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FHWA Home / Safety / Roadway Safety Professional Capacity Building / P2P Technical Assistance / Local Road Safety Peer Exchange - Region 1

Local Road Safety Peer Exchange - Region 1

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An RSPCB Peer Exchange


About the Peer Exchange

FHWA's RSPCB Peer-to-Peer Program (P2P) supports and sponsors peer exchanges and workshops hosted by agencies.

Date
October 10-11, 2012

Host
New Jersey Local Technical Assistance Program

Participants
Representatives from:

Connecticut

Maine

Massachusetts

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New York

Rhode Island

Vermont

FHWA Office of Safety FHWA Technology Partnerships Program

U.S. DOT Volpe Center

FHWA's Office of Safety sponsors P2P events.
Learn more

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction and Background

2. Peer Exchange Proceedings

3. Partnerships – Noteworthy Practices

4. Highway Safety Improvement Program – Noteworthy Practices

5. Action Plan Highlights

6. Feedback and Suggestions

Appendix A: Event Attendees

Appendix B: Agenda


1. Introduction and Background

This report provides a summary of the proceedings of the Local Road Safety Peer Exchange held in Piscataway, New Jersey October 10th and 11th, 2012. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) sponsored the Peer Exchange in coordination with Region 1 Local Technical Assistance Program. The purpose of the Peer Exchange was to facilitate the exchange of information on local road safety and explore opportunities for greater coordination and communication between FHWA, State Departments of Transportation (DOTs), Local Technical Assistance Program Centers (LTAPs) and local officials/practitioners within the States in the region. The Peer Exchange covered four key topics:

Representatives from Region 1 States participated in the event including: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

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2. Peer Exchange Proceedings

The format of the Peer Exchange consisted of expert and peer presentations on state practices, breakout sessions and facilitated roundtable discussions. At the end of the second day, participants met with colleagues in their respective States to develop action plans covering the four key topics discussed. The action plans identified:

A brief description of the peer exchange proceedings is provided below.

Welcome

The FHWA New Jersey Division Office Safety Specialist welcomed participants to the Peer Exchange and provided an overview of highway safety issues in the State. She emphasized the value of sharing ideas with peers and encouraged everyone present to take advantage of the opportunity to discuss roadway safety issues with colleagues and develop action plans to address those issues.

The FHWA Office of Safety Local and Rural Road Safety (LRRS) Program Manager provided an overview of the workshop event and asked participants to introduce themselves and share their expectations. Expectations included:

Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP)

The FHWA Office of Safety HSIP Program Manager gave an overview of HSIP, a core Federal-aid program that funds highway safety improvement projects on all public roads, and reviewed changes to the program under Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21). HSIP is a Federally-funded, State-administered program. The purpose of the program is to reduce fatalities and injuries on all public roads. The HSIP program promotes an approach to roadway safety project funding that creates a systematic and repeatable process for identifying projects that target the areas of greatest need and result in defendable decisions. The systemic approach can have the greatest benefits for local rural road and vulnerable road users. Program funding in each State is guided by comprehensive, data-driven, statewide strategic highway safety plans.

To be eligible for HSIP funding, projects must meet certain criteria. An HSIP funded project must:

HSIP MAP-21 Interim Eligibility Guidance is available at https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/map21/guidance/guidehsip.cfm.

There have been several changes to the HSIP program under MAP-21. MAP-21 doubles HSIP funding and increases the flexibility of the use of HSIP funds. MAP-21 removes limits on the use of HSIP for non-highway projects. It explicitly permits the use of HSIP funds on retro-reflectivity projects and prohibits the use of HSIP for automated enforcement. FHWA provides technical assistance, training and a variety of resources to support State administration of the HSIP program including: National Highway Institute (NHI) courses, peer exchanges on noteworthy practices, and HSIP program assessments.

LTAP Safety Program Performance

The LTAP/Tribal Technical Assistance Program (TTAP) Program Manager from the FHWA Office of Technology Services presented an overview of the activities and accomplishments of LTAP/TTAP Centers across the country. There are LTAP Centers in each State as well as Puerto Rico. In addition, there are seven TTAPs. LTAP/TTAPs provide technical assistance to local agencies in four general areas: safety, workforce development, worker safety, and infrastructure management. The LTAP/TTAP program has a strategic plan and tracks performance data aligned with the program's strategic goals. FHWA works closely with the National LTAP Association (NLTAPA) to conduct outreach and identify opportunities for partnership.

