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1 Transportation planners stand at the center of planning, prioritizing, and programming federal transportation funds. Federal legislation has required safety as a planning factor in statewide and metropolitan transportation planning processes since 1998, and subsequent legislation, includ- ing the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). The federal requirement strengthens the role of safety in the planning process and ensures transportation plans are consis- tent with Strategic Highway Safety Plans (SHSPs). State departments of transportation (DOTs) and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) are required to consider and implement proj- ects, strategies, and services that increase the safety of the transportation system for motorized and nonmotorized users. This guidebook focuses on identifying opportunities to explicitly consider safety in long-range transportation plans (LRTPs), shorter-range statewide and regional transportation improvement programs (S/TIPs), and other planning documents. Adopting and/or adapting the strategies pro- vided throughout this guidebook will assist planners, regardless of their planning responsibili- ties, by providing them with the information and tools necessary for ensuring the transportation network is safe for all road users. In Phase I of this project, institutionalization was defined as seven principles that lead to a coordinated and comprehensive approach to safety. The principles, collectively known as the Transportation Safety Planning (TSP) Framework, are based on a literature review, practitioner outreach surveys and interviews, onsite visits in three states, review by an expert panel, a beta test involving students in transportation safety planning courses, and a series of workshops with DOT and MPO planners. The principles are as follows: 1. Ensure DOT and MPO committees, policy boards, and other planning structures include safety expertise (e.g., safety professionals, practitioners, and stakeholders) or discuss trans- portation safety topics; 2. Collect and analyze crash and road data for identifying and prioritizing safety issues, projects, and programs; 3. Define and include transportation safety in the vision, goals, and objectives; 4. Integrate safety performance measures into the agencyâs overall performance management system; 5. Incorporate transportation safety issues, such as pedestrian and bicycle safety, safe mobility for older citizens, and transit safety, in planning programs and documents; 6. Establish safety as a decision factor to prioritize and allocate funds to safety issues, projects, and programs; and 7. Implement a monitoring system to track the transportation systemâs safety performance and regularly evaluate the performance of safety programs and policies. C H A P T E R 1 Introduction
2 Institutionalizing Safety in Transportation Planning Processes: Techniques, Tactics, and Strategies Figure 1.1 depicts a high-level view of how and where to integrate each of these principles throughout the planning process. Evidence from NCHRP 08-76 suggests DOTs and MPOs have addressed, and in varying degrees implemented, some of the TSP Framework, but additional research was necessary to add substantive new information on how to apply these principles during LRTP updates and project prioritization processes. Phase II of NCHRP 08-76 identified seven states to test the framework and develop this guidebook based on the experience of and input from practitioners. The research team conducted five state workshops in Nevada, Arkansas, Louisiana, Maine, and Florida and two peer exchanges in Oregon and Vermont. Each workshop was attended by a mix of How/Where to Incorporate Safety into Transportation Planning Traditional Transportation Planning Process Discuss safety at committee meetings or identify opportunities to engage safety stakeholders in transportation planning. Multidisciplinary Collaboration Ensure safety is a major goal of the organization with commitment to it at the highest level. Utilize public/stakeholder input and the results of data analysis to develop safety goals and objectives. Develop the Vision, Goals, and Objectives Identify safety performance measures and targets to track progress towards the goals and objectives in the plan and inform investment decisions. Establish System Performance Measures, and Targets Collect and analyze safety and roadway data. Identify Transportation Improvement Strategies and Alternatives Use the outputs of the data analysis to shape safety goals, objectives, and performance measures; and inform project/program selection. Establish safety as a decision factor for the selection of transportation projects by including safety as a goal in the LRTP and considering it in the scoring and ranking process. Evaluate and Prioritize the Strategies Incorporate safety goals and objectives and results of safety analysis in the LRTP. Develop the Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) Use safety data and performance measures to help prioritize programs and projects identified in the LRTP. Develop the Transportation Improvement Program (S/TIP) Design stand-alone safety projects and consider safety elements in the analysis and design for TIP projects. Undertake Project Development Construct stand-alone safety projects and incorporate safety elements into other TIP projects. Implement Projects Routinely track and monitor safety programs and projects to evaluate success or identify course corrections, assess progress towards performance targets, and use tracking information to continually revise and refine the entire planning process. Monitor and Evaluate System Operations Figure 1.1. Framework for integrating safety in the transportation planning process.
Introduction 3 participants, including state transportation planners, state safety engineers, modal representatives from the state DOTs, MPO planners, and federal representatives. The purposes of the workshops were (1) to provide participants with background on transportation safety planning research, highlighting the TSP Framework; (2) to learn how workshop participants could and would imple- ment each of the seven principles to understand which principles were useful to practitioners; and (3) to learn about participant implementation practices and challenges to identify real-world applications for illustration in the final guidebook. The information in Chapter 2, A Transportation Safety Planning Framework, presents a com- pilation of results from the original research and input gathered from the participating workshop states. This guidebook is intended to help DOT and MPO transportation planners integrate safety into the transportation planning process.
