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                        Integrating Safety in the Rural Transportation Planning Process


            
            In This Section
        Local and Rural Road Safety Program
                Training, Tools, Guidance and Countermeasures for Locals Practitioners
                Crash Facts
                
                Appendix B. Resources
Table B.1 presents key resources to advance RPO transportation safety planning.

**Table B.1 Key Resources to Advance RPO Transportation Safety Planning**

Title
			NotesTransportation Planning ProcessesFederal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration (2007). The Transportation Planning Process Key Issues: A Briefing Book for Transportation Decision-Makers, Officials, and Staff. Transportation Planning Capacity Building Program. FHWA, Washington, D.C.
			The publication provides an overview of transportation planning and contains a summary of key concepts in statewide and metropolitan transportation planning, along with references for additional information.

			RPOs would benefit from the process diagrams and explanation of the elements of the transportation planning process, since many RPO structures follow the FHWA process for transportation planning.Federal Safety and Planning Web SitesFHWA Local and Rural Safety Program.
			This web site provides a number of resources to local and RPO planners, including national information on crash facts, funding and policy guidance, safety programs, publications, and peer-to-peer assistance opportunities.FHWA Safety Program.
			This web site is intended to provide transportation planners with programs, publications, and technologies to improve safety performance.FHWA Planning Program.
			This web site is intended to provide transportation planners with programs, publications, and technologies to improve transportation planning.FHWA Web-Links to State SHSPs.
			This web site provides links to the SHSPs for every state.NHTSA Web-Links to State HSPs.
			This web site provides links to the HSPs for every state.CountermeasuresNCHRP (2011), Report 500: Guidance for Implementation of the AASHTO Strategic Highway Safety Plan.
			This project developed a series of guides to assist state and local agencies in reducing injuries and fatalities in targeted emphasis areas. The guides correspond to the emphasis areas outlined in the AASHTO Strategic Highway Safety Plan. Each guide includes strategies/countermeasures to address the problem.FHWA Office of Safety (2012), Proven Safety Countermeasures.
			FHWA has provided information and fact sheets on a group of countermeasures that have shown great effectiveness in improving safety.FHWA, Crash Modification Factors Clearinghouse.
			The Crash Modification Factors Clearinghouse houses a web-based database of CMFs along with supporting documentation to help transportation engineers identify the most appropriate countermeasure for their safety needs.NHTSA (2013), Countermeasures That Work: A Highway Safety Countermeasure Guide for State Highway Safety Offices.
			The guide is a basic reference is selecting evidence-based countermeasures, mainly for behavioral initiatives.FHWA Office of Safety (2006), Implementing the High Risk Rural Roads Program.
			This document contains resources and practices for consideration in implementing the HRRRP, including crash data, analysis and use, and project selection.Transportation Safety PlanningNCHRP (2006), Report 05-46, Incorporating Safety into Long-Range Transportation Planning.
			Report 546 was a first step in providing MPO and DOT transportation planners with tools and strategies to consider safety in the planning process. Although geared toward urban agencies, many of the processes and strategies outlined in the document are relevant to RPO practitioners.NCHRP (2011), Report 08-76, Institutionalizing Safety in the Transportation Planning Process.
			Report 876 created a seven-principle transportation safety planning framework (TSP Framework) demonstrating how planners could integrate safety into every step of the traditional planning process. Although geared toward urban agencies, many of the processes and strategies outlined in the document are relevant to RPO practitioners.NCHRP (Project Underway), Report B08-76, Implementing, Testing, and Evaluating the Transportation Safety Planning Framework.
			Report B876 is ongoing and has focused research on five lead states, working with them to identify approaches for integrating safety throughout the entire planning process based on their own unique planning environments. One of the lead states, Maine, has RPOs and provided guidance on how to better integrate safety into regional planning processes.FHWA (2012), Developing Safety Plans: A Manual for Local Rural Road Owners.
			This document guides the development of a Local Road Safety Plan, providing local practitioners with a framework to take a proactive stance to identify the specific or unique conditions that contribute to crashes within their jurisdictions.SHSP GuidanceFHWA (2012), Strategic Highway Safety Plans: A Champion's Guide to Saving Lives, Second Edition.
			This document promotes best practices and serves as guidance to state DOTs and their safety partners for the development and implementation of the state SHSP; assists state DOTs in creating an SHSP that meets the requirements of Title 23, U.S.C.; and assists states in understanding the relationship between the SHSP and existing transportation planning and programming processes. For RPOs looking to engage in their state's SHSP process, this guide is useful.Performance MeasuresCalifornia Department of Transportation (2006), Performance Measures for Rural Transportation Systems.
