HSM Training Guide - Section 4

HSM Training Guide

4. Training Course Descriptions

This section provides a compilation of training course descriptions for training that is available from the National Highway Institute (NHI), the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Resource Center, Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), and American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO).

The section also includes a description of the NCHRP 17-38 HSM Overview Training and each of the modules in the training. The NCHRP 17-38 instructor and participant materials will be available in the public domain shortly.

Unless otherwise noted, these courses are instructor-led and costs are subject to change (costs current as of May 2011).

National Highway Institute

This section lists available courses from NHI along with the duration and instruction-type for courses related to the HSM.

HSM Practitioner’s Guide for Geometric Design Features (380070) – 2-day

This course provides the HSM methodology for the safety performance of geometric design decisions on both two-lane and multi-lane rural highways. The crash prediction models for total crashes and cross-section related crashes based upon lane width, shoulder width, roadside hazard, traffic volume (exposure) and other characteristics are presented. Examples of safety performance prediction are presented for highway segments and intersections. Discussion of research and the interactive effects of lane and shoulder widths, hazard rating, and access density (driveways) on safety performance are presented.

Course 380070A covers only two-lane highways and Course 380070B covers only multi-lane rural highways.

HSM Practitioner’s Guide for Rural Two Lane Roads (380070A) – 1-day

This course presents the HSM crash prediction models for total crashes on rural two-lane roads and crashes based upon lane width, shoulder width, roadside hazard, traffic volume (exposure) and other characteristics. Examples of safety performance prediction are presented for highway segments and intersections. Discussion of research and the interactive effects of lane and shoulder widths, ‘roadside hazard rating’, and access density (driveways) on safety performance are presented.

HSM Practitioner’s Guide for Multilane Highways (380070B) – 1-day

This course provides the HSM methodology for the prediction of safety performance of geometric design decisions for multilane highways. The crash prediction models for total crashes based upon lane width, shoulder width, roadside hazard, traffic volume (exposure) and other characteristics are presented. Examples of safety performance prediction are presented for highway segments and intersections. Discussion of research and the interactive effects on safety performance for median width and barriers, of access (driveways) and side streets and intersection turning lanes are presented.

Interactive Highway Safety Design Model (380071) – 2-day

This course instructs highway design project managers, planners, designers, and traffic and safety reviewers in the application of the Interactive Highway Safety Design Model (IHSDM) software and provides guidance on interpretation of the output. Participants gain hands-on experience with the software.

New Approaches to Highway Safety Analysis (380075) – 3-day

The primary purpose of this course is to help attendees gain an understanding of the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) process, safety engineering principles and human factors issues related to traffic and road safety. It also provides the participant with an explanation of the latest methods for identifying collision causes and selecting cost-effective safety improvements. Also, this course serves as a prerequisite for those who will be utilizing SafetyAnalyst, a set of software tools available through AASHTOWare designed to assist state and local agencies to improve the decision making process in implementing safety improvement projects.

Low Cost Safety Improvements Workshop (380076) – 1-day

This course provides a comprehensive presentation of low-cost, ready-to-use improvements that enhance the safety of highways. The course covers a synthesis of countermeasures and their associated crash reduction factors as identified in the "AASHTO Strategic Highway Safety Plan –NCHRP 500 Guidebooks." Countermeasures for specific areas of highway safety, including roadside hazards; signing, markings, and lighting; traffic control devices; intersections; traffic signals; and railroad grade crossings are discussed. The course also introduces low-cost safety improvements that have been recently developed by States and local engineers. Through exercises, participants learn how to analyze highway safety situations and apply appropriate countermeasures to those situations.

Intersection Safety Workshop (380077) – 1-day

Beginning with an introduction to intersection and crash characteristics, this course provides information on ready-to-use, direct-application safety measures for rural unsignalized and signalized intersections. Participants are presented with a synthesis of countermeasures and their associated crash reduction factors as identified in the "AASHTO Strategic Highway Safety Plan – NCHRP 500 Guidebooks." The course focuses on the application of these countermeasures and design and safety operations best practices for substantive improvements to intersection safety. During the course, participants have the opportunity to present intersection safety situations that they are currently facing and discuss appropriate countermeasures and best practices to address those situations.

HSM Practitioners Guide for Horizontal Curves (380088) – 1-day

This course provides participants with some tools for evaluating the safety performance of horizontal curves along with suggestions for countermeasures that could improve safety performance. Topics covered in this course include crash experience in locations under study, tools for identifying and prioritizing horizontal curve safety, low cost maintenance countermeasures, and a discussion of engineering countermeasures.

Applications of Crash Reduction Factors (380093) – 3-hour (blended on-line course)

This course focuses on the application of Crash Reduction Factors (CRFs) to select countermeasures. The course covers the project development cycle (starting from network screening and site selection for safety review), diagnostics of safety concerns, cost-benefit evaluation, and countermeasure selection.

