Fall 2020, Volume 14, Issue 3

 Message from the Associate Administrator for Safety, Cheryl Walker

Safety Summit with Stakeholders...and Safe Systems

What is it about alliteration that is so appealing? I think it’s the cohesiveness of the sound. It brings 

together commonalities. There is nothing quite like pulling together a group around a common cause. A 

goal. And the energy level and the feeling of cohesion that come with it. 

That’s exactly how I felt during the U.S. Department of Transportation Pedestrian Summit on 

Pedestrian Safety: Virtual Series. We were all surrounded by hundreds of others who are passionate 

about reducing pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries. The virtual format of this meeting allowed us 

to reach a wide and diverse audience. On average, about 600 people joined each webinar to hear our 

presenters share their thoughts, their noteworthy practices, and their energy. Participants represented 

an impressive variety of organizations, including pedestrian safety advocacy groups, State and local 

departments of transportation (DOT), professional organizations, and academic leaders. I encourage 

you to read more about the summit on page 2, and to visit the summit website where you can view the 

presentation materials from the summit sessions at https://highways.dot.gov/pedestrian-safetysummit/materials.

Some of the presentations at the summit focused on the Safe System approach, which is based on the 

idea that no one should die or be severely injured on our roadways. Safe System recognizes the 

vulnerability and fallibility of humans, and builds layers of protection around these road users in order 

to protect them. You can read more about the Safe System approach in two great articles in this issue 

of the Safety Compass newsletter: “Safe System—An Approach Toward Zero Traffic Deaths” and

“Effectively Engaging Stakeholders in a Safe System Approach to Transform Traffic Safety.” We all 

play a role in effectively implementing this approach to reach our shared goal of zero deaths on our 

roadways. 

As we alliteratively continue caring and collaborating about possible pedestrian proven safety 

countermeasures, we can all work to ensure that pedestrians return safely to their families tonight. 

Please take time to learn more about the Safe System approach and how we can all make a 

difference. We are all in this together. 

Associate Administrator 

for Safety, Cheryl 

Walker. (Source: FHWA)

Cheryl Walker

Associate Administrator 

for Safety
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Fall 2020: Volume 14 Issue 3

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in this issue...

 What's New.......................................................................................................................................................................... 2

U.S. Department of Transportation Launches Virtual Series on Pedestrian Safety........................................................................................ 2

Safe System—An Approach Toward Zero Traffic Deaths ......................................................................................................................................... 4

A Milestone Year for Safety Performance Management.......................................................................................................................................... 6

 Safety-Driven Changes and Improvements................................................................................................................. 7

USLIMITS2: A Data-Driven Tool for Setting Speed Limits ........................................................................................................................................ 7

Saving Lives with Effective Transportation Planning.................................................................................................................................................. 9

Reducing Roadway Departure in Tribal Areas ............................................................................................................................................................10

Saving Lives through Local Road Safety Plan Implementation............................................................................................................................11

How a Workshop Brought Harmful Events to a Halt ...............................................................................................................................................13

Operation Lifesaver Stays on Track with Rail Safety Education ...........................................................................................................................13

Local Road Curve Sign Compliance and Safety in Pennsylvania.........................................................................................................................15

Effectively Engaging Stakeholders in a Safe System Approach to Transform Traffic Safety Culture ...................................................16

 Learning Together.............................................................................................................................................................18

Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Program Offers Free Online Technical Assistance and Training.............................................................18

Rural Road Safety in Montana: It’s Everyone’s Job ...................................................................................................................................................19

Maximize Use of Dashboards for Data Analysis in the Highway Safety Program........................................................................................20

 New Resource Roundup.................................................................................................................................................23

New Zero Deaths Success Stories Available Online..................................................................................................................................................23

New Intersection Safety Outreach and Education Products .................................................................................................................................23

Explore STEP Studio: An Interactive Resource Connecting Pedestrian Countermeasure Guidance and Best Practices...............24

 Announcements................................................................................................................................................................25

