Institutionalizing Safety in Transportation Planning Processes: Techniques, Tactics, and Strategies (2015)

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N A T I O N A L C O O P E R A T I V E H I G H W A Y R E S E A R C H P R O G R A M NCHRP REPORT 811 Institutionalizing Safety in Transportation Planning Processes: Techniques, Tactics, and Strategies Cambridge SyStematiCS, inC. Bethesda, MD Subscriber Categories Planning and Forecasting • Safety and Human Factors TRANSPORTAT ION RESEARCH BOARD WASHINGTON, D.C. 2015 www.TRB.org Research sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration

NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM Systematic, well-designed research provides the most effective approach to the solution of many problems facing highway administrators and engineers. Often, highway problems are of local interest and can best be studied by highway departments individually or in cooperation with their state universities and others. However, the accelerating growth of highway transportation develops increasingly complex problems of wide interest to highway authorities. These problems are best studied through a coordinated program of cooperative research. In recognition of these needs, the highway administrators of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials initiated in 1962 an objective national highway research program employing modern scientific techniques. This program is supported on a continuing basis by funds from participating member states of the Association and it receives the full cooperation and support of the Federal Highway Administration, United States Department of Transportation. The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies was requested by the Association to administer the research program because of the Board’s recognized objectivity and understanding of modern research practices. The Board is uniquely suited for this purpose as it maintains an extensive committee structure from which authorities on any highway transportation subject may be drawn; it possesses avenues of communications and cooperation with federal, state and local governmental agencies, universities, and industry; its relationship to the National Research Council is an insurance of objectivity; it maintains a full-time research correlation staff of specialists in highway transportation matters to bring the findings of research directly to those who are in a position to use them. The program is developed on the basis of research needs identified by chief administrators of the highway and transportation departments and by committees of AASHTO. Each year, specific areas of research needs to be included in the program are proposed to the National Research Council and the Board by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Research projects to fulfill these needs are defined by the Board, and qualified research agencies are selected from those that have submitted proposals. Administration and surveillance of research contracts are the responsibilities of the National Research Council and the Transportation Research Board. The needs for highway research are many, and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program can make significant contributions to the solution of highway transportation problems of mutual concern to many responsible groups. The program, however, is intended to complement rather than to substitute for or duplicate other highway research programs. Published reports of the NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM are available from: Transportation Research Board Business Office 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 and can be ordered through the Internet at: http://www.national-academies.org/trb/bookstore Printed in the United States of America NCHRP REPORT 811 Project 08-76 ISSN 0077-5614 ISBN 978-0-309-30883-0 Library of Congress Control Number 2015944255 © 2015 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. COPYRIGHT INFORMATION Authors herein are responsible for the authenticity of their materials and for obtaining written permissions from publishers or persons who own the copyright to any previously published or copyrighted material used herein. Cooperative Research Programs (CRP) grants permission to reproduce material in this publication for classroom and not-for-profit purposes. Permission is given with the understanding that none of the material will be used to imply TRB, AASHTO, FAA, FHWA, FMCSA, FTA, or Transit Development Corporation endorsement of a particular product, method, or practice. It is expected that those reproducing the material in this document for educational and not-for-profit uses will give appropriate acknowledgment of the source of any reprinted or reproduced material. For other uses of the material, request permission from CRP. NOTICE The project that is the subject of this report was a part of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program, conducted by the Transportation Research Board with the approval of the Governing Board of the National Research Council. The members of the technical panel selected to monitor this project and to review this report were chosen for their special competencies and with regard for appropriate balance. The report was reviewed by the technical panel and accepted for publication according to procedures established and overseen by the Transportation Research Board and approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council. The opinions and conclusions expressed or implied in this report are those of the researchers who performed the research and are not necessarily those of the Transportation Research Board, the National Research Council, or the program sponsors. The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, the National Research Council, and the sponsors of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program do not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers’ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the object of the report.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. C. D. Mote, Jr., is president of the National Academy of Engineering. The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Victor J. Dzau is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. C. D. Mote, Jr., are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council. The Transportation Research Board is one of six major divisions of the National Research Council. The mission of the Transporta- tion Research Board is to provide leadership in transportation innovation and progress through research and information exchange, conducted within a setting that is objective, interdisciplinary, and multimodal. The Board’s varied activities annually engage about 7,000 engineers, scientists, and other transportation researchers and practitioners from the public and private sectors and academia, all of whom contribute their expertise in the public interest. The program is supported by state transportation departments, federal agencies including the component administrations of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and other organizations and individu- als interested in the development of transportation. www.TRB.org www.national-academies.org

