idaho's most significant issues to improve safety and reduce traffic deaths and serious injuries.

SHSP Integration Strategies

Collaborative Development

The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) developed the SHSP through a collaborative process with multiple safety partners with the explicit purpose of strengthening safety partnerships, supporting safety coalitions, sharing data, knowledge and resources, avoiding redundant activities, and leveraging existing resources. The ITD partnered with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Safety to host an SHSP Workshop and Peer Exchange in 2009. More than 100 professionals representing engineering, education, enforcement, and emergency response agencies participated in the event. Following this peer exchange, ITD developed an SHSP that establishes emphasis areas based on the economic costs of crashes, sets strategies across the 4Es, and clearly identifies lead roles and responsibilities for safety agencies across the State.

Coordinated Implementation

Implementation of the Idaho SHSP is guided by an oversight team that meets on a quarterly basis and consists of representatives from the ITD, the Idaho Trauma Registry, FHWA, the Idaho State Police, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). ITD has developed an action steps tracking document, which includes information about the responsible party, funding, and activity status, to help monitor implementation of the SHSP.

ITD has established a sustained process for developing and implementing the SHSP through emphasis area teams led by partner safety agencies. Emphasis area teams have been established to lead the implementation of strategies in specific emphasis areas. Emphasis area team leads include representatives from local and state police departments, advocacy groups, and other highway safety partners. An ITD Highway Safety Program Manager and Research Analyst is a member of the respective emphasis area teams to act as a resource and liaison, but not to act as the chairman of the emphasis team. Each emphasis area team has defined performance measures, which were either agreed on by the SHSP oversight team or adopted from other relevant plans. The emphasis team leads report to the oversight team every six months.

Common Goals, Strategies, and Measures

The Highway Safety Office of the ITD is responsible for the SHSP, the Highway Safety Improvement Program (FHWA), and the Idaho Highway Safety Plan (NHTSA). This allows an integrated approach for safety planning and implementation to take place under one organizational structure for both the behavior and infrastructure programs. The Idaho SHSP places an emphasis on both infrastructure and behavioral factors in roadway crashes and is closely tied to the Idaho HSP. The strategies and projects listed in the HSP are explicitly aligned to strategies described in the SHSP emphasis areas. In addition, the SHSP includes a “Commercial Motor Vehicles” emphasis area that is led by a representative from Idaho State Police Commercial Vehicle Services and is closely tied to the Commercial Vehicle Safety Plan (CVSP). The close alignment of the SHSP, HSP, and CVSP ensures that funding and implementation strategies are closely coordinated across State agencies.

Outreach and Communication

ITD uses the SHSP to reach out to other State and local agencies within Idaho to coordinate safety efforts. ITD has developed brochures and talking points summarizing emphasis area crash data and SHSP strategies. In addition, ITD provides breakdowns of crash data by emphasis area for each of the six ITD districts. ITD uses these materials to conduct outreach with potential safety partners, including MPOs, local agencies, and advocacy organizations.

Key Accomplishments

• Incorporates input from diverse array of partners representing 4Es
• Assigns leadership roles for implementing SHSP to partners and tracks implementation of strategies
• Closely aligns SHSP with Commercial Vehicle Safety Plan (CVSP) and Highway Safety Plan (HSP)

Contact

Brent Jennings, P.E.
Idaho Transportation Department
(208) 334-8557
Brent.Jennings@itd.idaho.gov

Maine Integrates its SHSP with Other State Plans and Programs

The Maine practice is discussed after the following introduction about SHSP integration.

Other states in this SHSP Integration Noteworthy Practices series: DE, ID, MD, ND, WA

Introduction to SHSP Integration

The Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) is a statewide-coordinated safety plan that provides a comprehensive framework for reducing the number of deaths and serious injuries on all public roads. In each State, the SHSP identifies the State's safety goals, objectives and key emphasis areas. It is intended to serve as an ‘umbrella’ plan that is integrated into other State transportation plans and guides the State's roadway safety investment decisions.

Integration Defined

Integration is the act of bringing together or incorporating various parts into a whole. Integration is relevant and important to a State's planning process because every State has numerous transportation plans; each one potentially addressing safety in a different way. The SHSP is the mechanism to bring these safety “parts” together to form a consistent and “whole” safety program for the State.

The Purpose and Benefits of Integration

The purpose of integration is to coordinate and focus the State's roadway safety efforts to maximize the State's ability to save lives.

Through integration, the safety needs of the State can be addressed more strategically and resources can be shared more effectively. As illustrated in Figure 1, integration encourages State partners to strive toward common goals, collectively implement appropriate strategies and actions, share resources to meet or exceed the State's goals and objectives, and most importantly to save lives.

Other potential integration benefits include:

• The use of consistent data and analysis methods.
• Improved allocation of resources to more effectively produce safety improvements.
• Improvements to safety culture across State, regional, and local agencies.
• A reduction in the administrative burden on States and local agencies.

Integration of Plans and Processes

State transportation plans and programs that the SHSP should be integrated with include the Statewide Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP), State Highway Safety Improvement Programs (HSIPs), the Commercial Vehicle Safety Plan (CVSP), the Highway Safety Plan (HSP) Metropolitan Transportation Plans (TIPs), and various modal and regional transportation plans. The relationship of these plans is illustrated in Figure 2.

An integrated SHSP positions the State DOT and its safety partners to collectively address the State's safety challenges on all public roads through coordination and consistency among with the following State and regional plans and programs:

• LRTPs to promote a long-range vision that incorporates safety priorities.
• HSIP projects to be consistent with the SHSP emphasis areas and strategies.
• STIPS/TIPS to align programming of projects with SHSP strategies and countermeasures.
• CVSPs to facilitate exchange and collaboration between the commercial motor vehicle safety community and the broader safety community.
• HSPs to ensure a consistent, data-driven approach to improving highway safety, especially in SHSP emphasis areas.