NHI currently has task orders under way to update this course to reflect a change in emphasis on the use of CRFs to Crash Modification Factors (CMFs).

Science of Crash Reduction Factors (380094) – 2-hour (blended on-line course)

This course focuses on the application of CRFsto select countermeasures. The course covers the project development cycle (starting from network screening and site selection for safety review), diagnostics of safety concerns, cost-benefit evaluation, and countermeasure selection.

NHI currently has task orders under way to re-design this course to reflect a shift in emphasis on the use of CMFs rather than CRFs.

Highway Safety Improvement Program Manual (380103) – 2-day

This course introduces safety professionals to new procedures and technologies, and provides information on topics ranging from core safety concepts to detailed discussions of technical methods for data-driven safety planning which will enhance HSIP efforts.

HSM Practitioner’s Guide for Intersections (380105) – 1-day

This course provides participants with some tools for evaluating the safety performance of intersections along with suggestions for countermeasures that could improve safety performance. The course is intended for State and local transportation planners, designers, and safety engineers involved in the design of intersections.

FHWA Resource Center

Empirical Bayes Analysis for Safety

This workshop reviews terminology and concepts related to before-after highway safety data analysis techniques. These types of analyses are illustrated and applied via examples and work problems. This workshop also includes a hands-on application of Empirical Bayesian (EB) statistics procedures to overcome the effects of the regression to the mean phenomenon. By the end of this workshop, students will be capable of applying the EB approach to Highway Safety Data.

HSM Webinar Series

During 2010, the FHWA Resource Center presented a series of HSM webinars. Recording of these webinars are available on-line at the AASHTO HSM web site:.

• HSM Introduction and Overview – HSM introduction, purpose, summary of content, and marketing and deployment initiatives. HSM and Pedestrians – HSM applications to pedestrians.
• HSM Applications to HSIP – HSIP examples utilizing the network screening, project prioritization, and program evaluation tools in the HSM.
• Project Identification Using the HSM – HSM applications that aid in the project identification process.
• HSM Applications to Two-Lane Rural Roads – HSM predictive methods and crash modification factors for two-lane rural road segments.
• HSM Applications to Rural Intersections – HSM predictive methods and crash modification factors for two-lane rural road intersections.
• HSM Applications to Horizontal Curves – HSM applications to horizontal curves.
• HSM Applications to Multilane Highways – HSM predictive methods and crash modification factors for multilane rural highway segments.
• HSM Applications to Urban and Suburban Intersections – The HSM predictive methods and crash modification factors for urban and suburban intersections.
• HSM Applications to Urban and Suburban Roadways – HSM predictive methods and crash modification factors for urban/suburban roadway segments.
• HSM Relationship to Roadway Departure Crashes – HSM applications to roadway departure crashes.

Additional Courses under Development

FHWA HSM Train-the-Trainer Workshops

FHWA will be presenting train-the-trainer workshops in the spring of 2012. Details are forthcoming. For more information, please contact Mshadoni Smith from FHWA at mshadoni.smith@dot.gov. Train-the-trainer workshop course material will also be made available on the HSM web site in the future.

FHWA Web-based Training

FHWA will be developing HSM web-based training based on the NCHRP 17-38 course material but customized to the key practitioners focus groups. The modules will be posted free of charge on the NHI web site in 2012.

FHWA HSM for Local Agencies

FHWA designed this course for local transportation agencies. The material provides a snap shot of highway safety statistics, a brief introduction to the AASHTO Highway Safety Manual, and shows how safety can be incorporated into practice through proven safety countermeasures and low cost safety improvements. This course has been piloted as a webinar and is available on request from the Resource Center. For more information, please contact Hillary Isebrands at Hillary.Isebrands@dot.gov.

HSM Roadway Safety Management Process

The course is an overview of the HSM with emphasis on the Roadway Safety Management Process (Part B). The target audience is transportation professionals who are involved with assessing sites within a corridor that could benefit from safety treatments in reducing crash frequency or severity. An overview of the HSM crash prediction methodology is also provided. For more information, please contact Gene Amparano at Gene.Amparano@dot.gov.

NHI: IHSDM Web-based training (380100)

IHSDM web-based training is currently under development – refer to the NHI web site for updates.

HSM Overview Training Modules (NCHRP 17-38)

The NCHRP 17-38 was initiated to specifically develop overview training for the Highway Safety Manual. Once completed, the training materials (instructor and participant materials) will be available on-line through the Transportation Research Board, for use and customization by agencies, organizations and individuals. The training will also be available through NHI as a one day practitioner’s course (NHI 380106) in early 2012. The training is modular and intended to be used for training on modular basis or as an overview course if the training covers all the modules.

