SPEED MANAGEMENT 

ACTION PLAN 

Development 

Developing a Speed Management Action Plan 

Piece by Piece 

A plan may include strategies 

for improving: 

 Speeding legislation and

stakeholder policies.

 Enforcement and

adjudication.

 Speed setting practices

and methodology.

 Trafc calming guidance.

 Stakeholder or public

education.

 Data analysis to identify

problem locations.

 Project selection

and countermeasure

deployment.

Speeding is one of the most prevalent factors contributing to fatal and serious injury 

crashes and accounts for approximately one quarter of all trafc fatalities.1 It is a complex 

issue that cuts across all areas of transportation safety, from roadway departure, to 

intersection, to pedestrian and bicycle safety. As such, efective speed management 

can reduce fatalities and serious injuries in every safety focus area. To realize the vision 

of zero trafc deaths, stakeholders need to collaboratively plan and work together to 

implement speed management strategies. 

A Speed Management Action Plan (SMAP) is a shared action plan developed among 

transportation agencies and their partners. It can serve as the platform for stakeholder 

collaboration and planning as well as tie together speed management strategies and 

action steps of other safety plans, e.g., Strategic Highway Safety Plans (SHSP), roadway 

departure plans, intersection plans, pedestrian plans, and bicycle plans. 

SMAPs come in all shapes and sizes and should be tailored to the agency’s speed 

management needs. While each agency’s SMAP is unique and customized to meet their 

needs, there are common steps an agency can take to ensure its SMAP best addresses 

the jurisdiction’s speed management challenges and is supported by stakeholders. This 

document describes basic steps, or pieces, an agency might use to develop a SMAP; 

these suggestions are not exhaustive and agencies should choose the pieces that best 

ft their needs. 

GATHERING THE PIECES 

From the start, establish a core SMAP team When forming the core team 

and preparing the schedule 

for SMAP development, 

consider existing safety 

committees and meetings

that may have similar goals.

comprising champions and leaders responsible 

for collecting necessary information and input. 

Assign a core team leader who acts as the main 

point of contact, keeps plan development on 

track, engages stakeholders, and holds team 

members accountable as the SMAP is developed. 

A kickof meeting with the core team can serve 

to introduce the process, discuss overall vision and objectives, gather information, defne 

stakeholder roles, and establish a time frame for completion. After the kickof, regularly 

meet to discuss the plan’s development and assign responsibilities. The core team should 

consider initiating and collecting the following elements while developing its plan. 

1 NHTSA. (2017). Trafc Safety Facts: Speeding, DOT HS 812 687, Washington, DC. Available at: https://crashstats. 

nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812687. 
DE V ELOPIN G A SPEED MANAG EMEN T PL AN • Pie ce by Pie ce 

Review Existing Policies, Guidance, Safety Plans, Legislation, 

and Education 

Review current speeding-related policies, guidance, and legislation and compare 

them to similar documents used by neighboring agencies. This can reveal areas of 

improvement that may drive the SMAP’s recommendations and strategies. Also 

review other safety plans (e.g., roadway departure, intersection, and pedestrian and 

bicycle plans) to uncover opportunities to collaborate on funding, planning, and 

implementation of safety projects and strategies. While not exhaustive, the following 

is a list of suggested resources to review: 

 Speeding fnes, statutes, and  Work zone or trafc control design 

adjudication procedures relating to guidelines. 

speed limits and fnes.  Existing safety plans (e.g., SHSP and 

 Design guidelines. safety action plans). 

 Trafc calming guidelines.  Documentation of speed management 

strategies and countermeasures.  Complete Streets policy. 

 Crash reporting education and guidance.  Speed limit setting guidelines. 

Identify Focus Crash Types and Locations for Improvement 

A SMAP can identify focus crash types and prioritizing locations for countermeasure 

implementation or enforcement eforts. Data analysis can help jurisdictions identify 

speeding-related issues and potential risks, determine problematic or high-risk 

locations, and develop and prioritize projects. Agencies use diferent approaches to 

investigate and analyze speeding-related crashes, including hot-spot analysis and 

the Systemic Safety Approach.

2 When developing the SMAP, stakeholders should 

consider a variety of potential data sources, such as: 

 Crash records.  Speed citation data. 

 Roadway and roadside inventory  Adjudication data. 

(e.g., number of lanes; pavement,  Third-party vehicle speed data. shoulder, or clear zone width; signing;  Automated speed enforcement data. lighting; barrier). 

 Efectiveness of existing  Trafc volumes. 

countermeasure or enforcement  Horizontal curvature. and education practices. 

 Intersection locations, types, and 

trafc control used. 

Even with limited data, agencies can use their stafs’ knowledge of the system and 

stakeholder input to make informed investment decisions. 

2 FHWA. (2018). Improving Speed Management Using a Systemic Safety Approach, FHWA-SA-18-051, 

Washington, DC. Available at: https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/speedmgt/ref_mats/fhwasa18051/. 

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DE V ELOPIN G A SPEED MANAG EMEN T PL AN • Pie ce by Pie ce 

During the workshop, 

it is important 

to have a skilled 

facilitator and a 

detailed note-taker. 

At the end of 

the workshop, 

summarize key 

themes, challenges, 

and solutions and 

get stakeholder 

consensus. 

