Summer 2023, Volume 17, Issue 2

 Message from the Associate Administrator for Safety, Cheryl Walker

A Call to Action: Together We Can Transform Roadway Safety 

We lost 42,795 cherished lives in motor vehicle crashes in 2022, as estimated by the National Highway 

Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) recent release of the Early Estimate of Motor Vehicle Traffic 

Fatalities in 2022. Although the data are not final, fatalities appear to have remained relatively flat (0.3 

percent decline, nationally). After multiple quarters representing year-to-year increases beginning with 

the third quarter of 2020, we are encouraged that with 2022, we are not seeing this increase continue 

and we may be seeing the beginning of a downward bend in the curve. 

Regrettably, we are still facing a national 

crisis. We stand firm in our conviction 

that one life lost is too many, which is 

why every day we reassert our 

commitment to zero roadway deaths. 

The Safe System Approach has taught 

us that we all must work together to move towards zero

We all want a road network that enables us to walk, cycle, roll, 

and drive safely, which is why the Federal Highway Administration 

(FHWA) is pushing for safety throughout the entire project 

development process, from safety analysis during project planning 

and scoping to deploying proven safety countermeasures. 

Working together, we will maximize those tools to gain the 

greatest safety benefits. 

At FHWA, we work to amplify safety messages and strategies that 

will reduce lives lost in fatal crashes. This newsletter highlights 

just a few efforts underway to support making roadways safer for 

all road users.

FHWA is joined by many other road safety stakeholders who are 

advancing safety through the U.S. DOT’s National Roadway 

Safety Strategy (NRSS) Call to Action and through other activities. 

Please consider how you can support the NRSS by becoming one 

of our Allies in Action or how you can redouble your efforts to expand adoption of a Safe System Approach and a Zero Fatalities 

vision. Together, we can transform how we as a Nation think about road safety. Together, we will save lives.

Learn more about The National Roadway Safety 

Strategy’s (NRSS) Allies in Action. 

Join in or spread the word! USDOT has launched a Call

to Action campaign, inviting stakeholders to share how 

they are embracing the NRSS vision of eliminating 

roadway fatalities. The Call to Action encourages 

stakeholders to redouble their efforts to transform how 

we as a nation think about road safety, actively reduce 

the number of deaths and serious injuries on America’s 

roads and streets and expand adoption of a Safe 

System Approach and a Zero Fatalities vision.

Cheryl Walker

Associate Administrator 

for Safety
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Summer 2023: Volume 17 Issue 2

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in this issue...

 What’s New.......................................................................................................................................................................... 2

The New Speed Safety Camera Program Planning and Operations Guide is Now Available!.................................................................... 2

Maintaining Minimum Pavement Marking Retroreflectivity................................................................................................................................... 3

HSIP – Telling Our Story......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4

 Safety-Driven Changes and Improvements................................................................................................................. 5

EDC-7’s Nighttime Visibility for Safety Initiative.......................................................................................................................................................... 5

A Look Back at 2023’s National Work Zone Awareness Week............................................................................................................................... 5

Advancing Equity in Roadway Safety................................................................................................................................................................................ 7

 Learning Together.............................................................................................................................................................. 8

Reaching Zero Together—The Vision Zero Community Pairing Program........................................................................................................ 8

The City of Portland, Oregon, Lives Out Its Safety Culture....................................................................................................................................11

 Awards News ......................................................................................................................................................................12

SS4A 2022 Awards..................................................................................................................................................................................................................12

2023 National Roadway Safety Awards Call for Nominations..............................................................................................................................13

 Announcements................................................................................................................................................................ 14

2023 Safe Streets and Roads for All NOFO is now Live!.........................................................................................................................................14

New Video Series: Content Overview of New MUTCD Sections .........................................................................................................................14

Upcoming Conferences and Events ................................................................................................................................................................................14

WHAT’S NEW

The New Speed Safety 

Camera Program Planning 

and Operations Guide is 

Now Available!

By Abdul Zineddin and Jeff King, FHWA 

Office of Safety

Speeding has become a growing 

problem in the United States. 

Speeding, which is defined as 

exceeding the posted speed limit or 

traveling too fast for conditions, was 

a contributing factor in almost 29 

percent of all fatalities in 2021. In 

2021, there were 42,939 fatalities on 

our Nation's roadways, of which 

12,330 were speeding-related—that 

was an increase of 7.9 percent from 

2020. 

USDOT issued its National Roadway 

Safety Strategy (NRSS), with the 

strong belief that the Safe System 

Approach is how we are going to 

achieve zero deaths on our roadway 

network. Safe Speeds is a core 

principle of the Safe System 

Approach since humans are less 

likely to survive high-speed crashes. 

In our efforts to reduce speedingrelated crashes, the Federal 

Highway Administration (FHWA) 

worked jointly with the National 

Highway Safety Administration 

(NHTSA) to release the new Speed 

Safety Camera Program Planning 

and Operations Guide. This is an 

update and replaces the Speed 

Enforcement Camera Systems 

Operational Guidelines, published in 

2008. 

This update adds emphasis on 

speed safety cameras (previously 

known as automated speed 

enforcement, photo enforcement or 

photo radar) as a component of a 

comprehensive speed management 

program, integrating equity and 

transparency throughout program 

planning, operations, and evaluation. 
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Summer 2023: Volume 17 Issue 2

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As noted in FHWA’s Proven Safety 

Countermeasures, speed safety 

cameras have been shown to reduce 

crashes from 20 to 54 percent in 

various applications using fixed, 

mobile or point to point applications. 