2021 TRB Annual Meeting—A Virtual Event................................................................................................................................................................25

Coming Soon: Local Road Safety Plan “Do-it-Yourself” Website for Local Agencies .................................................................................25

U.S. Department of Transportation Develops Applicant Toolkit to Support Rural Project Sponsors ..................................................26

WHAT'S NEW

U.S. Department of 

Transportation Launches 

Virtual Series on Pedestrian 

Safety

By Abdul Zineddin, FHWA Office of Safety

Pedestrian fatalities have risen in 

recent years, both in number and in 

the percentage of all highway 

fatalities. From 2009 to 2018, 

pedestrian fatalities in crashes 

increased 53 percent, and the 

fraction of pedestrians killed in fatal 

crashes increased 42 percent. While 

6,283 pedestrians were killed in 

2018, the National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) 

early estimates for 2019 highway 

fatalities indicate that pedestrian 

fatalities have decreased by 2 

percent. This is good news, and we 

will be working tirelessly to continue 

this downward trend. 

To address this public health issue, 

offices from the Federal Highway 

Administration (FHWA), NHTSA, and 

the Office of the Secretary of 

Transportation (OST) came together 

to successfully plan and launch the 
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USDOT Summit on Pedestrian 

Safety Virtual Series. 

The purpose of the virtual summit

was to discuss issues around 

pedestrian safety and the initiatives 

and actions that can improve the 

safety of pedestrians. The webinars 

included remarks from Secretary of 

Transportation Elaine L. Chao, 

FHWA Administrator Nicole R.

Nason, NHTSA Deputy 

Administrator James C. Owens, and

leaders from transportation safety 

organizations.

The first webinar was held July 8, 

and focused on USDOT’s current 

and planned actions to enhance 

pedestrian safety. It also included a 

discussion on the Safe System 

approach, which takes road users’ 

actions into account and 

incorporates features that minimize 

the chances of fatal crashes and 

serious injuries. The second webinar 

was held on July 15, and materials 

are available at 

https://highways.dot.gov/pedestriansafety-summit/materials. The third 

and final webinar in the series took 

place on July 28, and focused on 

next steps. To view the materials

presented during each webinar, 

please visit 

https://highways.dot.gov/pedestriansafety-summit/materials.

In preparation for these webinars, a 

draft list of current and planned 

USDOT actions to enhance 

pedestrian safety was developed 

and shared with participants in 

advance of the webinars. The list 

identified what OST, FHWA, 

NHTSA, and other USDOT modes 

intend to accomplish in the next 2 

years. The actions focus on:

• Developing or updating 

resources, tools, and plans.

• Disseminating new and revised 

campaigns, programs, and 

initiatives.

• Creating or revising curriculum.

• Conducting new research to find 

better ways to improve 

pedestrian safety. 

This list of actions is a draft which 

allowed FHWA and NHTSA to solicit 

input via the webinars to determine 

what additional actions can be taken 

The virtual Pedestrian Safety Summit included the Office of Safety’s virtual trade show booth, which featured the Office of 

Safety’s publications, web resources, and videos that promote pedestrian safety. (Source: FHWA)
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to improve pedestrian safety across 

the United States. Feedback from 

participants was solicited through 

interactive polling questions, public 

chat pods, the website, and email. 

To view the draft list of actions, 

which will serve as input into the 

USDOT Pedestrian Safety Action 

Plan, please visit our website at 

https://highways.dot.gov/pedestriansafety-summit.

For more information, contact Abdul 

Zineddin at abdul.zineddin@dot.gov.

Safe System—An Approach 

Toward Zero Traffic Deaths

By Mark Doctor, FHWA Resource Center;

Chimai Ngo, Norah Ocel, Karen Scurry, and 

Jeff Shaw, FHWA Office of Safety

Traffic fatalities in the United States

have remained fairly constant since 

2015. To reach our goal of zero 

traffic deaths, we need to change the 

way we think about traffic safety.

We need to adopt a Safe System 

approach. 