			This publication provides guidance to rural areas regarding a standardized and supportable performance measurement process for transportation systems.FHWA (2009), A Primer on Safety Performance Measures for the Transportation Planning Process.
			This Primer is a tool to help State and local practitioners, transportation planners, and decision-makers identify, select, and use safety performance measures as a part of the transportation planning process.Project PrioritizationNADO (2013), Webinar Materials: Strategic Prioritization in North Carolina.
			These materials outline the process used in North Carolina to prioritize transportation projects, which incorporates input from rural practitioners. The prioritization also includes safety considerations for every project.NADO (2011), Transportation Project Prioritization and Performance-Based Planning Efforts in Rural and Small Metropolitan Regions.
			This report provides an overview of the state of the practice in nonmetro regional transportation planning, including the contract amounts, RPO tasks, and committee structures. The research also examines rural long-range planning efforts and criteria used to rank regional priority projects.RPO Transportation Planning DocumentsPiedmont Triad RPO (2013), Speed Management Action Plan for Randolph County.
			This plan was developed for one of the counties in the Piedmont Triad Regional Council planning area. It characterizes Randolph County's speeding and speed management issues, identifies appropriate countermeasures and strategies, and describes implementation actions to reduce speeding and speed-related fatal and injury crashes.North Central Pennsylvania RPDC (2012), North Central Regional Safety Study.
			The North Central Regional Corridor Safety Improvement Study represents a focused evaluation of safety-related issues along the Core System Roadways that provide key transportation links to critical economic centers and recreational assets throughout the region. It examines safety related to motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit services with the goal to outline specific safety improvements within the six-county region that best accommodates multiple modes of travel.Virginia DOT (2012), Rural Regional Long-Range Plans.
			Virginia DOT partnered with all the rural planning agencies in the State (called planning district commissions in Virginia) to evaluate the State's rural transportation system and to recommend a range of transportation improvements that best satisfy existing and future needs. The partnership resulted in the development of regional transportation plans for each PDC.Planning/Policy ManualsVTrans (2014), Transportation Planning Initiative Annual Work Program Guidance.
			This document provides guidance to Vermont's RPCs' to assist them with developing their annual Transportation Planning Initiative (TPI) work program and budget for Federal Fiscal Year 2014. The document also outlines opportunities for the RPCs to engage in safety planning activities. This document may be useful to DOTs, interested in formalizing RTPO work programs.Data and AnalysisFHWA Road Safety Information Analysis: A Manual for Local Rural Road Owners.
			This manual provides information on crash data collection and analysis techniques specifically applicable to local practitioners with limited resources.FHWA (Project Underway), Toolkit: Improving Safety on Rural Local and Tribal Roads
			This toolkit will help rural agency practitioners effectively integrate road safety into their existing array of responsibilities. It provides practitioners with an easy to use safety analysis process, a set of tools, examples, and links to resources appropriate to their needs.AASHTO (2010), Highway Safety Manual.
			The first edition of the HSM provides the best factual information and tools to facilitate roadway planning, design, operations, and maintenance decisions based on precise consideration of their safety consequences. The primary focus of the HSM is the introduction and development of analytical tools for predicting the impact of transportation project and program decisions on road safety.FHWA (2013), Systemic Safety Project Selection Tool.
			The FHWA Office of Safety developed the Systemic Safety Project Selection Tool guidebook to provide practitioners a step-by-step process for conducting systemic safety planning, considerations for balancing investments in spot-specific and systemic safety improvements, and analytical techniques for quantifying the benefits of a systemic safety program.You may need Adobe® Reader® to view the PDFs on this page.
      
  Book traversal links for Appendix B. Resources
      ‹ Appendix A. Case Studies
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                    Appendix C. Implementation Plan ›
                
                Book:Integrating Safety in the Rural Transportation Planning Process
              Executive Summary
                1.0 Introduction
                2.0 Safety and Transportation Planning
                3.0 Methods for Integrating Safety into the Transportation Planning Process
                4.0 Linking RPO Planning Documents
                5.0 Conclusion
                Appendix A. Case Studies
                Appendix B. Resources
                Appendix C. Implementation Plan U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

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