This course provides an overview of the HSM. The intended audience is state and local transportation planners, designers, and safety engineers who are involved with the project development process and the roadway safety management program.

The following list provides a brief description of each of the modules in the NCHRP 17-38 Overview training:

• Introduction – Provides a framework for the purpose and general organization of the HSM. Topics include the purpose of the manual, the target audience, the legal context, advantages of implementing the HSM, the structure and content of the manual, and how to integrate the HSM into the project development process.
• Fundamentals – Introduces fundamental concepts that are necessary to understand the road safety management techniques and crash estimation methods in the HSM. The topics include using crashes as the basis for measuring safety in the HSM, data needs for the HSM, the evolution of crash estimation methods, overview of predictive methods in Part C, and evaluating safety effectiveness.
• Human Factors – Provides an overview of implications of human factors in roadway safety. Topics include human factors role in road safety, impact of road design on the driver, and human factors and HSM integration.
• Part B Overview – Provides an overview of the roadway safety management process including the purpose, structure, and steps. The module also describes how to use Part B and the benefits of the process.
• Network Screening – Describes the steps in the network screening process: establish focus; identify network and establish reference populations; select performance measures; select screening method; and screen and evaluate the results. It identifies strengths and weaknesses of different performance measures.
• Diagnosis and Countermeasure Selection – Covers the diagnosis and countermeasure selection process. Topics include the diagnosis process, crash and supporting data, field evaluation, contributing crash factors, and countermeasure identification.
• Economic Appraisal and Prioritization – Covers methods for conducting an economic evaluation. Topics include an overview of project benefits and costs, economic evaluation methods, non-monetary considerations, prioritization methods, and applications.
• Safety Effectiveness Evaluation – Describes methods used to evaluate the safety effectiveness of treatments and projects, and their importance in the safety management process. An overview of the various evaluation study designs including the benefits, limitations, and data needs is included.
• Predictive Methods – Explains the predictive method and the analysis process. The module identifies data requirements for basic and supplemental analysis and compares the differences among predictive methods based on characteristics of roadway types.
• Calibration – Presents the specialized procedures associated with Part C’s predictive methods. The module includes the procedure for calibrating SPFs for local conditions, guidance in the HSM for development of SPFs for local conditions, how and when to replace default values in the HSM with local values, and the use of the Empirical Bayes method to combine predicted and observed crash frequencies.
• Crash Modification Factors – This module presents information on Crash Modification Factors, safety trends, and unknown effects of various treatments. The topics include general information regarding crash modification factors and a discussion on CMFs for roadway segments, intersections, interchanges, and special facilities, geometric situations, and roadway networks.

AASHTOWare: Using SafetyAnalyst

SafetyAnalyst provides a set of software tools for use by state and local highway agencies for the roadway safety management process. These tools can be used to develop programming for site-specific highway safety improvements following the process and procedures introduced in Part B of the Highway Safety Manual (HSM). Training on the use of SafetyAnalyst is available to SafetyAnalyst licensed states. Safety Analyst is also available for licensing through AASHTO.

Institute of Transportation Engineers

The Institute of Transportation Engineers is currently presenting the Highway Safety Manual Predictive Method Application Series as a series of webinar briefings. The series consists of four 1.5 hour sessions at the following cost: $500 ITE member/$625 non-member/$250 student member. HiSafe, a commercial software product, is used to demonstrate results from the predictive method during the webinars.

The Highway Safety Manual (HSM) web seminar series demonstrates the predictive method capabilities within the new Highway Safety Manual in context of actual problems, solutions and integrating HSM predictive method software HiSafe to demonstrate results. The series consists of the following briefings:

• Applying HSM Crash Modification Factors (web seminar/briefing) – 1.5 hour $250 ITE member/$325 non-member/$125 student member - This web seminar introduces fundamentals of crash modification factors and provide case study examples applications including how crash modification factors might be integrated into the design process.
• Fundamentals of the Safety Predictive Method (web seminar/briefing) – 1.5 hour $250 ITE member/$325 non-member/$125 student member - This web seminar introduces the fundamental concepts involved in applying the predictive method including: safety performance functions, crash modification factors, calibration factors, and the Empirical Bayes method. The HiSafe software is used to teach the predictive method.
• Predicting Crash Frequency on Urban/Suburban Arterials (web seminar/briefing) – 1.5 hour $250 ITE member/$325 non-member/$125 student member – This web seminar introduces the method and present case study examples on applying the HSM predictive method on urban and suburban arterials segments and intersections. The HiSafe software is used as a tool to demonstrate applications.
• Predicting Crash Frequency on Rural Highways (web seminar/briefing) – 1.5 hour $250 ITE member/$325 non-member/$125 student member – This web seminar introduces the method present case study examples on applying the HSM predictive method on rural road segments and rural intersections. The HiSafe software is used as a tool to demonstrate applications.

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