The national LTAP/TTAP program has identified a number of opportunities for LTAP/TTAPs to assist local officials in meeting roadway safety needs. Those opportunities include:

Transportation Safety Planning

The FHWA Office of Safety LRRS Program Manager gave an overview of transportation safety planning. Transportation Safety Planning is a comprehensive, system-wide, multimodal, proactive process that improves the integration of safety into surface transportation decision planning. Transportation planners should consider how SHSPs can be integrated with other State and regional transportation plans to encourage safety elements in all comprehensive transportation planning. In turn, SHSPs should integrate different kinds of roadway safety strategies including consideration of engineering, enforcement, education and emergency service strategies. All transportation plans should set measurable goals and objectives that are connected to actions and easily understood and communicated.

FHWA has developed a guidebook, “Transportation Planner's Safety Desk Reference,” that describes how safety fits into the planning process and how safety can be integrated from the earliest stages of goal setting and performance measure development to achieve measurable results.

Roundtable Discussion – Opportunities for LTAP and MPO Involvement in State Safety Programs

The FHWA Office of Safety LRRS Program Manager facilitated a discussion about strategies to encourage local involvement in State safety planning and programs. Participants noted a number of different strategies including:

The FHWA Office of Safety LRRS Program Manager asked participants how FHWA can best support local needs. Responses included:

State Summary Presentations

Representatives from each state presented an overview of their respective state's local road safety issues, highlighting challenges and state practices associated with safety data, management of the Highway Safety Improvement Program, and local involvement in the SHSP. Examples of noteworthy practices highlighted by participants included:

Strategic Highway Safety Plan – Local Involvement – Noteworthy Practices

Participants then heard from select peers regarding strategies to improve local involvement in strategic highway safety planning activities. These presentations were followed by break-out group discussions on challenges and opportunities for engaging locals in the SHSP planning process.

Delaware Valley Regional Safety Program: Transportation Safety Action Plan – MPO Perspective
Each year in the Delaware Valley region (eastern Pennsylvania, southwestern New Jersey, and northern Delaware), approximately 377 people die in crashes, 45,000 are injured and there are approximately 85,000 reported crashes. DVRPC staffs the Regional Safety Task Force (RSTF) which meets quarterly and guides the development of the Transportation Safety Action Plan. The Transportation Safety Action Plan began with an analysis of the 22 emphasis areas identified in the National Strategic Highway Safety Plan. Of those emphasis areas, just seven are contributing factors to 95 percent of the region's fatalities. They are:

For each emphasis area the plan explains the national and regional context, identifies existing programs in the region, recommends strategies and actions, and lists resources available on the topic. Each meeting of the RSTF is focused on one emphasis area and includes refining a set of actions and reporting back on progress. Upon completing the series of meetings on emphasis areas in June 2013, DVRPC plans to evaluate the defined performance measures and the plan development and implementation process and then begin data analysis for the next plan.

Connecticut Strategic Highway Safety Plan – LTAP Perspective
The Connecticut LTAP was not included in the initial 2006 SHSP development process, but other local agencies were involved. Upon completion of the SHSP, LTAP became involved in the implementation workgroups for different focus areas including:

The Connecticut LTAP's connection to DOT has traditionally been in the area of research. Connecticut LTAP is working with the DOT to find ways to assist with RSAs, data analysis and local outreach. The LTAP is also working with the Connecticut Safety Research Center to develop web-based tools for mapping and analysis of crash data.

Vermont – State DOT Perspective
Over 50 percent of major crashes in Vermont are on rural roads under local jurisdiction. Vermont has been successful at using the High Risk Rural Road Program (HRRRP) to fund projects at the local level. To facilitate the development of Federally-funded projects on local roads, the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) assists local governments in administering grants and implementing the projects. Safety stakeholders in Vermont have formed the Vermont Highway Safety Alliance to improve the flow of information to the local level. VTrans has worked with the regional planning commissions in Vermont to pilot Regional Highway Safety Forums. The forums are designed to engage local safety stakeholders in the safety planning process and to educate them about available roadway safety resources.

Break-out Group Discussion

Table 1 summarizes the result of facilitated discussions on the challenges of local agency involvement in the SHSP process, strategies to address challenges and priorities.

