Appendix A: Glossary
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)—A nonprofit, nonpartisan organization representing highway and transportation departments in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
Commercial Vehicle Safety Plan (CVSP)—An annual plan completed by each State to receive Basic Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP) Grant funds. The plan outlines the State’s commercial motor vehicle safety objectives, strategies, activities, and performance measures.
Congestion Management Process (CMP)—A required process for metropolitan areas with populations exceeding 200,000; also known as Transportation Management Areas (TMA). A CMP is an approach for managing congestion with the purpose of providing safe and effective integrated management and operation of the multimodal transportation system. The CMP has been used by some Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO) to identify congestion issues based on safety and lead to efforts to address safety improvements.
Crash Data Improvement Program (CDIP)—Program to assist State crash database managers and other safety professionals in identifying, defining, and measuring the characteristics of the data quality within the State crash database.
Emphasis Areas—Key factors contributing to crashes which, if addressed, have the greatest potential to reduce fatalities and series injuries. The National Strategy on Highway Safety outlines a list of potential emphasis areas.
Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS)—A Nationwide census providing annual data regarding fatal injuries in motor vehicle traffic crashes. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration maintains this database.
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)—A division within the U.S. Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation.
Federal Highway Administration Divisions—Local field offices found in every State representing the FHWA. Division employees provide guidance, leadership, and assistance on various modal topics and transportation issues to State Departments of Transportation (DOT) and MPOs.
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)—An agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates the trucking industry whose primary mission is to reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving large trucks and buses.
Federal Transit Administration (FTA)—An agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transportation systems.
Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act—A 2015 Federal funding and authorization bill that governs the Nation’s Federal surface transportation spending.
Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS)—A national-level highway information system (database) that includes data on the extent, condition, performance, use, and operating characteristics of the Nation’s highways.
Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP)—A program with a goal of achieving a significant reduction in traffic fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads. The HSIP includes three main components: 1) a Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP); 2) Railway-highway Crossing Program; and 3) a program of safety improvement projects.
Highway Safety Manual (HSM)—A document providing an overarching approach to safety management, including a variety of methods for quantitatively estimating crash frequency or severity.
Highway Safety Plan (HSP)—An annual publication developed by States that serves as a programmatic guide and application for Federal grant funding from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The report outlines the use of Federal highway safety funds and evaluates the programs supported by the funds.
Interactive Highway Safety Design Model (IHSDM)—A suite of software analysis tools used to evaluate the safety and operational effects of geometric design decisions on highways.
KABCO Scale—A scaled used to classify roadway injuries. K is fatal, A is incapacitating injury, B is nonincapacitating injury, C is possible injury, and O is no injury.
Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD)—A document defining the standards and guidance of traffic control devices, such as roadway sign shape, color, and location.
Metropolitan Long-Range Transportation Plan (MTP)—The primary transportation-planning document required for MPOs. This report is used to identify key roadway and transit issues and needs over the next 20 plus years.
Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)—A public, governmental agency responsible for planning and coordinating transportation services in metropolitan areas with more than 50,000 in population.
Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program (TIP)—A document developed by MPOs, which outlines the transportation projects for funding in a specific geographic area over the next four to six years, including implementation timeframe and funding sources.
Model Inventory Roadway Elements (MIRE)—A recommended listing of roadway inventory and traffic elements critical to safety management. These guidelines are intended to help transportation agencies improve their roadway and traffic data inventories.
MIRE Fundamental Data Elements (FDE)—A fundamental set of roadway traffic data elements that States must collect and can be used to support safety analyses. The data collected includes 37 data elements on nonlocal paved roads, 9 elements on local paved roads, and 5 elements on unpaved roads.
Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC)—A voluntary guide providing a minimum, standardized data set for describing motor vehicle crashes and the vehicles, persons, and environment involved. The 110 data elements presented in this document include 77 data elements at the scene; 10 data elements to be derived from the collected data, and 23 data elements to be obtained after linkage to driver history, injury, and roadway inventory data.
Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21)—A funding and authorization bill that governs the Nation’s Federal surface transportation spending. This bill was replaced by the FAST Act in late 2015.