In addition, the SHSP should integrate with city and county planning processes to ensure consideration of safety concerns on all road types.

SHSP Integration Indicators

Indicators that the SHSP and other transportation plans and processes are integrated include the following:

• Other transportation plans incorporate elements of the SHSP and include consistent and supporting safety goals, performance measures, objectives, and strategies.
• The priorities and goals of other transportation programs and plans are considered when developing the SHSP.
• Safety partners have access to and use of common safety data, analysis, and methods for determining safety priorities.
• The SHSP is developed with sustained input from disciplines and agencies representing the 4Es of safety (engineering, enforcement, education, and emergency medical services).
• Safety partners assist in the implementation of SHSP strategies.
• SHSP stakeholders and experts are included in other transportation planning processes.
• SHSP priorities and strategies are considered in project prioritization and programming.
• Various sources of funding are used to achieve safety goals.
• Progress towards safety goals is measured jointly and regularly.

Maine

Background

The Maine SHSP brings together many state agencies pursuing traffic safety interests plus other safety advocates. Together they address Maine's leading traffic safety concerns in a coordinated way to maximize effectiveness and efficiency of achieving improvements in target areas.

SHSP Integration Practices

Collaborative Development

The Maine Department of Transportation (DOT) and Department of Public Safety's Bureau of Highway Safety (BHS) led an update of the SHSP in 2012. The 2012 SHSP identifies eight lead focus areas and six additional strategic areas. Champions from State, local and nonprofit agencies are identified for each of the 14 focus areas. A particular emphasis was placed on identifying local law enforcement champions to encourage local engagement in the plan. Champions are responsible for regularly convening working groups, reviewing data, and developing objectives and strategies, leading the implementation of strategies, and reporting progress. Strategies to bring about safety improvement include Engineering, Enforcement, Education/Public Outreach, and Emergency Services.

Common Goals, Strategies, and Measures

Maine's SHSP is closely tied to the Highway Safety Plan (HSP). The BHS and Maine DOT's Office of Safety work closely together to ensure that their efforts are coordinated. As a result, the goals expressed in the SHSP and HSP are common goals arrived at from reviewing the same data. Performance measures and targets included in the SHSP for behavioral emphasis areas are drawn from those defined in the HSP.

Coordinated Implementation

The Maine Transportation Safety Coalition (MTSC) provides another channel for coordinating safety efforts. Members of the coalition meet monthly to review data and coordinate efforts towards common goals. The MTSC helps to promote and integrate SHSP goals and strategies across the Maine safety community. The MTSC also helps to ensure that the major safety agencies in Maine are all communicating the same message about highway safety.

Outreach and Communication

The partnerships among Maine's safety agencies are reinforced through consistent communication and collaboration. Individuals in key safety agencies have made the effort to build personal relationships over time. Mechanisms like the SHSP update, the implementation process and the MTSC help to reinforce those personal relationships that are vital for ensuring that safety efforts are coordinated throughout the State.

Key Accomplishments

• Identified champions from State, local, and nonprofit agencies to lead emphasis area strategy development and implementation
• Closely aligned goals and performance measures in the SHSP with those in the Highway Safety Plan (HSP)
• Promoted the SHSP through the Maine Transportation Safety Coalition

Contact

Duane Brunell
Maine Department of Transportation
(207) 624-3278
Duane.Brunell@maine.gov

Maryland Integrates its SHSP with Other State Plans and Programs

The Maryland practice is discussed after the following introduction about SHSP integration.

Other states in this SHSP Integration Noteworthy Practices series: DE, ID, ME, ND, WA

Introduction to SHSP Integration

The Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) is a statewide-coordinated safety plan that provides a comprehensive framework for reducing the number of deaths and serious injuries on all public roads. In each State, the SHSP identifies the State's safety goals, objectives and key emphasis areas. It is intended to serve as an ‘umbrella’ plan that is integrated into other State transportation plans and guides the State's roadway safety investment decisions.

Integration Defined

Integration is the act of bringing together or incorporating various parts into a whole. Integration is relevant and important to a State's planning process because every State has numerous transportation plans; each one potentially addressing safety in a different way. The SHSP is the mechanism to bring these safety “parts” together to form a consistent and “whole” safety program for the State.

The Purpose and Benefits of Integration

The purpose of integration is to coordinate and focus the State's roadway safety efforts to maximize the State's ability to save lives.

Through integration, the safety needs of the State can be addressed more strategically and resources can be shared more effectively. As illustrated in Figure 1, integration encourages State partners to strive toward common goals, collectively implement appropriate strategies and actions, share resources to meet or exceed the State's goals and objectives, and most importantly to save lives.

Other potential integration benefits include:

• The use of consistent data and analysis methods.
• Improved allocation of resources to more effectively produce safety improvements.
• Improvements to safety culture across State, regional, and local agencies.
• A reduction in the administrative burden on States and local agencies.

Integration of Plans and Processes

State transportation plans and programs that the SHSP should be integrated with include the Statewide Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP), State Highway Safety Improvement Programs (HSIPs), the Commercial Vehicle Safety Plan (CVSP), the Highway Safety Plan (HSP) Metropolitan Transportation Plans (TIPs), and various modal and regional transportation plans. The relationship of these plans is illustrated in Figure 2.

An integrated SHSP positions the State DOT and its safety partners to collectively address the State's safety challenges on all public roads through coordination and consistency among with the following State and regional plans and programs:

• LRTPs to promote a long-range vision that incorporates safety priorities.
• HSIP projects to be consistent with the SHSP emphasis areas and strategies.
• STIPS/TIPS to align programming of projects with SHSP strategies and countermeasures.
• CVSPs to facilitate exchange and collaboration between the commercial motor vehicle safety community and the broader safety community.
• HSPs to ensure a consistent, data-driven approach to improving highway safety, especially in SHSP emphasis areas.

In addition, the SHSP should integrate with city and county planning processes to ensure consideration of safety concerns on all road types.