Table 1. Local Involvement in Safety Planning: Challenges and Strategies

Challenges Strategies
  • Encouraging locals to participate in the planning process
  • Finding ways to accommodate local participation because of the large number of local agencies
  • Need to recognize that locals may have different priorities than Statewide priorities
  • Availability of staff time and resources
  • Awareness of SHSP and SHSP development process
  • Engaging emergency services personnel
  • Provide training on emphasis areas identified in SHSP
  • Find ways to measure meaningful local involvement
  • Clearly demonstrate importance of local participation
  • Allow MPOs and LTAPs to represent local concerns
  • Identify pro-active strategies that reflect vision for transportation system
  • Hire a full-time SHSP coordinator
  • Develop regional safety action plans and action planning committees
  • Assist locals analyze and understand crash data
  • Use crowd sourcing - solicit feedback online
  • Use social media—Facebook, Twitter, podcasts

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3. Partnerships – Noteworthy Practices

The peer discussion topic focused on interagency collaboration and coordination. Participants discussed ways to improve communication and enhance cooperation among local and State agencies. Participants identified potential partners that could assist in addressing local road safety issues and discussed challenges and potentially effective strategies associated with interagency collaboration. That discussion is summarized in Table 2.

Table 2. Collaboration with Local Agencies: Challenges and Noteworthy Practices

Potential Partners Challenges Strategies
  • Local elected officials
  • County engineers and Department of Public Works staff
  • Police departments and emergency medical services groups
  • Transportation management associations
  • County traffic safety boards
  • Local hospitals and schools
  • Governor's representatives
  • Secretary of State's Office
  • American Automobile Association and American Association of Retired Persons
  • Homeless shelters
  • Local safety advocacy groups
  • Community development organizations
  • Lack of resources and commitment to the process
  • Convincing local officials to engage with tasks outside the norm
  • Promote safety messages to local officials through professional marketing campaigns
  • Develop a public advisory board
  • Partner with professional societies
  • Engage citizens through online comment mechanisms
  • Tailor your message to your audience, use the right media and the right person to present the material

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4. Highway Safety Improvement Program – Noteworthy Practices

Participants heard from select peers regarding strategies to improve local involvement in the Highway Safety Improvement Program. These presentations were followed by a break-out group discussion highlighting challenges and opportunities to improve safety on local roads using HSIP funding. States administer HSIP funding in different ways. Some States, like Massachusetts and New York, set aside funding for MPOs and/or local road projects, others, like Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, allocate funding based on an analysis of statewide priority safety needs.

Capitol Region Council of Governments
The Capitol Region Council of Government (CRGG) is an MPO representing 30 municipalities including Hartford in North Central Connecticut. It has a full-time staff eight people. Staffs from CRCG participate in several SHSP action planning committees including the Traffic Records and Roadway Departure committees. They also administer the local road accident reduction program for their region which is funded through the HSIP and provides approximately $500,000 per year for safety projects to local governments. They conduct corridor studies and provide technical assistance, education, and training to local officials.

New Hampshire Strategic Highway Safety Plan
New Hampshire has embraced a campaign called Driving Towards Zero (DTZ) that was developed by marketing professionals and is currently funded through HSIP flex funds. The DTZ campaign uses a variety of marketing media including social media, radio, live events, and online ads and videos to target safety messages to New Hampshire drivers. New Hampshire completed its first SHSP in 2007, which set a goal reducing fatalities to less than 100 per year. This goal was achieved in 2011. New Hampshire used a variety of strategies to achieve this auction including: systemic treatments, policy changes and cultural changes. New Hampshire has been using the SafetyAnalyst tool to screen the transportation network, diagnose problems, select and evaluate countermeasures, and prioritize projects.

Breakout Groups

Table 3 summarizes the result of facilitated discussions on the challenges of local agency involvement in the HSIP process, strategies to address challenges and priorities.

Table 3. Local Agency Involvement in the HSIP: Challenges and Noteworthy Practices

Challenges Noteworthy Practices
  • Lack of traffic and roadway data
  • Difficulty determining effectiveness of projects
  • Lack of local expertise to develop applications for HSIP
  • Delays and scope creep on projects
  • Difficulty meeting Federal requirements
  • Lack of timely local crash data
  • Lack of local resources and staff time
  • Use a circuit rider to assist locals in meeting Federal Aid requirements
  • Cross reference HSIP project list with STIP
  • Assist applicants by using Highway Safety Manual to determine funding eligibility of projects
  • Develop a regional project list for local consideration
  • Use HSIP funds to hire consultants to complete preliminary design work for locals
  • Use RSAs as a basis for project applications

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5. Action Plan Highlights

Each State group was tasked with developing an overall Action Plan outlining strategies to improve their local road safety program, resources to be employed in the implementation of identified strategies, and a champion to assist in moving forward. Representatives from each State reported out to the group the results of their action planning sessions.