Engage and Collaborate with Stakeholders at Key Milestones 

To maximize success of SMAP development and implementation, stakeholders 

representing the four E’s (engineering, enforcement, education, and emergency 

medical services) should be involved to provide input and critiques and to encourage 

buy-in of the plan. This stakeholder group can share practices related to speed 

management, such as methods and ideas for setting posted speed limits; policies and 

guidance; collaboration across agencies and disciplines; speed limit enforcement and 

adjudication; countermeasure selection, deployment, and maintenance; and data 

analysis. This stakeholder group can include: 

 National Highway Trafc Safety  Vision Zero coordinator. 

Administration (NHTSA) regional ofce  State and local pedestrian and bicycle 

representative. coordinators. 

 Federal Highway Administration  State and local law enforcement. 

(FHWA) division safety engineer.  Local technical assistance program  State and local safety, trafc operations, (LTAP) representative. 

and design engineers.  Educators.  State and local data analysts.  Political representatives and  State and local transportation planners. community leaders. 

 State highway safety ofce  Emergency medical responders. 

representative.  Department of health representative or  Local public agency (LPA) public health ofcial. 

representative. 

 Strategic highway safety plan 

coordinator. 

Throughout SMAP development, establish open lines of communication with the 

stakeholder group and provide updates at key milestones; for example, preliminary 

literature review fndings, data analysis results, or project selection and prioritization. 

These check-ins can be in-person meetings, conference calls or emails. An efective 

approach is to use already scheduled committee meetings (e.g., Statewide 

Transportation Advisory Committee [STAC] meetings and SHSP Committee meetings) 

to gain stakeholder input on strategy ideas and project prioritization. 

In addition, or alternatively, hold an in-person, full-day workshop with the 

stakeholder group to review research and data analysis fndings and discuss speed 

management challenges. Bringing all stakeholders together enables stakeholders 

in a shared problem to put heads together, voice and understand each other’s 

biggest challenges, and brainstorm solutions. This collaboration will drive and 

shape strategies included in the plan. 

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DEVELOPING A SPEED MANAGEMENT PLAN • Piece by Piece 

It may also be helpful to 

review other agencies’ 

SMAPs for strategy ideas. The 

following is a list of agencies 

at each level of government 

that have developed or are 

developing SMAPs: 

 State: Alabama DOT,5 

Colorado DOT,6 Kansas 

DOT, Oregon DOT,7 

Pennsylvania DOT, and 

South Carolina DOT. 

 County: Randolph 

County,

8

 North Carolina. 

 City: City of Baltimore 

DOT. 

 MPO: Delaware Valley 

Regional Planning 

Commission (DVRPC). 

These plans contain strategies 

that might apply to similar 

jurisdictions and examples 

of how other agencies have 

successfully implemented 

their plans. 

PULLING THE PIECES TOGETHER 

Once preliminary research and data analysis are complete and the 

workshop and meetings have been held, it is time to assemble the SMAP. 

Depending on the outcome of the workshop and other activities, it may 

be necessary to perform additional data analysis to reevaluate project 

selection and prioritization. There may also be a need to conduct 

additional research to identify potential solutions for challenges 

identifed throughout each phase. The FHWA Speed Management 

Program developed a SMAP template3 as well as other resources4 for 

agencies to consider while developing their SMAPs. 

Track Implementation Progress, Evaluate, and Update5678 

Once the SMAP is fnalized, implementation begins. The core team is responsible for 

disseminating the plan to relevant stakeholders and implementers, assigning strategy 

leaders, and checking in with strategy leads to ensure actions are completed. Like most 

safety plans, jurisdictions should view the SMAP as a living document to be updated as 

strategies are implemented and new issues or challenges arise. FHWA developed a fyer9 

that helps agencies “put their speed management plan into action.” 

FOR MORE INFORMATION 

To learn more or receive speed management technical assistance, visit the Federal 

Highway Administration’s webpage10 or contact: 

Guan Xu 

FHWA Speed Management Program Manager 

Phone: 202-366-5892 

Email: Guan.Xu@dot.gov 

3 FHWA. (2017). Speed Management Action Plan Template, FHWA-SA-15-017, Washington, DC. Available at: 

https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/speedmgt/ref_mats/docs/fhwa_speedmanagactionplantemplate_fnal.pdf. 

4 FHWA. (n.d.). Speed Management, Reference Materials webpage. Available at: https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/speedmgt/ 

ref_mats/. Access date: September 2019. 

5 FHWA. (2015). Alabama Speed Management Action Plan, FHWA-SA-15-017, Washington, DC. Available at: 

https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/speedmgt/ref_mats/docs/alabama_pilotplan_fnal.pdf. 

6 FHWA. (2017). Colorado Speed Management Action Plan, Washington, DC. Available at: https://www.codot.gov/library/ 

trafc/hsip/speed. 

7 FHWA, (2016). Speed Management Action Plan - Oregon Department of Transportation, FHWA-SA-15-017, Washington, 

DC: FHWA, Available at: https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/speedmgt/ref_mats/docs/oregon_speedmgt_plan.pdf. 

8 FHWA. (2015). Speed Management Action Plan for Randolph County, FHWA-SA-15-017, Washington, DC. Available at: 

https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/speedmgt/ref_mats/docs/randolphco-smap_fnal.pdf. 

9 FHWA. (2018). Speed Management Action Plan-Implementation Steps, FHWA-SA-18-050. Available at: 

https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/speedmgt/ref_mats/fhwasa18050/. 

10 FHWA. (n.d.). Speed Management Safety webpage. Available at: https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/speedmgt/. 

Access date: September 2019. 

FHWA-SA-19-032