SHSP Integration Indicators

Indicators that the SHSP and other transportation plans and processes are integrated include the following:

• Other transportation plans incorporate elements of the SHSP and include consistent and supporting safety goals, performance measures, objectives, and strategies.
• The priorities and goals of other transportation programs and plans are considered when developing the SHSP.
• Safety partners have access to and use of common safety data, analysis, and methods for determining safety priorities.
• The SHSP is developed with sustained input from disciplines and agencies representing the 4Es of safety (engineering, enforcement, education, and emergency medical services).
• Safety partners assist in the implementation of SHSP strategies.
• SHSP stakeholders and experts are included in other transportation planning processes.
• SHSP priorities and strategies are considered in project prioritization and programming.
• Various sources of funding are used to achieve safety goals.
• Progress towards safety goals is measured jointly and regularly.

Maryland

Background

The overall objective of Maryland's Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) is to reduce fatalities and Injuries. Maryland has adopted the vision of Towards Zero Death, with an overarching goal to halve fatalities in Maryland by 2030, and to 475 by 2015.

The SHSP is housed in the Highway Safety Office (HSO) under the direction and oversight of the highway safety coordinator. An Executive Council meets quarterly to receive SHSP updates, provide direction, review successes and discuss challenges. The Council is comprised of Maryland's: Secretary of the State Police; Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) Administrator; State Highway Administration (SHA) Administrator; Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH); Department of Transportation's (MDOT) Director of Planning; Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) Executive Director; and Transportation Authority Police.

SHSP Integration Practices

Common Goals, Strategies and Measures

The SHSP serves as the long-term, overarching highway safety plan for the State. It directs the priorities and strategies addressed by the State's other highway safety related plans and programs, including the Highway Safety Plan (HSP), Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) and the Commercial Vehicle Safety Plan (CVSP).

The SHSP establishes broad strategies for the State. They are further defined into action steps that are developed by the SHSP emphasis area teams. These action steps form a selection of the projects outlined in the annual HSP, HSIP and CVSP. Keeping the strategies broad in nature allows a wide-range of buy-in from partners and an opportunity for all 4Es to participate as appropriate for their agencies.

Several key partners have committed their support for the SHSP through resolutions. The Maryland Chiefs of Police, Sheriff's Association, Association of County Health Officials, and the Institute for EMS Systems have all signed resolutions pledging their support to Maryland's Towards Zero Death vision, the SHSP, and helping to implement the SHSP strategies.

To achieve a fifty percent reduction in fatalities by 2030, a geometric mean reduction plan was devised to work backward from Maryland's future goal using 2008 as the benchmark year. This methodology was also used to set interim annual targets and various performance measures for the HSP & State Highway Administration Business Plans. In the future, Maryland will establish program area performance measures based on a rolling average, but the current methodology to set interim annual targets for the plans will remain the same.

Maryland has spent a great deal of effort elevating the SHSP in the eyes of the entire Department of Transportation. In prior years, the safety elements in the DOT's Statewide Long Range Transportation Plan and the Motor Vehicle Association's long range plan were not in line with the SHSP. Now the SHSP sets the tone and goals for these plans and the plans refer back to the SHSP. This is true for other State agency plans as well. For example, the Maryland Department of Health & Mental Hygiene and the Maryland State Police both have agency business plans with highway safety components. These safety components align with those in the SHSP. A big factor in accomplishing this is having the leadership from these agencies as members of the SHSP Executive Council.

Local Integration

Maryland is embarking in an effort to develop county roadway safety plans. The idea is to have local level plans that align with the SHSP, but with refined emphasis areas and strategies that have a local “flavor.” The State Highway Administration is taking the lead and is developing local data packages for counties.

For example, Hartford County has already developed a local SHSP and has set the stage for other county efforts. Like the state's SHSP, the Harford County SHSP follows a data driven, multidisciplinary approach involving the 4Es of traffic safety—education, emergency medical services, enforcement, and engineering. The plan provides a framework for reducing fatalities and serious injuries on all Harford County roads, and it establishes goals, objectives, and key emphasis areas in keeping with the goals and objectives of the SHSP. It also focuses on all road users to include bicyclists, drivers, motorcycle riders, and pedestrians.

Harford County will join Maryland in adopting the goal of the national initiative Toward Zero Deaths to reduce traffic fatalities by half by 2030. Harford County also used the same methodology as the state's SHSP to establish a benchmark for progress and will follow interim goals for fatality and injury reductions by 2015.

Key Accomplishments

• Broad SHSP strategies to help engage partners
• SHSP goals and strategies integrated with other State plans
• Coordinated target setting
• County SHSPs to help implement SHSP strategies at the local level

Contact

Thomas J. Gianni
Maryland Highway Safety Office
(410) 787-4014
TGianni@mdot.state.md.us

North Dakota Integrates its SHSP with Other State Plans and Programs

The North Dakota practice is discussed after the following introduction about SHSP integration.

Other states in this SHSP Integration Noteworthy Practices series: DE, ID, ME, MD, WA

Introduction to SHSP Integration

The Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) is a statewide-coordinated safety plan that provides a comprehensive framework for reducing the number of deaths and serious injuries on all public roads. In each State, the SHSP identifies the State's safety goals, objectives and key emphasis areas. It is intended to serve as an ‘umbrella’ plan that is integrated into other State transportation plans and guides the State's roadway safety investment decisions.

Integration Defined

Integration is the act of bringing together or incorporating various parts into a whole. Integration is relevant and important to a State's planning process because every State has numerous transportation plans; each one potentially addressing safety in a different way. The SHSP is the mechanism to bring these safety “parts” together to form a consistent and “whole” safety program for the State.

The Purpose and Benefits of Integration

The purpose of integration is to coordinate and focus the State's roadway safety efforts to maximize the State's ability to save lives.