New York City found the use of fixed 

units in school zones reduced 

speeding up to 63 percent during 

school hours. 

Equitable and context-sensitive 

deployment of speed safety cameras 

for the reduction of serious and fatal 

crashes involving all road users is 

crucial to a successful program. 

Agencies that explore or are 

implementing the use of speed 

safety cameras must consider 

equity, civil rights, and civil liberties 

concerns during all stages of the 

program. 

A prime example of this comes in 

site selection during the planning 

phase, when implementors of speed 

safety camera programs must 

consider whether speed safety 

cameras are being 

disproportionately installed in some 

areas and not in others. With proper 

implementation, speed safety 

cameras have the potential to offer 

fair and equitable enforcement of 

speed limits regardless of driver age, 

race, gender, or socio-economic 

status.

With the passage of the Bipartisan 

Infrastructure Law, Congress lifted 

ineligibilities for automated 

enforcement. Therefore, Federal 

funding may be used to support the 

use of speed safety cameras as a 

Proven Safety Countermeasure to 

manage speeds and prevent 

crashes. This includes using 

Highway Safety Improvement 

Program (HSIP) funds under a new 

BIL provision for “specified safety 

projects,” which includes projects 

that facilitate enforcement of traffic 

safety laws. To be eligible for HSIP 

funding, a speed safety camera 

project must be consistent with all 

HSIP requirements, meaning that 

the project must be consistent with 

the State’s Strategic Highway Safety 

Plan, be identified through the 

State’s data-driven process, and 

contribute to a reduction in fatalities 

and serious injuries. 

To learn more about speed 

management visit FHWA’s Speed 

Management Safety web page.

Maintaining Minimum 

Pavement Marking 

Retroreflectivity 

By Cathy Satterfield, FHWA Office of Safety

Retired, and Paul LaFleur, FHWA Office of 

Safety

Rule Aims to Reduce Crashes in 

Dark and Low- Light Conditions

Almost one year ago, FHWA 

published a new final rule on 

Maintaining Minimum Pavement 

Marking Retroreflectivity. The rule 

provides new minimum standards for 

pavement marking retroreflectivity, 

or the light reflected off of materials 

used in pavement markings to make 

them more visible in the dark. 

Total estimated fatalities during 

nighttime increased by 11 percent 

from 2020 to 2021.The nighttime 

fatality rate is also about three times 

the daytime fatality rate. This new 

rule will help reduce nighttime 

crashes by making pavement 

markings more visible and easier to 

see at night or in dark conditions and 

supports FHWA’s mission to reduce 

roadway fatalities and serious 

injuries. It also helps prepare 

infrastructure for more autonomous 

vehicle technologies that use 

retroreflectivity to navigate 

roadways. 

Rule Summary

When signs and markings are

initially installed, they generally have 

very good retroreflectivity. However, 

retroreflectivity begins to degrade 

quickly due to traffic wear, UV rays, 

and winter maintenance, such as 

snow plowing. This rulemaking sets 

parameters for the minimum levels 

of retroreflectivity that are acceptable 

before the markings need to be 

refurbished or replaced.

The final rule requires 

implementation and continued use of 

a method that is designed to 

maintain retroreflectivity of 

longitudinal pavement markings at or 

above minimum levels by 

September 6, 2026, 4 years from the 

effective date of this rule. This 

rulemaking effort was included as 

revision 3 to the 2009 edition of the 

MUTCD and will be included in the 

11th edition of the MUTCD, which is 

currently in development.

Implementation Methods

Agencies will need to have a method 

in place to maintain the reflectivity of 

pavement markings at or above the 

minimum levels stated in the 

MUTCD. The rule requires State and 

local agencies to implement a 

method for maintaining pavement 

marketing retroreflectivity within 4 

years, and these improvements are 

eligible for Federal-aid funding. 

The rule recommends 

implementation methods that are
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Summer 2023: Volume 17 Issue 2

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available in a separate document, 

Methods for Maintaining Pavement 

Marking Retroreflectivity. Three 

videos, currently under development, 

will also describe specific measuring 

methods so that the retroreflective 

values can be tracked. More 

information on these videos is 

available in the announcements 

section. 

For more information, please contact 

Paul LaFleur at 

paul.lafleur@dot.gov. 

HSIP – Telling Our Story

By Rick Drumm, P.E., FHWA Office of Safety

A suite of factsheets that help tell the 

story of the Highway Safety 

Improvement Program (HSIP) have 

recently been published. These new 

fact sheets share information 

compiled from the States’ submitted 

2021 HSIP annual reports. Along 

with overarching perspectives on the 

program, the fact sheets focus on 

some key issues. The following 

individual fact sheets are now 

available:

• HSIP Saves Lives (general info)

• Using Data to Drive HSIP 

Investments

• HSIP Calms Intersections

• HSIP Funds Proven Safety 

Countermeasures

• HSIP Reaches Rural 

Roads

• HSIP Supports Safer 

Railway-Highway 

Crossings

The information in these 

fact sheets help tell the 

story of the HSIP – funds 

invested, project types 

constructed, 

countermeasures 

implemented, and results. 

Along with data, most of 

the fact sheets also include 

an HSIP in Action story 

that relates the experience 

of a State or Local agency 

in implementing safety 

improvements on their 

roads.

These fact sheets are 

excellent summaries that illustrate 

the big picture behind the Highway 

Safety Improvement Program. 

