You did it! You recognized that speeding is a significant 

safety problem in your jurisdiction, and you put a lot of time 

and effort into developing a Speed Management Action 

Plan that holds great promise for reducing speeding-related 

crashes and fatalities. So...what’s next? 

Figuring out how to implement a speed management plan 

can be daunting, so the Federal Highway Administration 

(FHWA) has developed a set of steps that agency staff can 

adopt and tailor to get the ball rolling—but not speeding! 

Agencies can use these proven methods to jump start plan 

implementation and achieve success in reducing speedrelated crashes.

Put Your Speed Management Plan into Action

Implementation Steps

SPEED MANAGEMENT 

ACTION PLAN

INVOLVE STAKEHOLDERS 

In order for the plan to be successful, support and buy-in is 

needed from every area of transportation: engineering (Federal, 

State, local, and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO), 

enforcement, education, and emergency medical services 

(EMS). Notify and engage stakeholders who were instrumental 

in developing the plan and identify gaps in support. Potential 

stakeholders may include:

• Behavioral and infrastructure funding source representatives.

• Judicial representatives.

• EMS providers.

• Educators.

• Planners.

• Outreach specialists.

• Governor’s Highway Safety Office representatives.

• National Highway Transportation Safety Administration 

(NHTSA) Regional Office representatives.

• Local/MPO/State Department of Transportation (DOT) 

representatives.

• Police/enforcement representatives.

• FHWA Division Safety Engineers.

• Agency Traffic Operations Engineers.

• Agency Safety Engineers.

• Agency Pedestrian/Bicycle Coordinators.

• Agency Pavement Design Engineers.

• Agency Maintenance Engineers.

MARKET THE PLAN

Stakeholders may come from unexpected areas of transportation. 

Broadly distributing the plan is vital to gathering a diverse set of 

stakeholders eager to work together and implement the plan. 

An agency’s communication and outreach techniques will 

depend on the agency’s structure and goals; however, techniques 

that have proven successful include: 

• Stakeholder workshops.

• Stakeholder webinars.

• Breakout sessions, presentations, or announcements at 

agency-wide transportation conferences.

• Newsletters. 

• Email blasts.

• In-person meetings to internal and external partners.

Identify 

Strategy Leads

Involve 

Stakeholders

Identify a 

Champion

Develop a Speed 

Management Team

Set Goals, Track 

Progress, 

Evaluate, and 

Celebrate Success

Market the 

Plan

Prioritize 

Strategies for 

Implementation
http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov

IDENTIFY A CHAMPION

Identify a motivated, passionate leader to oversee the plan’s implementation. This individual will be responsible 

for assembling a Speed Management Team (see Step 4), gaining management buy-in for the strategies and 

implementation techniques, and keeping in touch with strategy leaders (see Step 6) to monitor progress and offer 

resources and support.

DEVELOP A SPEED MANAGEMENT TEAM 

A dedicated leader supported by an enthusiastic team sets up the Speed Management Plan for successful 

implementation. Form a speed management group that meets quarterly or bi-annually and includes all stakeholders 

from Step 1. This team will define their goals and vision, prioritize strategies, help identify funding and resources, 

promote speed management practices and concepts, and track the progress of plan strategies and action steps.

PRIORITIZE STRATEGIES FOR IMPLEMENTATION 

Whether an agency forms a large, diverse Speed Management Team or the effort is coordinated by a small group 

of staff, strategies should be reviewed and prioritized according to the level of resources available to the agency. 

Some strategies may be policy- or guidance-focused and only require staff time from a single agency. Others may 

be more complex and costly and could require multiple transportation agencies to work together.

IDENTIFY STRATEGY LEADS

Assign an agency and a specific person within the agency to lead each strategy. This individual is responsible 

for recruiting the necessary stakeholders, assembling a team to execute the strategy, identifying and gathering 

necessary resources, and garnering buy-in from management.

SET GOALS, TRACK PROGRESS, EVALUATE, AND CELEBRATE SUCCESS 

Strategy leads are responsible for documenting implementation goals and tracking progress. Many agencies 

conduct status meetings that focus solely on reporting performance measures. Consider including progress goals 

within these meetings or reporting progress regularly to management. Once implemented, evaluate the results as 

appropriate. Celebrating success and recognizing the people that were integral in achieving the goal is important 

for sustaining momentum and keeping stakeholders engaged. 

FHWA-SA-18-050

Agencies will need to tailor these high-level steps to fit into their established structures or practices. The steps can 

be used as a starting point and built upon as appropriate to address the unique needs of each agency, forming 

the foundation for a successful Speed Management Plan implementation approach that will reduce speed-related 

crashes and save lives. 

SPEED MANAGEMENT ACTION PLAN | IMPLEMENTATION STEPS

FOR MORE INFORMATION

To learn more or receive technical assistance, visit the 

Federal Highway Administration’s Speed Management 

webpage (https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/speedmgt/) 

or contact:

Guan Xu

FHWA Speed Management Program Manager

Phone: 202-366-5892

Email: Guan.Xu@dot.gov

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