Through integration, the safety needs of the State can be addressed more strategically and resources can be shared more effectively. As illustrated in Figure 1, integration encourages State partners to strive toward common goals, collectively implement appropriate strategies and actions, share resources to meet or exceed the State's goals and objectives, and most importantly to save lives.

Other potential integration benefits include:

• The use of consistent data and analysis methods.
• Improved allocation of resources to more effectively produce safety improvements.
• Improvements to safety culture across State, regional, and local agencies.
• A reduction in the administrative burden on States and local agencies.

Integration of Plans and Processes

State transportation plans and programs that the SHSP should be integrated with include the Statewide Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP), State Highway Safety Improvement Programs (HSIPs), the Commercial Vehicle Safety Plan (CVSP), the Highway Safety Plan (HSP) Metropolitan Transportation Plans (TIPs), and various modal and regional transportation plans. The relationship of these plans is illustrated in Figure 2.

An integrated SHSP positions the State DOT and its safety partners to collectively address the State's safety challenges on all public roads through coordination and consistency among with the following State and regional plans and programs:

• LRTPs to promote a long-range vision that incorporates safety priorities.
• HSIP projects to be consistent with the SHSP emphasis areas and strategies.
• STIPS/TIPS to align programming of projects with SHSP strategies and countermeasures.
• CVSPs to facilitate exchange and collaboration between the commercial motor vehicle safety community and the broader safety community.
• HSPs to ensure a consistent, data-driven approach to improving highway safety, especially in SHSP emphasis areas.

In addition, the SHSP should integrate with city and county planning processes to ensure consideration of safety concerns on all road types.

SHSP Integration Indicators

Indicators that the SHSP and other transportation plans and processes are integrated include the following:

• Other transportation plans incorporate elements of the SHSP and include consistent and supporting safety goals, performance measures, objectives, and strategies.
• The priorities and goals of other transportation programs and plans are considered when developing the SHSP.
• Safety partners have access to and use of common safety data, analysis, and methods for determining safety priorities.
• The SHSP is developed with sustained input from disciplines and agencies representing the 4Es of safety (engineering, enforcement, education, and emergency medical services).
• Safety partners assist in the implementation of SHSP strategies.
• SHSP stakeholders and experts are included in other transportation planning processes.
• SHSP priorities and strategies are considered in project prioritization and programming.
• Various sources of funding are used to achieve safety goals.
• Progress towards safety goals is measured jointly and regularly.

North Dakota

Background

The North Dakota Department of Transportation (NDDOT) Safety Division is responsible for coordinating the development and implementation of the State's Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP). North Dakota recently updated the SHSP using a collaborative process that included a wide range of safety stakeholders including Federal, State, local, and private sector entities. The SHSP provides an overview of traffic safety issues and trends, goals, emphasis areas, initiatives, programs, and achievements to promote traffic safety in North Dakota.

SHSP Integration Practices

Collaborative Development

Through the SHSP, the North Dakota DOT promotes coordination with other traffic safety partners and initiatives throughout the state. The SHSP process has led to closer coordination among safety agencies. With each update, NDDOT has increased the number of stakeholders involved in the process.

The 2013 North Dakota SHSP update was led by the leadership of the NDDOT, in consultation with safety partners across the state who worked collaboratively towards their overall goal of eliminating all traffic fatalities and serious injuries on all North Dakota roads. At the onset, the SHSP was developed under the guidance of a steering committee consisting of representatives from NDDOT, the North Dakota Department of Health Division of Emergency Medical Services and Trauma, the North Dakota Highway Patrol, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). To further incorporate stakeholder input into the SHSP, NDDOT invited about 100 4E stakeholders representing education, enforcement, engineering, and EMS from across the State to a workshop where they reviewed State safety data and identified strategies for implementation.

In addition to reviewing data, the SHSP steering committee also referred to associated safety plans and programs including the Traffic Records Strategic Plan and the Highway Safety Plan (HSP). The SHSP Steering Committee took part in the HSP data analysis and planning functions as well.

The NDDOT Safety Division is responsible for developing both the SHSP and the HSP. As a result, the SHSP and HSP are closely aligned. Strategies in the HSP are consistent with the SHSP priority emphasis areas and evidence-based strategies. In fact, the completed SHSP was used as a basis for selecting strategies for inclusion in the current HSP. The link between the SHSP and HSP strategies and projects can be seen in the following example from the Alcohol-Related Emphasis Area.

The NDDOT Programming Division is responsible for developing and implementing the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP). The Programming Division served on the SHSP steering committee and actively participated in the 2013 North Dakota SHSP update. The NDDOT HSIP uses a data-driven, strategic approach to improving highway safety on all public roads. The NDDOT ensures the HSIP projects are consistent with the data-driven SHSP. This is easily accomplished due to the close coordination between the Programming Division, Safety Division and local partners.

Consensus Safety Goal

North Dakota has established a long-term goal to eliminate all traffic fatalities on North Dakota's public roads. While it is widely recognized within the state that there is only one suitable long-term goal, it is also acknowledged that intermediate (short-term) goals are needed as benchmarks to measure progress. Intermediate goals also promote cooperation among agencies to accomplish these goals. Discussions were held with safety stakeholders to begin the process of selecting an intermediate goal. Due to the upward trend of traffic fatalities, there was unanimous support for an aggressive intermediate goal to reduce traffic fatalities, and several options were discussed. After considering the stakeholders' input, the SHSP Steering Committee selected reducing the 3-year average of traffic fatalities to 100 or fewer by 2020 (approximately a 3 percent reduction per year).

SHSP Implementation

North Dakota acknowledges that the development of a data-driven SHSP and adopting crash reduction goals is only the first step. Plans do not save lives, implementation does. To reverse the current trend and achieve the crash reduction goal, North Dakota commits to a comprehensive statewide highway safety program with implementation of high priority safety strategies along roadway systems and facilities defined to be at-risk. The basic components of this comprehensive program are working with the safety partners to implement the driver-behavior program, implement infrastructure improvements, improve emergency response, and improve reporting of crashes.