Key actions included:

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6. Feedback and Suggestions

In their evaluations, participants found the most valuable takeaways from the workshop were learning about State strategies for marketing and outreach to the public and strategies for coordination with local partners. They thought the workshop would have been improved if more local officials had been able to attend and they wanted to learn more about MAP-21 requirements. They appreciated learning from other States and having an opportunity to network with colleagues and create action plans with others from their State. Many participants planned to implement the new ideas they learned at the peer exchange in their own States. Most importantly, participants were able to work together across agencies to develop action plans for their respective States.

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Appendix A: Event Registrants

FHWA/Volpe
Rosemarie Anderson
Transportation Specialist
FHWA Office of Safety
Business Phone Number: 202-366-5007
Business Email: Rosemarie.Anderson@dot.gov
Jacinda Russell
Safety & Operations Engineer
FHWA - RI Division
Business Phone Number: 401-528-4551
Business Email: Jacinda.Russell@dot.gov
Aaron Jette
Community Planner
Volpe/US DOT
Business Phone Number: 617-494-2335
Business Email: Aaron.Jette@dot.gov
Karen Scurry
Transportation Specialist
FHWA Office of Safety
Business Phone Number: 609-637-4207
Business Email: Karen.Scurry@dot.gov
Brian Lawrence
Safety & Projects Engineer
FHWA
Business Phone Number: 207-512-4920
Business Email: Brian.Lawrence@dot.gov
Caroline Trueman
Safety Engineer
FHWA
Business Phone Number: 609-637-4234
Business Email: Caroline.Trueman@dot.gov
John McFadden
FHWA Resource Center
Business Phone Number: 202-493-3371
Business Email: John.Mcfadden@dot.gov
Robert Turner
Safety/Area Engineer
FHWA - CT Division
Business Phone Number: 860-494-7563
Business Email: Robert.w.Turner@dot.gov
Jay Monty
Transportation Planner
Volpe/US DOT
Business Phone Number: 617-494-3952
Business Email: Joseph.Monty.ctr@dot.gov
Jeffrey Zaharewicz
LTAP/TTAP Program Manager
FHWA/Technology Partnership Programs
Business Phone Number: 703-235-0991
Business Email: Jeffrey.Zaharewicz@dot.gov
Connecticut
Joseph Ouellette
State Safety Engineer
Connecticut Department of Transportation
Business Phone Number: 860-594-2721
Business Email: joseph.ouellette@ct.gov
Donna Shea
Director
CT LTAP
Business Phone Number: 860-486-0377
Business Email: shea@engr.uconn.edu
Jennifer Carrier
Director of Transportation Planning
Capitol Region Council of Governments
Business Phone Number: 860-522-2217 x212
Business Email: jcarrier@crcog.org
 
Maine Massachusetts
Paul Niehoff
Senior Transportation Planner
PACTS
Business Phone Number: 207-409-9248
Business Email: wpniehoff@gmail.com
Lisa Schletzbaum
Traffic Safety Engineer
MassDOT Highway Division
Business Phone Number: 857-368-9634
Business Email: Lisa.Schletzbaum@state.ma.us
New Hampshire
Julie Chizmas
Transportation Planner
Nashua Regional Planning Commission
Business Phone Number: 603-424-2240
Business Email: juliec@nashuarpc.org
Stuart Thompson
State Highway Safety Engineer
New Hampshire DOT
Business Phone Number: 603-271-1407
Business Email: gthompson@dot.state.nh.us
Beth Hamilton
Training Program Manager
Technology Transfer Center (NH LTAP)
Business Phone Number: 603-862-1362
Business Email: e.hamilton@unh.edu
 