C O O P E R A T I V E R E S E A R C H P R O G R A M S CRP STAFF FOR NCHRP REPORT 811 Christopher W. Jenks, Director, Cooperative Research Programs Christopher Hedges, Manager, National Cooperative Highway Research Program Lori L. Sundstrom, Senior Program Officer Danna Powell, Senior Program Assistant Eileen P. Delaney, Director of Publications Natalie Barnes, Senior Editor NCHRP PROJECT 08-76 PANEL Field of Transportation Planning—Area of Forecasting Robert E. Hull, Utah DOT, Salt Lake City, UT (retired) (Chair) J. Thomas Bruff, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, Detroit, MI Duane Brunell, Maine DOT, Augusta, ME Brian K. Gage, Minnesota DOT, St. Paul, MN Eric T. Hill, MetroPlan Orlando, Orlando, FL Carrie Kissel, National Association of Development Organizations, Washington, DC Daniel Magri, Louisiana DOTD, Baton Rouge, LA P. John Sprowls, FTA Liaison James D. Thorne, FHWA Liaison Susan Ryan, NHTSA Liaison (retired) Tamara Webster, NHTSA Liaison Erika Young, Transportation for America Liaison Kelly Hardy, AASHTO Liaison Matthew Hardy, AASHTO Liaison Bernardo Kleiner, TRB Liaison

NCHRP Report 811 provides state departments of transportation (DOTs) and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) with a practical, field-tested guidebook on institutionalizing the continuous integration of safety into transportation planning and programming processes. The guidebook provides techniques, tactics, and strategies for agencies to use to institutionalize safety as a decision and planning factor. This guidebook should be useful to state, regional, and local transportation agencies; professional associations; and interest groups in examining how, and how effectively, safety has been integrated into transportation planning processes. More than 30,000 people are killed in crashes every year on the U.S. road system. In addition to the tragic loss of life, traffic fatalities cost the American economy $280 billion annually. In 1991, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) added safety as a required decision factor in the transportation planning process. Fourteen years later, the Safe, Account- able, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) required each state department of transportation (DOT) to prepare a Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP), a coordinated plan that provides a roadmap for improving safety on all public roads. Every state DOT has developed an SHSP. Developing an SHSP and expanding the transportation planning process to explicitly include safety are unique and separate actions intended to complement each other. However, realizing the SHSP’s goal of improving transportation safety requires robust implementation of both plans and planning processes. State DOTs, metropolitan planning organizations, and other agencies involved in transpor- tation safety are using a variety of approaches to integrate safety into the overall transportation planning process. Under NCHRP Project 08-76, Cambridge Systematics, Inc., was asked to analyze these different approaches from a national perspective and to develop comprehen- sive guidance on successful techniques, tactics, and strategies that contribute to sound safety, planning, and policy decisions. The state of practice was documented; common barriers to successful implementation as well as critical success factors were identified; and guidance for state DOTs and their safety partners was developed and vetted by a variety of agencies. The guidebook provides state, regional, and local transportation agencies, professional associations, and interest groups with tools and techniques to integrate safety into traditional transportation planning and to measure the effectiveness and success of their integration efforts. F O R E W O R D By Lori L. Sundstrom Senior Program Officer Transportation Research Board

C O N T E N T S 1 Chapter 1 Introduction 4 Chapter 2 A Transportation Safety Planning Framework 4 2.1 Include Safety Experts on Planning Committees or Discuss Safety at Committee Meetings 8 2.2 Collect and Analyze Transportation Safety Data 19 2.3 Incorporate Safety into the Vision, Goals, and Objectives 24 2.4 Integrate Safety Performance Measures into the Performance Management System 29 2.5 Incorporate Safety in Planning Programs and Documents 32 2.6 Establish Safety as a Decision Factor 36 2.7 Implement a Monitoring System and Regularly Evaluate Performance 42 Chapter 3 Core Concepts and Implementation 42 3.1 Core Concepts 43 3.2 TSP Action Plan 45 References 46 Abbreviations and Acronyms