Local and Tribal Integration

The NDDOT made specific efforts to reach out to the Tribes within North Dakota to include them as SHSP stakeholders. Tribal traffic safety coordinators and law enforcement officials were included as part of the SHSP development process. This partnership with tribal stakeholders also included efforts to collect and share safety data and data analysis.

To ensure the implementation of the SHSP at the local level, NDDOT has led the development of local road safety plans. They intend to develop local road safety plans for all 53 counties, 12 major cities, and 4 tribes in North Dakota. As part of the process, they will collect and analyze safety data, hold formal regional workshops to select countermeasures, and document high risk local road locations and safety projects for implementation. The local road safety plans will help NDDOT carry out SHSP strategies at a local level by identifying data-driven safety projects on local roads for HSIP and HSP funding.

Key Accomplishments

• Incorporated stakeholder input into the SHSP from about 100 stakeholders
• Closely aligned SHSP, Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) and Highway Safety Plan (HSP)
• Developing local road safety plans for each county and major city in North Dakota

Contact

Mark Nelson
North Dakota Department of Transportation
(701) 328-4559
MNelson@nd.gov

Delaware Integrates its SHSP with Other State Plans and Programs

The Delaware practice is discussed after the following introduction about SHSP integration.

Other states in this SHSP Integration Noteworthy Practices series: ID, ME, MD, ND, WA

Introduction to SHSP Integration

The Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) is a statewide-coordinated safety plan that provides a comprehensive framework for reducing the number of deaths and serious injuries on all public roads. In each State, the SHSP identifies the State's safety goals, objectives and key emphasis areas. It is intended to serve as an ‘umbrella’ plan that is integrated into other State transportation plans and guides the State's roadway safety investment decisions.

Integration Defined

Integration is the act of bringing together or incorporating various parts into a whole. Integration is relevant and important to a State's planning process because every State has numerous transportation plans; each one potentially addressing safety in a different way. The SHSP is the mechanism to bring these safety “parts” together to form a consistent and “whole” safety program for the State.

The Purpose and Benefits of Integration

The purpose of integration is to coordinate and focus the State's roadway safety efforts to maximize the State's ability to save lives.

Through integration, the safety needs of the State can be addressed more strategically and resources can be shared more effectively. As illustrated in Figure 1, integration encourages State partners to strive toward common goals, collectively implement appropriate strategies and actions, share resources to meet or exceed the State's goals and objectives, and most importantly to save lives.

Other potential integration benefits include:

• The use of consistent data and analysis methods.
• Improved allocation of resources to more effectively produce safety improvements.
• Improvements to safety culture across State, regional, and local agencies.
• A reduction in the administrative burden on States and local agencies.

Integration of Plans and Processes

State transportation plans and programs that the SHSP should be integrated with include the Statewide Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP), State Highway Safety Improvement Programs (HSIPs), the Commercial Vehicle Safety Plan (CVSP), the Highway Safety Plan (HSP) Metropolitan Transportation Plans (TIPs), and various modal and regional transportation plans. The relationship of these plans is illustrated in Figure 2.

An integrated SHSP positions the State DOT and its safety partners to collectively address the State's safety challenges on all public roads through coordination and consistency among with the following State and regional plans and programs:

• LRTPs to promote a long-range vision that incorporates safety priorities.
• HSIP projects to be consistent with the SHSP emphasis areas and strategies.
• STIPS/TIPS to align programming of projects with SHSP strategies and countermeasures.
• CVSPs to facilitate exchange and collaboration between the commercial motor vehicle safety community and the broader safety community.
• HSPs to ensure a consistent, data-driven approach to improving highway safety, especially in SHSP emphasis areas.

In addition, the SHSP should integrate with city and county planning processes to ensure consideration of safety concerns on all road types.

SHSP Integration Indicators

Indicators that the SHSP and other transportation plans and processes are integrated include the following:

• Other transportation plans incorporate elements of the SHSP and include consistent and supporting safety goals, performance measures, objectives, and strategies.
• The priorities and goals of other transportation programs and plans are considered when developing the SHSP.
• Safety partners have access to and use of common safety data, analysis, and methods for determining safety priorities.
• The SHSP is developed with sustained input from disciplines and agencies representing the 4Es of safety (engineering, enforcement, education, and emergency medical services).
• Safety partners assist in the implementation of SHSP strategies.
• SHSP stakeholders and experts are included in other transportation planning processes.
• SHSP priorities and strategies are considered in project prioritization and programming.
• Various sources of funding are used to achieve safety goals.
• Progress towards safety goals is measured jointly and regularly.

Delaware

Background

A core committee of coordinating agencies made up of Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT), Delaware's Office of Highway Safety (OHS), the Delaware State Police (DSP), the Delaware Office of Emergency Medical Services (OEMS), and the Delaware Department of Justice led the update of the Delaware Strategic Highway Safety Plan in 2010. The committee closely coordinated with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) throughout the process.

SHSP Integration Practices

Collaborative SHSP Development and Implementation

The process of developing Delaware's 2010 SHSP update helped to strengthen existing partnerships across safety agencies in Delaware. Including all of the key State public safety agencies on the core committee responsible for updating the SHSP ensured that all of the agencies had a chance to review the same crash data, reach agreement about safety priorities in the State based on the crash data, and identify a robust set of multidisciplinary strategies to address each crash type. The inclusion of the OEMS on the core committee led to the identification of a number of new emergency response strategies being included in the 2010 update. The core coordinating agencies continue to work together on various safety initiatives and coordinate to ensure that the strategies identified in the SHSP are implemented. DelDOT also uses the SHSP as an outreach tool for talking to other public agencies within Delaware about the State's roadway safety priorities and strategies.

Coordinated Goals

The coordinating agencies reviewed fatal crash data as well as FHWA and American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) guidelines for SHSPs to select and prioritize the emphasis areas in accordance with the frequency of the associated crash type. In addition to emphasis areas based on crash types, the coordinating agencies added “Improving Traffic Records” as an emphasis area.

