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                        Road Safety Audit Case Studies: Using IHSDM in the RSA Process


            
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                RSAs: Benefits and Costs
RSA Benefits

The primary benefits of RSAs are the reduction of crashes and associated crash costs as road safety is improved. The costs of automotive crashes are estimated by the US Department of Transportation as *(1)*:

$9,197,370 for a traffic fatality (category K).
	$5,454,040 for a critical injury (category A1).
	$2,446,500 for a severe injury (category A2).
	$965,724 for a serious injury (category B1).
	$432,276 for a moderate injury (category B2).
	$27,592 for a minor injury (category C).
	$6,500 for property damage only (PDO).Other benefits of RSAs include reduced life-cycle project costs as crashes are reduced, and the development of good safety engineering and design practices, including consideration of the surrounding land use and development in combination with the potential multimodal safety issues and integrating human factors issues in the design, operations, and maintenance of roads. Additional benefits may include enhanced traveler experience and access management, reduced travel delay and travel time, and improved travel reliability.

FHWA sponsored a study of nine RSA programs and five RSA projects. The project documented key strategies underpinning the success of the nine RSA programs as well as the quantitative safety benefits of specific improvements implemented as a result of the five specific RSA projects. The results of this study are published in the FHWA report Road Safety Audits: An Evaluation of RSA Programs and Projects (FHWA-SA-12-037). Other local and regional studies have been completed to quantify the benefits of RSAs; practitioners are encouraged to consult partnering agencies with regard to the success in implementing RSAs.

RSA Costs

Three main factors contribute to the cost of an RSA:

RSA Team costs.
	Design team and Owner costs.
	Costs of design changes or enhancements.The *RSA Team*costs reflect the size of the team and the time required for the RSA, which in turn are dependent on the complexity of the RSA project. RSA teams are typically composed of three to four persons although they can be larger when multiple owners are involved.

Opening and closing meetings, site visits, and RSA analysis sessions are typically conducted in a
two or three-day period for each RSA. Prior to and following the on-site portion of the RSA, time is required for analysis (such as analysis of collision records, and research on applicable design standards or mitigation measures) along with writing the RSA report.

The design team and owner costs reflect the time required for staff to attend the start-up and preliminary findings meetings, and to subsequently read the RSA report and respond to its findings. In addition, staff time is required to compile project or site materials for the RSA team.

The final cost component is that resulting from design changes or enhancements, which reflect the number and complexity of the issues identified during the RSA.
      
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                Book:Road Safety Audit Case Studies: Using IHSDM in the RSA Process
              Executive Summary
                Background
                Eight Steps of an RSA
                RSAs: Benefits and Costs
                Purpose
                IHSDM Overview
                Using IHSDM in the RSA Process
                Utilizing IHSDM Results
                Conclusions and Recommendations
                References
                APPENDIX A: RSA CASE STUDY DETAILS: RSA No. 1 – Snake Hill Road, Glocester, Rhode Island
                APPENDIX A: RSA CASE STUDY DETAILS: RSA No. 2 – US Highway 2, Kalispell, Montana
                APPENDIX A: RSA CASE STUDY DETAILS: RSA No. 3 – US 97, Klamath County, Oregon
                APPENDIX B: IHSDM DATA REQUIREMENTS AND ANAYSIS METHODOLOGY U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

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