Agencies and practitioners can use 

this information to communicate factbased information to management, 

learn about different successful 

initiatives, and see where the safety 

program is going from a national 

perspective.

For more information on the HSIP, 

please contact Rick Drumm, 

rick.drumm@dot.gov. 

HSIP Saves Lives fact sheet. (Source: FHWA)
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Summer 2023: Volume 17 Issue 2

SAFETY-DRIVEN CHANGES AND IMPROVEMENTS

EDC-7’s Nighttime Visibility 

for Safety Initiative

By Joe Cheung, P.E., FHWA Office of Safety,

and Tori Brinkly, P.E., FHWA Resource Center 

Safety & Design Team

The statistics make it clear:

Nighttime visibility is a problem on 

our roadways. 

• The nighttime fatality rate is 

three times the daytime rate.

• Some 76 percent of pedestrian 

fatalities occur at night. 

Enhancing visibility between drivers 

and other road users will save many 

lives on our roads. A key 

countermeasure in this initiative is

lighting. Considerations including 

lighting design and application for 

pedestrians, bicyclists, and at 

intersections complemented with 

placement of traffic control devices 

are key to solving this problem.

The EDC-7 Summit was held 

February 14-16, 2023, and the 

theme of day one was improving 

safety for all users, with one of the 

featured innovations being Nighttime 

1 FARS 2020 final file and 2021 annual 

report file, NHTSA. FARS data shown 

here are from the 50 States, the 

District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Visibility for Safety. Over 1,000 

participants attended the breakout 

session on February 14th, and 

several joined the mini-discussions 

and office hours held during the rest 

of the summit. If you missed the 

breakout session, you can still view it 

on-demand at the summit website.

Keep an eye out for more 

presentations on this initiative at the

Center for Local Aid Support webinar

and the Arkansas Transportation 

Research Conference, both held in 

May, and the Colorado Safety 

Summit and ITE Annual Meeting in 

August.

Stay up-to-date on the EDC-7 

initiative Nighttime Visibility for 

Safety by subscribing to the 

Nighttime Visibility for Safety eNews to receive updates on 

webinars, case studies, videos and

more!

For more information, please contact 

Tori Brinkly at tori.brinkly@dot.gov, 

Joseph Cheung 

at joseph.cheung@dot.gov, or 

George Merritt 

at george.merritt@dot.gov.

A Look Back at 2023’s

National Work Zone 

Awareness Week

By Martha Kapitanov, FHWA Office of 

Operations

The annual National Work Zone 

Awareness Week spotlights critical 

2 2020 and 2021 census of fatal 

occupational injuries, U.S. Department 

of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 

cooperation with States, New York 

safety issues in our nation’s work 

zones. From 2020 to 2021, work 

zone fatalities increased by 10.8 

percent1 and 108 workers2 were 

killed in road construction sites. The 

overall trend of commercial motor 

vehicle-involved fatal work zone 

crashes in the past 10 years has 

also been increasing. The USDOT 

National Roadways Safety Strategy

includes work zone safety for all 

road users and highway workers and 

encourages all stakeholders to work 

together in reducing fatalities and 

serious injuries in our Nation.

Work Zone Awareness Week 

This year, the Missouri Department 

of Transportation hosted the 2023 

National Work Zone Awareness 

Week (NWZAW) kickoff event on 

April 18 with the theme "You play a 

role in work zone safety. Work with 

us.” The NWZAW kickoff event was 

held at the new I–70 westbound 

bridge over the Missouri River near 

Rocheport.

Everyone plays a role in work zone 

safety, so NWZAW featured events 

to engage everyone in working to 

reduce deaths and serious injuries 

on our roadways. These events 

included:

• Work Zone Safety Training 

Day – Stakeholders were 

encouraged to pause during the

workday for safety 

demonstrations, discussions 

City, the District of Columbia, and 

Federal agencies.

Intersection lighting at night. (Source: 

FHWA)
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Summer 2023: Volume 17 Issue 2

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about safety policies and other 

prevention steps.

• National Kickoff Event – You 

can review the recording on 

MoDOT’s webpage. 

• Go Orange Day – FHWA and 

its NWZAW partners wore 

orange on April 19 as a show of 

support for highway workers.

• Social Media Storm – FHWA 

and its NWZAW partners

stormed social media with the 

hashtag #orange4safety during 

the 2023 National Work Zone 

Awareness Week. 

• Moment of Silence – This 

moment of silence started in 

2022 to remember the people 

whose lives were lost in a work 

zone incident. 

Strategies for Improving Work 

Zone Safety

Innovative strategies and 

technologies can improve work zone 

safety. In 2021 speeding was a 

factor in 32 percent of fatal work 

zone crashes, so slowing traffic 

down will save lives. One strategy 

for improving work zone safety by 

slowing traffic is speed safety 

cameras.

Safety speed cameras (SSC)—also 

referred to as automated speed 

enforcement—are now being 

deployed by many States to help 

reduce speeds and increase work 

zone safety. Legislation in 10 States 

has authorized SSC in work zones. 

The use of SSC supports the Safe 

System Approach and Proven Safety 

Countermeasures initiative, while 

allowing agencies to supplement 

more traditional methods of 

enforcement, engineering measures, 

and education to alter the social 

norms of speeding.

