Using Peer Exchanges to Improve the Effectiveness of Strategic Highway Safety Plans (2014)

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10 3.1 What Is a Peer Exchange? A peer exchange is an event that allows stakeholders and safety practitioners to meet to dis- cuss and exchange best practices to help advance a collective goal. Peer exchanges are typically hosted by a State and attended by representatives of other States. A peer exchange is an event held for stakeholders and safety practitioners to discuss and exchange best practices to advance a common goal. SHSP peer exchanges are usually hosted by the agency responsible for developing and implementing the SHSP—often the State DOT. Attendees typically include representatives of other State DOTs (the hosting State’s peers) and other State and local safety stakeholders. What both the host and participating attendees share is a desire to learn how others have implemented their SHSPs—to share best practices, challenges, and solutions. Participants invest in a peer exchange with the expectation that they will learn something they can bring back to their home State, make valuable peer con- tacts to share ideas in the future, and confirm and validate that their own efforts are indeed appropriate. The peer exchange agenda and format are structured to provide facilitated dialogue among participants to enable each attendee to find the means to update, improve, manage, implement, and evaluate their SHSP. A peer exchange is a practical and widely used tool for exchanging information among peer groups about common challenges, emerging issues, best practices, and lessons learned. It is important to recognize the similarities and differences between a peer exchange and a conference or summit. Similarities between peer exchanges and conferences may include the following: • Both events can vary in size • Agendas for both events may be geared toward a single, overarching topic or theme • Both events have durations that last between one to three days. The defining principle that separates a peer exchange and a conference or summit is that peer exchanges are a means of sharing ideas and best practices among peers, while conferences typically have speakers who share information as experts and listeners who absorb information rather than actively participate. One motivating factor for practitioners is the sense of profes- sionalism and pride—both in themselves and their agencies—that drives them to share best practices with peers. Peer exchanges can encourage practitioners by highlighting their most effective safety practices, allowing them to share with others, and providing an opportunity to learn from their peers. C H A P T E R 3 Peer Exchange Basics

Peer Exchange Basics 11 3.2 Why Is a Peer Exchange Important? A peer exchange provides the host jurisdiction (i.e., the State initiating and planning an event) with a venue for collaboratively improving the quality and effectiveness of their highway safety initiatives through the SHSP. The focus of these events should match the SHSP needs described in the previous section, including marketing, data analysis, resource allocation, and emphasis area action plans. A peer exchange is not a substitute for the SHSP planning process. It is a tool used to support the development, ongoing update, implementation, and evaluation of the SHSP. Peer exchange events present opportunities to celebrate successes and to learn from peers’ experiences. Participants share information—face-to-face or virtually—that assists them in developing, updating, implementing, and/or evaluating an SHSP by learning about barriers their peers faced and overcame. The peer exchange provides an opportunity to build highway safety professional and personal relationships, to engage the State’s leadership in the highway safety program, to identify current and new champions, to recruit new stakeholders, to motivate existing partners, and to re-energize a program that may be suffering from a lack of energy, enthusiasm, and synergy. It affords all participants the opportunity to gain momentum and take the SHSP to the next level of quality performance and effectiveness. Participants should be aware of the fact that the peer exchange is an event to support the development, ongoing update, implementation, and evaluation of the SHSP. It is not a substitute for—nor is it intended to replace—the planning process, but rather a tool to assist in decision making and defining the direction of the State’s highway safety initiatives.