Although the national and statewide overall SHSP goals are based on fatality rates rather than fatal crash rates, Delaware's coordinating agencies agreed to base Delaware's data analyses and performance-based goals for each emphasis area on the number of fatal crashes rather than the number of fatalities for all data-driven emphasis areas, except for the emphasis area dedicated to Increasing Seat Belt Usage.

The SHSP established goals for each primary emphasis area based on a percent reduction in the number of fatal crashes and the corresponding reduction in the number of fatal crashes. Additionally, the group reviewed the goals in other Delaware safety plans including OHS's FY 2010 Highway Safety Plan (HSP), the Delaware Traffic Safety Information System Strategic Plan, and DSP's FY 2010 Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program Commercial Vehicle Safety Plan (CVSP), to ensure that the goals of the SHSP were consistent with the goals of other statewide initiatives.

SHSP Strategies Reflected as Projects in Highway Safety Plan

The coordinating agencies selected education, enforcement, engineering, and emergency services strategies to address each emphasis area. Strategies were selected based on their cost-effectiveness, potential rate of return, and proven effectiveness.

SHSP strategies are reflected in other State plans, such as the HSP. For example, an SHSP emphasis area is “Increasing Seat Belt Usage.” The strategies in the SHSP involve educational and enforcement campaigns to inform the public of the safety benefits of wearing a seat belt. Enforcement and education strategies are reflected in Delaware's most recent HSP, as projects to provide funding to law enforcement agencies with an identified traffic safety problem to conduct enforcement blitzes focused on occupant protection violations. The enforcement includes both checkpoints and saturation patrols and is supported by paid media.

Coordination among the agencies has been particularly important for establishing and implementing strategies for “Improving Traffic Records.” The State Traffic Records Coordinating Committee (TRCC) is responsible for leading data improvement efforts in Delaware. The TRCC's Traffic Safety Information System Strategic Plan is referenced in the SHSP as well as the HSP as the guide to ensure that the proper steps are being taken to create data systems that are timely, accurate, consistent, complete, and accessible.

The SHSP outlines the projects and strategies to improve information and decision support systems that are in the TRCC's Strategic Plan, such as expansion of the Crash Analysis Reporting System (CARS) to support DelDOT's safety program, and a new EMS data system (Delaware Information Management for Emergency Services (DIMES). The HSP then specifies traffic records projects and the allocation of funds to activities such as:

• E-crash enhancements
• CARS enhancements
• DIMES system for the Office Emergency Medical Services

Data projects like these have been instrumental in advancing Delaware's ability to utilize comprehensive traffic safety data when making resource allocation decisions.

Key Accomplishments

• Committee of coordinating agencies instrumental in developing and implementing plan
• Aligned goals and strategies in the SHSP, HSP and CVSP
• Identified emergency services strategies to address each primary emphasis area
• Identified roles and responsibilities for leading 4E strategies
• Strengthened partnerships among State safety agencies

Contact

Adam Weiser
Delaware Department of Transportation
(302) 659-4073
Adam.Weiser@state.de.us

California's HSIP Application and Evaluation Tool for Local Roadways

Original publication: National Roadway Safety Awards: Noteworthy Practices Guide; 2011 (PDF, 1.1 MB)

Description of Practice

With roughly 10 percent of all roadway fatalities in the United States, California has a well-established process for identifying and constructing safety improvements. However, these processes did not capture the over 600 individual local agencies eligible for Federal Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) funding.

Key Accomplishments and Results:

• Tool to satisfy the long-term Caltrans objective of making data-driven safety decisions
• User-friendly tool that makes fair and reliable statewide project selections following Federal guidelines for proven safety countermeasures.
• Encourages local agencies to put a great emphasis on roadway safety through network analysis and low-cost safety projects.
• Data-driven HSIP project selections at the local level

Contact

Ted Davini
California Department of Transportation
916-651-8256
Ted.Davini@dot.ca.gov

Design-Build Push Button Contract Significantly Reduces the Time It Takes to Implement Safety Improvements

Original publication: N/A

Describe the roadway safety situation or state before the new practice was implemented. What was the safety issue, problem, or gap?

In the past, Florida DOT (FDOT) has used its traditional Work Program Process to deliver safety improvements using FHWA safety funds; this brought concepts to construction within a 3 to 5 year time frame.

FDOT District 7 (D7; offices located in Tampa) decided that some ‘simple or low cost’ safety concepts did not need to go through the full work program process and could be expedited. In an attempt to reduce the time frame from concept to construction and to simplify the process for safety improvements, Florida DOT District 7 worked with the FHWA Florida Division and developed a push button framework using Federal safety funds. Ultimately, the push button framework allowed the District to reduce the time it takes to deliver simple or low cost safety improvement from 3-5 years to 3-9 months.

By expediting the delivery of safety improvements, FDOT is also able to reduce the number of crashes that could have occurred while the concept is being developed, helping FDOT to achieve the FHWA Every Day Counts (EDC) goal. Furthermore, by achieving a crash reduction within a few months, as opposed to years, the project's Net Present Value (NPV) is increased due to the time, value, money. NPV is the methodology that FDOT uses to select and prioritize safety engineering projects.

What were the key challenges that needed to be addressed before the new practice could be implemented?

The key challenges surrounded developing a framework that allowed FDOT to:

• Meet Federal guidelines to obtain the approval of funds.
• Meet internal requirements related to scheduling, coordination, QA/QC, etc.
• Eliminate internal barriers that had stove-piped the work in order to create a streamlined schedule.

Describe the new practice.