The following are additional 

resources that offer strategic 

information on improving safety:

• Smart Work Zones — Work 

Zone Safety Information 

Clearinghouse

• Commercial Motor Vehicle 

(CMV) Safety in Work Zones –

FHWA Work Zone (dot.gov)

• Commercial Motor Vehicle 

Safety — Work Zone Safety 

Information Clearinghouse

• Worker Safety – FHWA Work 

Zone (dot.gov)

• National Work Zone Safety 

Information Clearinghouse

• Online Courses – National Work 

Zone Safety Information 

Clearinghouse

For more information, please contact 

Martha Kapitanov at 

martha.kapitanov@dot.gov.

American Indian and Alaska Native people have, by far, the highest traffic 

fatality rates per mile and per population. 

They were 5 times more likely to die than white people and close to 3 times as likely to 

die in passenger vehicles, on a per-mile basis.

(National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Evaluating Disparities in Traffic Fatalities 

by Race, Ethnicity, and Income, 2022, 

https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813188.)

2023 Work Zone Awareness Week banner. (Source: FHWA)
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Summer 2023: Volume 17 Issue 2

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Advancing Equity in 

Roadway Safety

By Anthony Boutros, FHWA Equity in 

Roadway Safety Program Manager

To address the national roadway 

fatality crisis, the Federal Highway 

Administration (FHWA) is 

encouraging transportation agencies 

to adopt the Safe System Approach. 

The Safe System Approach (SSA) is 

a human-centered approach that 

anticipates human mistakes and 

accommodates human 

vulnerabilities by designing and 

operating the roadway system so it 

is safe for everyone—particularly for 

people who are disproportionately 

impacted by crash fatalities and 

serious injuries. To reach zero 

deaths and serious injuries, the SSA 

should be applied equitably to 

address these disparities.

Disparities in Roadway Fatalities 

and Serious Injuries

The Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC) defines health 

disparities as preventable 

differences in the burden of disease, 

injury, violence, or in opportunities to 

achieve optimal health experienced 

by socially disadvantaged racial, 

ethnic, and other population groups 

and communities.

Transportation is a key determinant 

in influencing a person’s health, 

including access to public and active 

transportation, safe and healthpromoting green spaces for exercise 

and recreation, and connectivity to 

economic and social opportunities. 

Transportation infrastructure can 

play a key role in reducing health 

disparities. 

Transportation 

infrastructure can 

connect people to 

opportunities such as 

safe housing, nutritious 

food, physical activity, 

education, and job 

opportunities. Some 

transportation 

infrastructure decisions, 

however, have exposed 

some groups to 

disproportionate burdens—including 

disparate fatal and serious injury 

crashes. 

The disparities in transportation 

burdens and benefits are, in large 

part, a result of historic and presentday disinvestment in underserved 

communities and 

underrepresentation of 

disadvantaged communities in 

planning, project development, 

construction, operations, and 

maintenance for the transportation 

system.

Furthering Equity 

FHWA is working to address 

disparities and expand opportunities 

to improve the health and wellbeing 

of all people. The Bipartisan 

Infrastructure Law, which includes a 

generational investment in 

transportation infrastructure, 

integrated equity into multiple new 

programs, including the 

Reconnecting Communities Pilot 

(RCP) program and the Safe Streets 

and Roads for All grant program. 

Equity ensures the specific needs of 

underserved communities are 

considered and addressed. 

Incorporating equity into roadway 

safety should involve working with 

underserved communities to:

• Collect and analyze data to 

identify communities 

Under equality, everyone gets the same resources. Under equity, 

the specific historical and present-day circumstances and abilities 

of individuals and communities are taken into consideration to 

provide appropriate solutions that provide everyone with 

opportunities to live safe and healthy lives. © 2017 Robert Wood 

Johnson Foundation. Modified, with permission, by FHWA. 

Black or African American people were roughly 

twice as likely to die per mile as white people. 

(Fatality rates of 1.70 versus 1.04 per 100M personal 

miles traveled). 

(National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 

Evaluating Disparities in Traffic Fatalities by Race, 

Ethnicity, and Income, 2022, 

https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublicati

on/813188.)
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Summer 2023: Volume 17 Issue 2

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experiencing disparities in 

roadway fatalities and serious 

injuries.

• Engage community 

representatives to understand 

their transportation safety needs 

and build trust.

• Implement improvements in 

safety planning, funding, design, 

operations, and asset 

management processes to 

eliminate disparities in traffic 

fatalities and serious injuries.

• Evaluate impacts by monitoring 

outcomes and working to 

continuously improve safety 

outcomes with communities.

Resources

FHWA is working to provide 

resources that can assist in applying 

Equity into Roadway Safety 

processes:

• Equity in Roadway Safety 

Website

o Collect and Analyze Safety 

Data Equitably

o Engage Community 

Representatives

o Implement Safety 

Improvements Equitably

o Evaluate Safety 

Improvements Equitably

• Equity in Roadway Safety 

Webinar Series

• Integrating Equity into the Safe 

System Approach Presentation

• Noteworthy Practices:

o California: Integrating the 

Safe System Approach and 

Equity into California’s 

Strategic Highway Safety 

Plan

o Minnesota: MnDOT’s 

SPACE Tool: Using Equity 

Data to Inform Active 

Transportation Safety

o San Francisco: Equity 

Approaches for Vision Zero

o Virginia: “E is for 

Everybody”: Using Equity to 

Prioritize Pedestrian Safety 

Projects and Make the Case 

for Greater State Funding

For more information, please contact 

Anthony Boutros at 

anthony.boutros@dot.gov.

LEARNING TOGETHER

Reaching Zero Together—

The Vision Zero Community 

Pairing Program

Chimai Ngo, FHWA Office of Safety, and 

Renee Blackburn, Volpe

Vision Zero is a paradigm shift, a 

fundamental change in how

organizations approach and address 

safety. The real change, however, 

comes when the approach becomes 

action, and safety is front and center 

in every decision. 