National Highway Performance Program (NHPP)—Federal funding to provide support for the condition and performance of the National Highway System (NHS), the construction of new facilities on the NHS, and to ensure investments of Federal-aid funds in highway construction are directed to support progress toward the achievement of performance targets established in a State’s asset management plan for the NHS.
National Highway System (NHS)—A network of strategic highways within the United States important to the Nation’s economy, defense, and mobility.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)—An organization under the U.S. Department of Transportation responsible for carrying out safety programs. This includes implementing programs that reduce deaths, injuries, and economic losses resulting from motor vehicle crashes; investigates safety defects; and conducts research on driver behavior and traffic safety.
Performance-Based Planning Process (PBPP)—A method of planning and programming used by transportation agencies to achieve a desired performance outcome for the multimodal transportation system.
Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets—A document covering the functional design of roads and highways, such as intersection layout, horizontal curves, and vertical curves. Commonly known as the Green book.
Regional Transportation Planning Organization (RTPO)—Agencies that operate in nonmetropolitan areas to conduct outreach to the public and local officials, and provide transportation-planning support under contract to State Departments of Transportation (DOT). Also known as Regional Planning Organizations (RPO).
Regional Safety Coalition—Regional entities that bridges the gap between multiple safety stakeholders, such as State DOT, local governments, law enforcement, civic organizations, and education leaders. These coalitions usually work closely with the development of the SHSP and other local and regional safety documents and programs.
Roadway Data Improvement Program (RDIP)—A FHWA program that provides information and resources to help agencies improve roadway safety data systems, collection, analysis, and evaluation.
State Highway Safety Offices (SHSO)—This State office works with various safety stakeholders (law enforcement, judicial personnel, community advocates, et al.) to coordinate activities and initiatives relating to highway safety, specifically behavioral aspects (e.g., texting while driving, wearing seatbelts). Every State has an SHSO.
Statewide Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP)—The primary transportation-planning document required for State DOTs. This report is used to identify key roadway and transit issues and needs over the next 20 plus years.
Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP)—A document developed by DOTs that outline the projects for funding over the next four to six years, including the timeframe for implementation and the source of funding.
S/TIP—This acronym is a shorthand methods of referring to the Statewide and metropolitan transportation improvement programs.
Strategic Highway Safety Plans (SHSP)—A Statewide coordinated safety plan developed by the State DOT in consultation with safety stakeholders. It provides a comprehensive framework for reducing highway fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads.
Technical Advisory Committees (TAC)—MPO committees made up primarily of representatives from local jurisdictions, DOT staff, transit agencies, and FHWA. They usually meet monthly or quarterly to provide input and guidance into all transportation planning activities. Some committees address specific modes or topics, such as safety.
The 4 Es of Safety—An approach to safety to include all disciplines: engineering, enforcement, education, and emergency response. Stakeholders from each of these disciplines are engaged in the SHSP planning process, and their expertise can be utilized for other safety and transportation plans.
Toward Zero Deaths—The safety vision for the Nation and many States. The goal is to have zero highway fatalities, and many efforts are underway to help move toward this goal.
Traffic Records Coordinating Committee (TRCC)—A State committee with the goal of improving the collection, management, and analysis of traffic safety data by coordinating the activities of safety data stakeholders.
Transportation Planning Process—An approach DOTs and MPOs take to develop plans and projects, which involves a cooperative, performance-driven process, by which long- and short-term investments are determined.
Transportation Research Board (TRB)—One of the seven program units of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The program provides independent, objective transportation analysis and advice to the Nation, and conducts other activities to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions.
Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP)—An annual or biennial statement of work identifying the planning priorities and activities to be carried out within a metropolitan planning area. MPOs are required to develop these documents.
Vision Zero—An approach that envisions even one traffic death is unacceptable. Some of the principles include: transportation safety responsibility is shared between individual users and system designers (i.e., transportation engineers, automotive industry, lawmakers and transportation agencies); and transportation system design should take into account that human behaviors are not perfect.
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