1. D7 put into place a design-build push button contract, which was approved by the FHWA Florida Division & FHWA Headquarters.
2. D7 identifies a need for a simple or low cost safety improvement.
3. D7 generates a task cost estimate using pre-approved contract pay items and corresponding unit prices.
4. D7 submits the cost estimate along with the task's scope of services and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) categorical exclusion certification to the FHWA Florida Division for approval through the Federal Financial Management Information System (FMIS).
5. The FHWA Florida Division reviews the task for eligibility criteria, and if eligible, approves it through FMIS.
6. D7 encumbers Federal safety funds and issues a notice to proceed for the task work order.
7. The design-build team delivers a constructed concept within 3-9 months (depending on difficulty and work load)

List the key accomplishments that resulted from the new practice. Include the roadway safety improvements.

• Much faster delivery/construction of ‘simple or low cost’ safety improvements. Safety improvements delivered through this contract include the installation of:
  • High emphasis crosswalks
  • Bicycle lanes
  • Pavement markings, wet weather audible marking
  • Concrete medians
  • Overhead sign structures
  • Turn lanes or offset left turn lanes
  • Pedestrian safety treatment - Rectangular Rapid-Flashing Beacons (RRFBs)
  • New traffic signal installations
  • High friction surface treatments
• Multiple roads benefited from this contract, in total, the first design-build push button contract had 55 projects for the 24-month contract period.

What technical and/or institutional changes resulted from the new practice?

• Buy-in from FDOT and FHWA management for the need to create this innovative contract
• Approval from FHWA to allow Federal-funded safety projects to be implemented at the District level using this design-build push button contract format
• Contract process changes for FDOT design-build contract to accommodate this innovative approach
• Creation of statewide design-build push button contract task team

What benefits were realized as a result of the practice?

• Reduced the time it takes to implement a safety improvement; at the same time, reduced the potential for fatalities and serious injuries during the shortened implementation period
• Reduced overall costs of the project application process by reducing the turnover rate
• Ensured compliance with Federal guidelines on all submitted project proposals
• Promoted use of these low-cost safety improvements

For more information:

• >FDOT’s Design Build Push Button (DBPB) page, including a video about FDOT District Seven’s DBPB projects.

Contact

Ping (Peter) Hsu, P.E.
FDOT, D7 Assistant District Traffic Operations Engineer (Safety)
(813) 975-6251
Ping.Hsu@dot.state.fl.us

Safety Summit Yields Tenfold Increase in Number of Safety Applications Submitted by Local Agencies

Original publication: N/A

Describe the roadway safety situation or state before the new practice was implemented. What was the safety issue, problem, or gap?

In any given year, between 40 and 50% of the fatalities and serious injuries in Florida occur in local roads. The percentage of safety funds spent on local roads, however, has been at most between 4 and 8% per year. In order to further reduce fatalities and serious injuries, Florida DOT (FDOT) has identified the need to address safety concerns on the local roads.

Lower levels of safety funding on local roads was due to limited knowledge in local agencies of the state and Federal safety programs and their requirements. Local agencies were submitting an average of only three applications for safety improvement projects per year. To increase local-level applications for safety funding, FDOT needed to create a program that increased local-level awareness of programs and application processes. The District 7 (D7 - Tampa) Local Safety Summit was, and continues to be, an ambitious step in the development and implementation of a Local Road Safety Program.

What were the key challenges that the noteworthy practice sought to address?

Key challenges to address include:

• Lack of knowledge on the part of local agencies of Federal and state safety programs and requirements
• Lack of a single point of contact for all local agencies
• Relatively high staff turnover at the local agencies (impacting the safety culture within the organization and the development of a consistent/long-term agency safety program)
• Lack of staff with specialized knowledge of safety at some local agencies
• A mechanism for assisting the local agencies to ensure their safety projects are submitted correctly and complete, and making the submittal process is simple as possible

Describe the new practice.

D7 launched an annual Safety Summit, a one-day seminar where local agencies, law enforcement, FDOT staff and D7 Safety Team members within District 7's jurisdiction discuss roadway safety. During the summit, FDOT and the Federal Highway Administration make presentations about applicable state and Federal safety requirements, programs, and processes for obtaining funding for local safety improvements. FDOT also links local agencies to “safety ambassadors” who help agencies understand options and funding opportunities for implementing roadway safety improvements on local roads.

D7 has also developed a “Local Agency Safety Funding Guide for Off-System Roadways” for local agencies that serves as a guide for the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) application process. The District also maintains a Safety Summit >web site that contains summit information, HSIP resources, and an online application agencies can use to submit their safety projects. (Local agencies continue to have the option of submitting their projects through the paper application process.)

List the key accomplishments that resulted from the new practice. Include the roadway safety improvements.

• Established a framework and venue that fosters the exchange of local roads knowledge. As a result, local agencies have an improved understanding of the application process required to receive project funding.
• As a result of the improved level of understanding regarding the application process, the number of project submissions made by local agencies increased from averaging 3 applications each year to 50+ applications per year.

What technical and/or institutional changes resulted from the new practice?

Institutional changes include:

• Local agencies have a better understanding of how to request funding and submit applications for safety improvement projects.
• Improved communications and coordination between D7 and local agencies has resulted in projects being delivered on-time and within budget.

What benefits were realized as a result of the practice?

Prior to the safety summits, D7 used to receive around three off-system safety project requests per year. Since the safety summit has been held, FDOT D7 has received 50+ applications per year from their local agencies seeking HSIP funding for their safety projects. Local agencies are now more willing and able to address local road safety issues using Federal safety funds.

Contact

Ping (Peter) Hsu, P.E.
FDOT, D7 Assistant District Traffic Operations Engineer (Safety)
(813) 975-6251
Ping.Hsu@dot.state.fl.us

Inexpensive Nighttime Inspection Kits to Improve Rural Sign Safety

Original publication: 2013 National Roadway Safety Awards Noteworthy Practices Guide; FHWA-SA-14-002; 2013

Attaching inspection panel to target sign.

Viewing sign with inspection panel attached
(done at night during actual use).

Describe the roadway safety situation or state before the new practice was implemented. What was the safety issue, problem, or gap?