The Federal Highway Administration 

(FHWA), with assistance from the 

Volpe Center, hosts the Vision Zero 

Community Pairing Program to 

provide a platform for communities 

that adopted Vision Zero to assist 

one another in implementing

change. Through this program, 

participating communities share 

knowledge, assess strategies and 

actions, and forge beneficial learning 

relationships. 

The Community Pairing Program 

features two types of partnerships. 

The first type is a mentor-mentee 

partnership in which an earlier 

adopter community is paired with a 

more recent adopter community. In 

this partnership, a mentee 

community receives a learning 

opportunity from a mentor 

community. Through this process, 

the mentor community also benefits 

from the opportunity to reflect and 

evaluate its safety activities. The 

second type is a peer partnership in 

which both communities are in 

similar stages of implementing their 

Vision Zero programs. They share 

experiences, policies, and practices, 

and are a sounding board for each 

other to address their safety

concerns and goals. 

Pilot

In 2022, FHWA kicked off the Vision 

Zero Community Pairing Program 

with a one-year pilot. FHWA adapted 

select elements from a model in 

North Carolina, which the University 

of Carolina at Chapel Hill has been 

implementing for the past several 

years. This model focuses on 

collaborative Vision Zero planning 

and work among communities in 

North Carolina. 

The FHWA pilot included three 

community pairs:

• Richmond, VA, and Tampa, FL: 

mentor/mentee
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Summer 2023: Volume 17 Issue 2

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• Portland, OR, and Minneapolis, 

MN: peers

• Metro (Portland area 

metropolitan planning 

organization (MPO)), OR, and 

Broward County MPO, FL: 

mentor/mentee

Work Plan and Meetings

Each pair developed a work plan to 

guide the communities to move 

forward on Vision Zero together. The 

plan included the communities’ 

goals, areas in which the 

communities wished to help one 

another, or areas that the mentee 

communities wished to explore with 

the help from the mentor community. 

Each pair met virtually at least 

monthly to discuss, share, learn, and 

bounce ideas off one another. The 

pair also had opportunities to 

communicate via different methods 

as often as necessary. FHWA 

provided facilitation support 

throughout and mid and end of year 

check-ins.

Quarterly Forums

Every quarter, the pilot communities

met virtually to share their efforts. 

Each virtual meeting was dedicated 

to a topic that had been selected 

based on the group’s input. At first, 

the format focused on presentations

and problem solving, but it soon 

shifted to become more interactive 

and encouraged sharing and 

learning among 

participants.

During the first quarterly 

forum in February 2022, 

participants from Richmond 

presented on their quickbuild projects. In May, 

Metro and Portland 

participants presented on 

their joint efforts to address 

safety on urban arterials in 

Portland. In August, Tampa 

and Alameda participants 

started the forum with short 

talks about their respective 

communities’ Vision Zero staffing 

recruitment and retention practices. 

During the final quarterly forum in 

November, the Minneapolis 

participant kicked off the meeting 

with a short discussion of the city’s 

community engagement and 

outreach efforts. Following the 

presentation or discussion in each 

forum, other participants shared their 

experiences, challenges, and ways 

to overcome the challenges. For 

example, the discussion themes in 

the August forum included 

interdepartmental coordination, 

dedicating staff to Vision Zero, 

recruiting and retaining staff. The 

discussion themes in the November 

forum included prioritizing 

engagement efforts, finding 

bandwidth for engagement, 

evaluating engagement efforts, and 

coordinating with non-transportation 

sectors.

Site Visits

One of the key components of the 

pilot program was site visits. Pairs 

were encouraged to plan FHWAfunded site visits to their respective 

communities, if possible, at key 

times like special events, meetings, 

or project milestones. Site visits 

provided another layer of interaction 

and allowed the pairs to see how 

Vision Zero implementation is 

happening in place, in real time. 

Because of the pandemic, only one 

pair was able to take advantage of 

this opportunity. The Richmond 

participant traveled to Tampa and 

Tampa participants traveled to 

Richmond in April and May, 

May forum presentation. (Source: 

Oregon Metro and City of Portland)

Partnerships in the vision zero community pairing 

program. (Source: FHWA)

Site visit agenda. (Source: City of 

Richmond, VA)
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Summer 2023: Volume 17 Issue 2

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respectively, to learn and gain 

feedback from one another’s Vision 

Zero implementation efforts. 

A summary of these visits is 

available.

Pilot Feedback

At the end of the pilot, participants 

shared their feedback, including the 

following:

• Collaborating and sharing 

stories with another community 

helped communities prioritize 

their activities.

• Working on issues that paired

communities had in common 

was helpful.

• Having time to talk about issues

as they came up throughout the 

one-year pilot, rather than 

packing everything into a time 

limited meeting or peer 

exchange was valuable.

• Helping a new VZ community 

feel comfortable and confident

through mentorship was 

motivational.

• Being a mentor helped one 

MPO reflect on the role of an 

MPO in Vision Zero in terms of 

what an MPO can do to be most 

supportive to member cities and 

counties.

• Being a mentor raised a Vision 

Zero program’s level of stature 

and credibility.

• Keeping participants on track 

through monthly one-on-one 

meetings was helpful.

• Participating in the quarterly 

webinars gave ideas for topics 

to touch on in the one-on-one 

meetings.

