State and Local Efforts 

Towards Zero Deaths—The Texas Experience

FHWA-SA-19-023

Vision Zero 

In 2018, 36,560 people were killed in traffic 

crashes on the Nation’s roadways. In a 

concerted effort to reduce fatalities, most States 

have adopted a zero deaths vision or approach 

in their Strategic Highway Safety Plans (SHSPs). In 

addition, more than 40 communities have 

committed to Vision Zero, a strategy to eliminate 

traffic deaths and severe injuries at the local and 

regional level. This growing number of 

communities working to integrate a zero deaths 

vision and strategies into their traffic safety efforts 

has created renewed opportunities for 

coordination and collaboration at the State and 

local level. 

The Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) 

Office of Safety promotes developing effective 

safety partnerships as a way to advance zero 

deaths efforts. To support this effort, FHWA has 

sponsored several State-based workshops where 

stakeholders gather to discuss their safety 

priorities and strategies to achieve their shared 

goal of zero traffic deaths. In addition to the 

workshops, the FHWA is conducting follow-up 

webinars and developing a resource to help 

other States and local communities coordinate 

their zero deaths efforts. 

Towards Zero Death Efforts in Texas 

In February 2019, FHWA helped to facilitate a 

workshop in Texas where stakeholders were 

charged with identifying opportunities for 

increased coordination and progress toward 

zero deaths. A follow-up webinar was held in 

April 2019 with local, regional, State, and Federal 

partners. The one-hour webinar is available for 

viewing online at https://vimeo.com/329847356. 

During the workshop and webinar, Texas shared 

a number of their initiatives and activities that 

exemplify the coordination and collaboration 

taking place as a result of the common zero 

deaths goal. Several of these noteworthy 

practices are highlighted below. 

Noteworthy Practices in Texas 

 Large project coordination. The Texas

Department of Transportation (TxDOT), the

Capital Area Metropolitan Planning

Organization, the City of Austin, and other

regional partners have been working to

improve the I-35 corridor. This large project is

balancing efficiency goals (including

optimizing the existing facility, improving

connectivity, increasing capacity, and

managing traffic) with the goals of improving

safety, minimizing the need for additional

right-of-way, enhancing compatibility with

neighborhoods, and advancing active

transportation options. The Mobility35 Shared

Use Path Design Guidance is one example of

a corridor-wide solution resulting from

coordination between agencies and

increased public engagement.

 Design flexibility. Existing standards reference

relevant information on bicycle and

pedestrian safety and comfort, including the

TxDOT Guidelines Emphasizing Bicycle and

Pedestrian Accommodations, which states

that “TxDOT is committed to proactively plan,

design and construct facilities to safely

accommodate bicyclists and pedestrians.”

This emphasis is timely because of a

disproportionate safety problem among

vulnerable road users, including those walking

and bicycling.

 Pedestrian Safety Action Plan. The City of

Austin analyzed crash data and engaged

with the Austin community to identify top

safety concerns to create a holistic framework

for improving citywide pedestrian safety.

Austin identified six behaviors that contribute

to most pedestrian crashes: failure to yield,

impairment, distraction/inattention, improper
State and Local Efforts 

Towards Zero Deaths—The Texas Experience

 

FHWA-SA-19-023

maneuver, failure to stop, and speed. The 

plan describes how the risk of crashes—and 

the injury severity when crashes occur—

increase exponentially as speeds increase. 

The City’s Vision Zero/Safe Systems 

approach reflects this focus on managing 

speed, including redesigning roadways to 

encourage safer speeds. 

 Crash records coordination. Texas has a 

robust Crash Records Information System 

(CRIS) and supports tools for public users to 

query, extract, and analyze crash data. 

 Safety grant implementation. The City of San 

Antonio used a TxDOT safety grant to 

develop and distribute safety education 

cards to drivers on two State-owned roads. 

The City also produced a 3-minute video to 

familiarize San Antonio police officers with 

Vision Zero and the importance of 

completing crash reports fully and 

accurately. 

Other Efforts Supporting 

Zero Traffic Deaths in Texas 

 TxDOT staff is updating the State’s Roadway 

Design Manual to incorporate revisions to 

the American Association of State 

Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) 

Green Book along with revisions for 

pedestrian and bicycle design, and other 

safety considerations. TxDOT staff is also 

working on a safety score tool effort. 

 A newly formed TxDOT System Safety 

Council offers an opportunity to integrate 

safety throughout the Department’s business 

processes and project development. 

 Cities are looking for design flexibility to bring 

about safer designs, especially for 

vulnerable road users. 

Opportunities for Further Traffic Safety 

Coordination in Texas 

Opportunities exist for cities and TxDOT to 

coordinate more fully on safety goals from the 

start of projects, including planning, 

programming, communications, and evaluation. 

The following section presents some of the short-, 

medium-, and long-term coordination ideas 

shared in the 2019 Texas Workshop and Webinar: 

 Some Texas cities expressed an urgent need 

to manage speeds for safety, particularly on 

arterials and frontage roads. Workshop 

participants discussed street design changes 

and greater flexibility to lower speed limits. An 

example of safer street design is a street that 

provides greater separation between 

pedestrians, bicyclists, and vehicles. Such 

redesign and speed management is 

especially important on State-owned roads, 

where a disproportionate number of 

pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities occur. 

 Agencies can share speed management 

strategies (and examples from other 

communities) regularly with traffic safety 

professionals. TxDOT could share Governors 

Highway Safety Association’s (GHSA) report 

Speeding Away from Zero: Rethinking a 

Forgotten Traffic Safety Challenge with key 

policymakers, including the Texas Governor's 

office and TxDOT leaders, to provide 

inspiration and recommendations for action. 

 Traffic safety leaders from across the State 

could coordinate efforts on crucial safety 

initiatives, including: 

 Traffic Records Coordinating Committee 

 Planned update to the State’s Roadway 

Design Manual

 Participating and leading SHSP 

emphasis area teams 

 TxDOT and cities could work together to 

analyze data and evaluate the 

preponderance of serious traffic injuries and 

fatalities on State-owned roads in cities in 

order to strategize effective solutions. 

 Traffic safety leaders from across Texas could 

identify areas in which State and Federal 

policies could be updated to allow the State 

to more fully advance effective traffic safety 

strategies, including proven speed 

management measures. 

Resources and information on zero deaths vision 

can be found at: 

https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/zerodeaths/ or by 

contacting Chimai Ngo (chimai.ngo@dot.gov).