Three County Highway Departments in western New York did not have access to the necessary equipment for inspecting local signage for compliance with the new Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) sign retroreflectivity standards. In short, there was not enough equipment to inspect the retroreflectivity of all signing in the region.

What were the key challenges that needed to be addressed before the new practice could be implemented?

Required equipment, such as a retroreflectometer, carries a heavy price tag. Without accurate testing equipment, these local counties had to “guess;” erring on the side of caution, the replaced signs that actually might have complied with MUTCD standards (had they been properly inspected).

Describe the new practice:

In the summer of 2011, the Cornell University Local Roads Program (CLRP) initiated a project with the three County Highway Departments and created a sharing agreement so that each agency had access, at a low cost, to a retroreflectometer for inspecting local signing in support of the new Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) sign retroreflectivity standards. This sharing program included all three counties as well as local jurisdictions in the respective counties (i.e., towns, villages, and one city).

In addition to the retroreflectometer sharing agreement, CLRP developed a total of 50 inexpensive sign inspection kits, costing less than $50 each. The kits use clear “overhead projector” sheets in layers to degrade the retroreflectivity of small comparison panels of different colors to a conservative level above the minimum retroreflective levels identified in Table 2A-3 of the MUTCD. The clear overhead sheets are the same ones used with overhead projectors and are available at office supply stores.

List the key accomplishments that resulted from the new practice. Include the roadway safety improvements.

• Improved availability of accurate retroreflectivity testing tools to three local counties, improving sign retroreflectivity quality (and improving compliance with new MUTCD standards) along rural routes.

What technical and/or institutional changes resulted from the new practice?

• Sharing agreement for the retroreflectometer
• Development of a cost effective inspection kit

What benefits were realized as a result of the practice?

The biggest benefit realized were the savings in the form of time and money. In general, the sharing agreement led to a reductions in overtime costs for nighttime inspections, reductions in the number of signs that need to be replaced annually, and an easily compiled, inexpensive ($50) portable field kit that is available at all times.

More specific benefits were:

• More accurate nighttime sign inspections, virtually eliminating “guessing” about the quality of a particular sign (reducing the number of signs that were replaced unnecessarily).
  • Example: Wyoming County, New York
    • Prior to receiving the kits, sign technicians would err on the side of caution and replace many signs that were actually adequate.
    • With the kits, they replaced 20 percent fewer signs than they had replaced previously due to concerns about retroreflectivity.
• Besides being more accurate, retroreflectivity inspections were faster.
  • Example: Wyoming County, New York
    • Saved a day of overtime, inspecting all the county's signs in only 3 nights.
• From the Wyoming County, New York example: Savings from the reduction of 2 full shifts of overtime work and approximately 30 signs amounts to $3,000 each year.

Is the practice you are submitting from a larger report, journal, or other document? Yes

2013 National Roadway Safety Awards Noteworthy Practices Guide
Publication FHWA-SA-14-002

Contact

David P. Orr, Ph.D.
Cornell Local Roads Program
607-255-8033
David.Orr@cornell.edu

South Carolina Addresses Intersection Safety through Low-Cost, Systematic Improvements

Original publication: N/A

Key Accomplishments

The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) began identifying safety improvements to be deployed systematically at intersections across the State in 2008 as part of the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Office of Safety Intersection Focus State initiative. SCDOT believed these improvements would reduce the number of intersection-related fatalities and serious injuries, which was one of the goals defined in SCDOT's 2007 Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP). As part of this process, SCDOT used a 5-year analysis of statewide crash data to identify high-crash intersections and recommend improvements—primarily signing, pavement markings, and signal enhancements. Based on these findings, a list of 2,204 intersections was compiled in the South Carolina Intersection Safety Implementation Plan (ISIP), and SCDOT sought a contracting mechanism to implement the recommended improvements identified in the ISIP within a three-year time frame.

Following the identification of intersections where countermeasures would be applied, SCDOT developed a unique contract vehicle structured to accommodate the systematic approach proposed in the ISIP. The contract was a single, statewide, three-year contract, renewable each year, which allowed for adjustments to be made to improve the quality of the work in subsequent years. The contract was structured to treat approximately one-third of the intersections identified in the plan each year for 3 years.

Throughout the project, the selected contractor and the subcontractor developed a Field Installation Work Book that contained all pertinent information on installation at a particular site, including final approved drawings, installation checklists, and punch list forms. In addition, the contractor and subcontractor developed a reconciliation spreadsheet to manage multiple crews and to document and verify installed quantities for payment during the course of the fast-paced project. The contractor and subcontractor also used a project management website to provide changes to intersection plans to SCDOT on a regular basis and report on the progress of work performed. The contract defined the minimum requirements of the website; however, the website developed ultimately included additional functionality.

Because 23 USC 120(c) allows certain safety improvements such as signing and pavement markings to be eligible for Federal funding, the project was entirely federally funded. The consistency between South Carolina's ISIP and SHSP and the identification of the projects through a systematic, data-driven process allowed for the projects to be implemented using Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) funds.

Through this project, SCDOT made improvements to more than 2,200 intersections that account for forty four percent of all intersection crashes in South Carolina. In deploying this project, SCDOT employed a statewide, low-bid contract vehicle that allowed for uniform implementation resulted in administrative efficiencies and economies of scale through decreased per-unit prices on bulk purchases.

Results

The project has been successful in terms of its outputs and short timeframe, addressing over 2,200 high-crash-frequency intersections in three years. FHWA plans to evaluate the safety effects of SCDOT's low-cost systematic intersection improvements as part of its Evaluation of Low cost Safety Improvements Pooled Fund Study.

Contact

Joey Riddle
South Carolina DOT
Safety Program Engineer
(803) 737-3582
RiddleJD@dot.state.sc.us

Daniel Hinton
FHWA South Carolina Division
Safety and Operations Engineer
(803) 253-3887
Daniel.Hinton@dot.gov