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Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Integration of Roadway Safety Data from State and Local Sources. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25234.
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Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Integration of Roadway Safety Data from State and Local Sources. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25234.
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Page 2
Page 3
Suggested Citation:"Summary." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Integration of Roadway Safety Data from State and Local Sources. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25234.
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Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

1 The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) strongly supported the view that quality data provide the foundation for making important decisions regarding the design, operation, and safety of roadways. MAP-21 emphasized the importance of safety data for all public roads and requires that states have safety data systems with the ability to perform safety problem identification and countermeasure analysis. In this context, safety data are defined as roadway, traffic, and crash data. MAP-21 included requirements for the collection of roadway data based on the Model Inventory of Roadway Elements (MIRE) and the use of a linear referencing system (LRS). The law required the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to establish a subset of MIRE that is useful for the inventory of roadway safety and to ensure that States adopt and use the subset to im- prove data collection [23 U.S.C. 148(f)(2)]. FHWA established a subset of MIRE as part of the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) Final Rule changes to 23 CFR Part 924, effective April 14, 2016. This subset is referred to as the “fundamental data elements” (FDEs), and it focuses on roadway segment, roadway intersection, and roadway ramp data elements. The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act subsequently continued the emphasis on high-quality safety data to support sound transportation decision making. To satisfy the requirement to collect data on all public roadways, state transportation agencies are reaching out to local agencies in an effort to obtain data that are available at the local level and to avoid duplication of data collection activities. Facilitating access to and integration of data from a multitude of information systems from sources outside of an agency is a challenge for transportation agencies around the nation. Several NCHRP synthesis projects have addressed data integration issues that should provide a foundation for research into data integration for roadway inventory data. NCHRP Synthesis 523 documents an overview of the state-of-the-practice strategies state transportation agencies are using to work with local and other agencies in the integra- tion and maintenance of roadway safety data, along with the impacts of these efforts. While crash data are a consideration, the focus of this effort is roadway and traffic data, particu- larly in light of federal regulations such as the MIRE FDEs. The findings of this study will help federal, state, local, regional, and tribal transportation managers and agencies to plan strategies and better communicate the need for the integration of roadway safety data from multiple sources. The information for this synthesis was gathered through a comprehensive literature review, a survey of state transportation agencies (DOTs), and subsequent interviews with selected federal and tribal agencies, as well as interviews with multiple organizations in nine states selected for further study. Forty-five state DOTs (90% survey response rate) and the District of Columbia DOT responded to the survey. After documentation in the literature and the detailed survey responses were reviewed, the states of California, Illinois, S U M M A R Y Integration of Roadway Safety Data from State and Local Sources

2 Integration of Roadway Safety Data from State and Local Sources Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, Vermont, and Washington were interviewed to be developed as case examples by using the criteria outlined in Chapter 1. Cursory inter- views were also conducted with four additional state DOTs (Georgia, Kansas, Tennessee, and Wisconsin), FHWA, and the Tribal Technical Assistance Program regarding their experience with data integration related to the MIRE FDEs. Common elements reported to improve the integration of state and local (non-state- owned) roadway safety MIRE FDEs include the use of a consistent data format from the multiple sources of data and adequate state resources (e.g., staff, funding). The following observations were made on the basis of the DOT survey data, detailed interviews, and the literature review. • Various FHWA initiatives (e.g., safety data business plan, state pilot projects) have been identified to promote the importance of MIRE FDEs and to help state DOTs and local public agencies (LPAs) better accomplish the HSIP requirement (i.e., to collect data on all public roadways). • Advancements in technologies [e.g., Global Positioning System (GPS) and light detection and ranging (lidar)] and data process/visualization software [e.g., geographic information system (GIS)] were reported to have helped in streamlining data collection and integra- tion efforts and have allowed for better-coordinated quality assurance efforts. The most commonly used tools reported by DOTs include GIS and LRS. • The survey results indicated that the vast majority of states are collecting and maintain- ing MIRE FDEs, primarily through their planning and programming, safety, or asset management offices. More than half of the state DOTs collect and maintain both local (non-state-owned) road and state roadway safety MIRE FDEs. Also, the majority of state DOTs reported that the local agencies and other practitioners (e.g., tribal nations and planning organizations) have access to the state DOT roadway safety MIRE FDEs within the roadway inventory. • Twenty-three state DOTs reported that MIRE FDEs are collected on 100% of their state-owned roadways, and 11 of those DOTs further noted that these are also collected on 100% of the non-state-owned roadways. • Common elements reported to enhance the integration of roadway safety MIRE FDEs from local and state sources were (1) a consistent data format for the state and local sources of data and (2) adequate state resources (e.g., staff, funding). • Many agencies estimated the apportionment of funding sources for the collection, integration, and maintenance of state roadway safety MIRE FDEs to be most commonly split as 80% federal funds and 20% state funds. Additionally, in most cases, the DOTs estimated that no funding for these activities was available from local sources. • The benefits of data integration generally were reported to include more-integrated decision making, improved safety analysis, reduced duplication, quicker processing, enhanced development, and greater accountability. More than half of the agencies observed the benefits of improved project identification and priority setting and improved levels of roadway safety through the application of a data-driven approach. • Coordinated collaboration with stakeholders and local agencies was found to be one of the most successful approaches to addressing the challenges of the integration of roadway safety data. Requests for technical assistance to FHWA, establishment of data governance through committee, and securing further resources (e.g., staff, funding) were also reported as effective methods of overcoming challenges. • A communicative relationship between state DOT and LPA staff is a key factor in facili- tating a successful and coordinated data collection and maintenance effort. When a state DOT has a concentrated and consistent approach to demonstrating the mutual benefits of data integration to the LPAs, it facilitates the collection and provision of MIRE FDEs.