• Visiting in-person was 

instrumental in fostering the 

relationship between the two 

communities. Participants 

benefited from collaborating with 

various local agencies and 

organizations, and in-person 

meetings prompted questions 

that may not have come up 

virtually.

• Participants planned to continue 

meeting beyond the pilot.

Participants also shared their 

suggestions for improvements:

• Pair communities based on a 

limited number of topics that 

both communities are interested

in. For example, updating Vision 

Zero action plans, a particular 

legislative agenda, and specific 

infrastructure implementation.

• Consider sharing news from

FHWA, such as updates on 

national-level efforts and funding

opportunities, and suggestions

on participants’ role at the State 

level to support national-level 

efforts.

• Consider fewer formal meetings

and have more opportunities for 

ad-hoc meetings with 

communities. 

2023 Vision Zero Community 

Pairing Program

The Vision Zero Community Pairing 

Program advanced from a pilot to a 

permanent program in 2023. It was 

also expanded from one to two years 

per cohort. Six community pairs 

kicked off their partnerships in 

January 2023:

• Daly City, CA, and Deerfield 

Beach, FL: mentor/mentee 

• Richmond, VA, and Trenton, NJ: 

mentor/mentee

• New York City, NY; Greensboro, 

NC; and Alameda, CA: 

mentor/two mentees

• Bellevue, WA, and Houston, TX: 

peers

• Boston, MA, and Hoboken, NJ: 

peers

• DRCOG (Denver Regional 

Council of Governments), CO, 

and Metro (MPO), OR: peers

The program format follows that of 

the pilot, but incorporates 

improvements based on the pilot 

participants’ suggestions. Pairs were 

matched based on several factors, 

including Vision Zero adoption stage 

and also topic interests. To make the 

most out of the partnerships, the 

partners will focus on fewer topics 

that are critical to the communities’ 

efforts to reach their goals of zero 

road fatalities and serious injuries.

As in the pilot, each pair must 

develop a work plan to communicate 

goals and emphasis areas 

throughout the two-year period. To 

encourage collaboration, the 

program also has an MS Teams 

channel and a SharePoint site. An 

individual Teams channel for each 

pair allows the pair to easily share 

information with each other. The 

SharePoint site also allows the 

FHWA project team to share 

information on the program 

requirements and contacts, 

upcoming program or external 

events, and other pertinent 

information, like the Vision Zero 

Community of Practice. The program 

continues the quarterly forums with 

an addition of a quick presentation 
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Summer 2023: Volume 17 Issue 2

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on news and announcements from 

FHWA as suggested by the pilot 

participants. FHWA continues to 

offer in-person site visits and 

encourages participants to make 

these visits during the first year of 

the program.

To date, the 2023 program has held 

a kickoff meeting and individual 

meetings with all pairs. Each pair 

has worked together to create a 

work plan that guides them through 

the two-year period. Participants 

held the first quarterly forum in April 

2023. Its focus was on 

communicating Vision Zero with the 

public. The forum started with a 

short presentation from FHWA and a 

short discussion by a participant 

from Daly City on the City’s Vision 

Zero outreach campaign. The group 

used the rest of the forum as a 

facilitated discussion where 

participants addressed the presubmitted questions and discussed 

successes, challenges, and areas 

for growth. In terms of site visits, 

several pairs have initiated planning 

for their trips.

The 2023 program has started on 

many positive notes, with the pairs 

already helping one another to make 

big shifts in their respective 

approaches to addressing safety. 

For more information about the visit 

the FHWA’s Vision Zero Community 

Pairing Program page or contact 

Chimai Ngo at chimai.ngo@dot.gov.

The City of Portland, 

Oregon, Lives Out Its Safety 

Culture

By Chimai Ngo, FHWA Office of Safety, and 

Kevin Elliott, ARA

What does it look like when a 

transportation agency has a culture 

of roadway safety? 

Culture affects choices, so it follows 

that agencies with a robust safety 

culture would make different choices 

than those without one.

The Portland Bureau of 

Transportation (PBOT) in Portland, 

Oregon is choosing to make its 

roads safer for all travelers in real 

ways. PBOT traffic engineer Scott 

Batson has led many of these 

efforts.

“We have prioritized non-vehicular 

travel and safe travel for all users on 

our local roads,” said Batson. “That 

means changing our policies and 

physically changing our road system 

to make that happen.”

For instance, in 2015, PBOT 

committed to a goal of limiting 

automobile traffic on neighborhood 

greenways—residential streets 

shared by all users but prioritized for 

biking and walking comfort and 

safety—to 1,000 vehicles per day. 

“Mitigation is considered at 1,500 

automobiles per day and required at 

2,000 per day,” Batson said. “If traffic 

exceeds our thresholds, we re-route 

the roadways and restrict vehicle 

access to the greenways.” 

Like many cities, Portland installs 

traffic calming measures like speed 

bumps to maintain safe speeds.

However, these solutions are 

customized for specific users.

PBOT works with community 

members to explain and 

demonstrate the safety benefits of 

interventions. 

“Sometimes we make an 

improvement temporary at first, as a 

pilot project, so people can try it out,” 

said Batson. “Then we adjust based 

on feedback and people become 

comfortable with the improvements.”

When Portland ran into concerns 

from the fire department about the 

impact of speed bumps on their 

response time, Batson worked with 

Portland Fire & Rescue to design 

two versions of fire-truck friendly 

speed bumps. That work has also 

led to a bike-friendly version 

currently being evaluated.