New Jersey
William Day
Manager, Transportation Data and Safety
NJDOT
Business Phone Number: 609-530-3474
Business Email: william.day@dot.state.nj.us
Janet Leli
Director
NJ LTAP
Business Phone Number: 848-445-2906
Business Email: jleli@rci.rutgers.edu
George Fallat
Traffic Engineer
Mercer County
Business Phone Number: 609-989-6642
Business Email: gfallat@mercercounty.org
Jennifer Marandino
Team Leader - Capital Programming & Safety
SJTPO
Business Phone Number: 856-794-1941
Business Email: jmarandino@sjtpo.org
Sascha Frimpong
Manager
NJTPA
Business Phone Number: 973-639-8422
Business Email: sfrimpong@njtpa.org
Christine Mittman
Project Manager
NJTPA
Business Phone Number: 973-639-8448
Business Email: cmittman@njtpa.org
Lois Goldman
Director, Regional Planning
NJTPA
Business Phone Number: 973-639-8413
Business Email: lgoldman@njtpa.org
Kevin Murphy
Principal Transportation Planner
DVRPC
Business Phone Number: 215-238-2864
Business Email: kmurphy@dvrpc.org
Andy Kaplan
Senior Transportation Safety Engineer
Transportation Safety Resource Center at Rutgers CAIT
Business Phone Number: 609-213-6252
Business Email: Andy.Kaplan@rutgers.edu
 
New York
Sandra Misiewicz
Senior Transportation Planner II
Capital District Transportation Committee
Business Phone Number: 518-458-2161
Business Email: smisiewicz@cdtcmpo.org
 
Rhode Island
Sean Raymond
Senior Civil Engineer
Rhode Island DOT
Business Phone Number: 401-222-2694 x4204
Business Email: sraymond@dot.ri.gov
Peter Pavao
Safety and Operations Engineer
VHB/RIDOT
Business Phone Number: 401-742-4824
Business Email: ppavao@vhb.com
Vermont
Amy Gamble
Traffic Operations Engineer
VT Agency of Transportation
Business Phone Number: 802-828-1055
Business Email: amy.gamble@state.vt.us
Rita Seto
Senior Planner, AICP
Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission
Business Phone Number: 802-457-3188
Business Email: rseto@trorc.org

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Appendix B: Agenda

Region 1 - Local Road Safety Peer Exchange Agenda

Piscataway, NJ
October 10 and 11, 2012

Wednesday, October 10
8:00 a.m. Welcoming Remarks
Workshop Overview
8:30 a.m. Participant Introductions
9:00 a.m. Presentations
  • HSIP Overview - Karen Scurry, Office of Safety
  • LTAP Safety Data Program Performance - Jeffrey Zaharewicz, TPP
  • Transportation Safety Planning - Rosemarie Anderson, Safety
10:00 a.m. Break
10:15 a.m. Facilitated Roundtable Discussion
Opportunities for LTAP and MPO Involvement in State Safety Program
10:45 a.m. State Presentations
Brief presentation by each state on local safety efforts in data collection and analysis, SHSP, HSIP
12:00 p.m. Lunch
12:45 p.m. State Presentations
Brief presentation by each state on local safety efforts in data collection and analysis, SHSP, HSIP
1:30 p.m. Facilitated Roundtable Discussion
Noteworthy practices from the state presentations
2:15 p.m. Break
2:30 p.m. Presentations - Strategic Highway Safety Plans (including data analysis)
Regional and Local Agency involvement in the State SHSP process
  • Kevin Murphy, DVRPC
  • Donna Shea, Connecticut LTAP
  • Amy Gamble, VTrans
3:30 p.m. Breakout Groups - SHSP and Local Involvement Challenges
  • Challenges getting local involvement
  • Is the SHSP tailored for local involvement?
  • Strategies to get locals involved and maintain their interest
4:15 p.m. Report Back
4:45 p.m. Wrap Up

Thursday, October 11
8:00 a.m. Recap of Day 1
8:30 a.m. Facilitated Roundtable Discussion - Partnerships
  • Challenges
  • Best Practices
  • What or who is missing from the efforts and how can they be engaged
9:15 a.m. Presentations - HSIP (including data analysis)
  • Administering HSIP
    • Jennifer Carrier, Capitol Region Council of Governments, CT
    • Stuart Thompson, New Hampshire Department of Transportation
  • Discussion on Allocating funds to local agencies
10:15 a.m. Break
10:30 a.m. Breakout Groups - HSIP Project Selection and Implementation
  • Challenges to allocating funds to locals
  • Managing local projects
  • LTAP and MPOs role
11:15 a.m. Report Back
11:45 a.m. Lunch
12:30 p.m. Lessons Learned - Action Plans
2:00 p.m. Report Back
2:45 p.m. Wrap Up (Next Steps), Adjourn
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