Summary 3 The information presented in this synthesis indicates that there is a need to establish data governance among agencies, such as through the designation of a roadway safety data champion or an office that leads the effort of data collection, integration, and maintenance. Engaging academic partners such as state University Transportation Centers, the Tribal Technical Assistance Program (TTAP), and Local Technical Assistance Programs (LTAPs) to coordinate and collaborate with state DOTs and local governments could help facilitate and manage data collection. The study responses indicated a need for future research in the area of safety data integration, particularly with other existing programs that require very similar, or the same, data elements. For example, there appears to be a need to quantify the benefits and costs of data sharing in order to help promote data-sharing initiatives. A need exists for agencies to pursue a coordinated effort through joint state initiatives for the development of standard procedures for roadway safety data collection, integra- tion, maintenance, and updates in order to identify well-defined performance measures (accepted by agencies) that have the potential to improve data quality. Research in the form of NCHRP projects provides a mechanism in which multiple states can jointly support and benefit from this initiative. The findings presented in this report recommend that a com- municative relationship between the state DOT and other agencies (e.g., local agencies, metropolitan planning organizations, other state agencies) can facilitate a successful and coordinated data collection and maintenance effort. When a state DOT has a concentrated and consistent approach to demonstrating the mutual benefits of data integration to LPAs, it facilitates the collection and provision of MIRE FDEs. The development of an economic analysis process based on agency size, agreement types, data-sharing method, and frequency could advance knowledge related to benefits and costs to an agency. The development of a common data format and a data dictionary may help to streamline roadway data integra- tion from multiple sources and improve consistency by avoiding different interpretations by different stakeholders and reducing data variability. It should be noted that the information in this report should be considered as a snapshot of the time frame in which it was collected.

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TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 523: Integration of Roadway Safety Data from State and Local Sources documents the ways in which transportation agencies are collaborating with local agencies to integrate and maintain data. This information can help inform how transportation agencies approach the challenge of facilitating access to and integrating data from a multitude of information systems from external sources. Accompanying the report are the following appendices:

  • Appendix A: Summary of Published State DOT Case Studies. Appendix A summarizes the literature review findings related to existing or planned state DOT efforts to integrate roadway safety data.
  • Appendix B: Survey Questions and Results. Appendix B includes the survey questions and the results for each question.
  • Appendix C: List of Interviewees. Appendix C lists the agency or organization representatives who contributed to the development of this synthesis.
  • Appendix D: Sample Documents That Illustrate Practices Related to State and Local Roadway Data Integration. Appendix D presents sample documents that were offered by agencies and are relevant to the study.
  • Appendix E: Links to Resources Identified. Appendix E includes links to resources identified through the literature review or shared by the agencies interviewed.
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