PBOT is also changing the 

configuration of multiple 

intersections to prioritize safety, 

A street was closed and a small park 

expanded, with bike access preserved, for a 

bikeway project. (Source: PBOT)

One of the bike friendly speed 

cushions Portland is evaluating. 

(Source: PBOT)
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Summer 2023: Volume 17 Issue 2

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installing mini-roundabouts to 

accommodate bicyclists, designing 

full roundabouts to eliminate severe 

left-turn crashes, and in 2022 

building Portland’s first protected

intersection. 

“The roundabout is the safest 

intersection design in the world,” 

Batson said. “They are a win-win. 

Vehicles maintain throughput but 

fatalities essentially disappear.”

Batson exemplifies what a safety 

champion can do in a transportation 

agency with a healthy safety culture.

“Scott has led on developing 

context-specific speed bump design, 

collaborating with the fire department 

on traffic calming approaches, and 

designing roundabouts at key 

intersections,” said Wendy Cawley, 

PBOT’s Interim Deputy Director and 

former City Traffic Engineer. "His 

safety-focused innovation and his 

collaboration across teams within 

transportation and with other parts of 

local and State government have 

really helped build a culture of safety 

in our traffic engineering team."

These safety choices are not 

temporary. Portland has codified 

safety into its Transportation System 

Plan, the 20-year long-range plan 

that sets policies and defines which 

projects will be eligible for Federal 

funding. Safety is also central to the 

bureau's four-year strategic plan. 

Cawley credits Batson with 

advancing PBOT’s move toward 

safer streets.

“Scott has devoted most of his 

career to traffic calming at the City of 

Portland,” Cawley said. “His 

consistent and methodical approach 

to design has resulted in a legacy of 

slower streets and more enjoyable 

journeys for people walking and 

rolling in Portland.”

For more information, please contact 

Chimai Ngo at chimai.ngo@dot.gov. 

AWARDS NEWS

SS4A 2022 Awards

By Meg Miller and Jason Broehm, FHWA 

Office of Safety

On February 1, Secretary of 

Transportation Pete Buttigieg 

announced $800 million in grant 

awards for 511 Safe Streets and 

Roads for All (SS4A) projects. The 

Department also launched a data 

visualization tool that shows crash 

hotspots and can help target needed 

resources.

The SS4A awards fund improved 

safety planning for over half the 

Nation’s population and will 

fundamentally change how roadway 

safety is addressed in communities.

Through SS4A, the Department is 

awarding grants for both planning 

and implementation projects. Action 

plan grants assist communities that 

do not currently have a roadway 

safety plan in place to reduce 

roadway fatalities, laying the 

groundwork for a comprehensive set 

of actions. Implementation grants 

provide funding for communities to 

implement strategies and projects 

that will reduce or eliminate 

transportation-related fatalities and 

serious injuries. 

A refuge island with a Z-crossing that 

directs the pedestrian to focus on 

oncoming traffic before they enter the 

roadway from the island. (Source: PBOT)

Grants awarded. (Source: FHWA)

Test of a mini-roundabout. (Source: 

PBOT)
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Summer 2023: Volume 17 Issue 2

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The Department is awarding 474

action plan grants and 37 

implementation grants in this first 

round of the program.

Here are several examples of 

communities being funded through 

these awards: 

• $12.9 million for Modoc 

County and Fort Bidwell Tribal 

Reservation, California, to 

improve safety along two 

corridors in rural, disadvantaged 

communities and Tribal areas by 

implementing community 

requests for bicycle lanes, 

pedestrian crosswalks, speed 

control, and mobility-assisted 

support infrastructure.

• $19.7 million for Hillsborough 

County, Florida, to implement 

low-cost and proven safety 

measures including sidewalks, 

bicycle lanes, and speed 

management to improve safety 

for pedestrians, bicyclists, transit 

users, and drivers at 

approximately 22 locations in 

the county.

• $10.4 million for Fayette 

County, Iowa, to address 

roadway departure crashes 

along approximately 50 miles of 

roadway through shoulder 

widening, rumble strips, and 

other low-cost treatments. Lane 

departure crashes account for 

nearly 60 percent of the fatalities 

and serious injuries in the area.

• $24.8 million for the City of 

Detroit, Michigan, to redesign 

existing or inadequate

transportation infrastructure in 

high-crash areas, focusing on 

pedestrian/bicyclist safety and 

safer speeds for vehicle traffic.

• $4.4 million for the City of 

Charlotte, North Carolina, to 

help implement the city’s Vision 

Zero strategies to reduce risky 

roadway behavior through 

infrastructure improvements, 

with a focus on safer 

intersections and reducing 

pedestrian-involved crashes. 

See the full list of SS4A 2022 

Awards. For more information, 

please contact the SS4A team at 

SS4A.FHWA@dot.gov.

2023 National Roadway 

Safety Awards Call for 

Nominations

By Joe Heflin, FHWA, and Bruce Hamilton, 

Roadway Safety Foundation 

The Roadway Safety 

Foundation (RSF) is 

pleased to announce that 

it has again teamed up 

with the Federal Highway 

Administration Office of 

Safety to co-sponsor the 

2023 National Roadway 

Safety Awards Program. 

Every two years, this 

prestigious awards 

program honors public 

agencies and 

organizations in the transportation 

community that have developed 

innovative safety plans and/or 

implemented data-driven 

engineering or operational 

improvements that significantly 

reduce deaths and serious injuries. 

Criteria for determining winning 

projects include safety effectiveness, 

innovation/transformation, and costefficiency/economic strength. 

Awards are given in two categories:

1. Infrastructure and operational 

improvements

2. Program planning, development, 

and evaluation

Selected projects and programs are 

included in a noteworthy practices 

guide so they can be replicated 

nationwide. Award winners are also 

honored at a ceremony with senior 

officials from the U.S. Department of 

Transportation on Capitol Hill and 

receive assistance generating 

positive media coverage in their 

home communities. For more than 

two decades, this program has 

shined a spotlight on practitioners 

who are the unsung heroes of 

highway safety, and we are 

delighted to be able to keep the 

tradition going once again. 

Know of a groundbreaking, 

innovative road safety project or 

program?

Applications are being 

accepted through June 30, 2023.

Note that only public agencies may 

serve as lead applicants for an 

award; however, nonprofits or 

Attendees at the 2021 National Roadway Safety Awards 

virtual ceremony, keynoted by Transportation Secretary 

Pete Buttigieg and emceed by former RSF Executive 

Director Greg Cohen and FHWA Associate 

Administrator for Safety Cheryl Walker. (Source: FHWA)
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Summer 2023: Volume 17 Issue 2

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private entities may cosponsor a 

submission provided it is in 

partnership with a public agency.

For more information, please contact 

Joe Heflin at joseph.heflin@dot.gov

or Bruce Hamilton at 

brucehamilton@roadwaysafety.org.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

2023 Safe Streets and Roads 

for All NOFO is now Live!

The FY 2023 Notice of Funding 

Opportunity (NOFO) for Safe Streets 

and Roads for All (SS4A) grants is 

live on Grants.gov and open for 

applications. This year’s NOFO is 

very similar to the FY 2022 SS4A 

NOFO. The most notable changes 

focus on creating more opportunities 

for supplemental planning and 

demonstration projects and 

standardizing some of the data 

collection. The SS4A program is also 

using a new application submission 

system, Valid Eval, to make the 

application process easier and 

ensure that applicants submit all 

required application materials. For 

an overview of all FY 2023 NOFO 

changes, visit: the SS4A: What's 

New in 2023 page. The deadline for 

applications is 5:00 p.m. (EDT) 

Monday, July 10, 2023. Late 

applications will not be accepted.

For details, more information, and 

applicant guidance, visit the How to 

Apply page and Resources page,

which feature many newly developed 

and updated application aids.

New Video Series: Content 

Overview of New MUTCD 

Sections

Two new videos are being 

developed that give an overview of 

the contents of the new pavement 

markings section in the MUTCD. 

They will be posted under 

Implementation Tools on FHWAs 

Pavement Markings website. One is 

an executive-level overview (approx. 

2.5 minutes), the other is a 

practitioner-level overview that will 

help decisionmakers consider which 

method(s) might work for them and 

their agencies (10 minutes). 

Three additional videos go into the 

five specific methods for 

implementing the rule. These 

methods include the measured 

retroreflectivity method, calibrated 

pavement markings nighttime visual 

inspection method, consistent 

parameters nighttime visual 

inspection method, service life based

on historical data method, and 

service life based on monitored 

markings method. FHWA anticipates 

these instructional videos will be 

available in early June under 

Implementation Tools on the same 

website. 

For more information, contact Paul 

LaFleur at paul.lafleur@dot.gov. 

Upcoming Conferences and

Events

Tools to Conduct Equitable Safety 

Data Analysis. June 14, 2023. 

Part of FHWA’s Equity in Roadway 

Safety Webinar Series, this webinar 

introduces practitioners to the latest 

USDOT tools to equitably analyze 

data for roadway safety planning, 

project prioritization, and 

discretionary grant applications.

National Association of Counties 

(NACo) Annual Conference and 

Exposition. Austin, Texas. 

July 21–24, 2023.

The NACo annual conference is a 

meeting of county-elected and 

appointed officials from across the 

country coming together to shape 

NACo's Federal policy agenda, 

share proven practices, and 

strengthen knowledge networks.

SS4A logo. (Source: FHWA)
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Summer 2023: Volume 17 Issue 2

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Governors Highway Safety 

Association (GHSA) Annual Meeting.

New York City, New York. August 

12 – 16, 2023

With traffic fatalities and dangerous 

driving at unprecedented levels, it’s 

critical to bring together highway 

safety, public health, law 

enforcement and business leaders 

from across the nation to address 

the ongoing roadway safety crisis. 

As a result, the theme of this year’s 

event is “Connecting Communities, 

Putting Vision Zero into Action.”

ITE Annual Meeting and Exhibition.

Portland, Oregon. August 13 – 16, 

2023.

With a theme of “Connecting People 

and Communities,” transportation 

professionals attending this event

will discover new tools for 

transportation system and 

experience great networking 

opportunities.

American Public Works Association 

(APWX) Public Works Expo (PWX).

San Diego, California. August 27 –

30, 2023.

The annual PWX multimodal 

learning experience is designed for 

professionals involved in public 

works. 

The Safety Compass Newsletter is a publication of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

FHWA publishes the Safety Compass Newsletter three times a year. We can be reached at:

FHWA Office of Safety

1200 New Jersey Ave., SE

Washington, DC 20590

The Safety Compass Newsletter is available online at the FHWA Office of Safety website at: 

http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/newsletter/safetycompass/. 

We welcome your comments and highway safety-related articles. The purpose of this newsletter is to increase highway safety awareness and 

information and to provide resources to help save lives.

We encourage readers to submit highway safety articles that might be of value to the highway safety community. Send your comments, 

questions, and articles for review electronically to jennifer.warren@dot.gov