The Safe System approach was 

founded on the principle that no one 

should be killed or injured when 

using the road system. While no 

roadway crash is desirable, the Safe 

System approach focuses on

crashes that result in deaths and 

serious injuries.

The approach is gaining momentum 

through parallel initiatives around the 

country, including Vision Zero, 

Toward Zero Deaths, and Road to 

Zero. Although comprised of 

different stakeholders, all three 

efforts share the vision of eliminating 

fatalities and serious injuries on the 

Nation’s roads, and they are 

beginning to implement the Safe 

System 

approach in 

different 

contexts. With 

Vision Zero, 

local 

communities are 

applying the 

Safe System 

approach with a 

focus on speeds, 

especially for 

vulnerable road 

users. States 

have adopted 

zero-deaths 

goals in their 

Strategic 

Highway Safety 

Plans (SHSP), 

using the Safe 

System 

framework from the report, Toward 

Zero Deaths: A National Strategy on 

Highway Safety. Under the 

leadership of the National Safety 

Council, the Road to Zero Coalition 

adopted three strategies; among 

them is “prioritize safety,” which 

addresses the Safe System 

approach and safety culture. 

At the core of the Safe System 

approach is acknowledgement that 

road users will inevitably make 

mistakes, and those mistakes can 

lead to crashes. Foundational to the 

Safe System approach is the 

expectation that the roadway system 

is planned, designed, and operated 

to be forgiving of inevitable human 

errors so that injury outcomes are 

unlikely to occur. This requires 

understanding that the human body 

has limits on its ability to withstand 

crash impacts before deaths and 

serious injuries occur. 

Applying the Safe System approach 

involves anticipating human 

mistakes by designing and 

managing the road infrastructure to 

keep the risk of mistakes low, and to 

ensure that when mistakes lead to a 

crash, the impact energy on the 

human body stays at tolerable 

levels. There are six principles of the 

Safe System approach:

• Deaths and serious injuries 

are unacceptable – No one 

should be killed or injured when 

using the road system. The Safe 

System approach attempts to 

bring a public health-type focus 

to road safety, with emphasis on 

minimizing the harm of crashes. 

Successfully adopting the Safe 

System approach requires a 

safety culture that unequivocally 

The Safe System approach. (Source: FHWA)
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places safety first and foremost 

in our road system investment 

decisions. 

• Humans make mistakes –

People will inevitably make 

mistakes, and those mistakes 

can lead to crashes. The Safe 

System approach expects the 

road system is planned, 

designed, and operated to be 

forgiving of inevitable human 

errors, so that injury outcomes 

are unlikely to occur.

• Humans are vulnerable –

People have a limited ability to 

tolerate crash impacts. Although 

the exchange of kinetic energy 

in collisions among vehicles, 

objects, and people has multiple 

determinants, applying the Safe

System approach largely 

depends on managing the 

kinetic energy of crashes to 

avoid injury outcomes.

• Responsibility is shared –

Road users, vehicle 

manufacturers, road designers 

and operators, law enforcement,

and post-crash care providers all 

share responsibility to ensure

that crashes do not lead to fatal 

or serious injuries. As part of a 

shared responsibility for safety, 

road users are expected to 

comply with traffic laws. 

Education, enforcement, and

vehicle feedback components 

(e.g., speedometer and 

automated driving systems) are 

all critical in enabling and 

encouraging safe road use.

• Safety is proactive – Tools can 

be used to identify and mitigate 

risks in the road system to 

proactively prevent crashes, 

rather than react after crashes 

occur.

• Redundancy is crucial – With 

shared responsibility comes 

inter-relationships and 

opportunities for synergy. 

Weaknesses in one area of the 

system may be compensated 

with enhancements in other 

areas. For example, intersection 

geometry design could correlate 

to occupant-protection features 

offered in current vehicle design. 

Timely and effective emergency 

response when crashes do 

occur is also a critical element of 

a Safe System. Redundancy 

helps ensure that if one part of 

the system fails, other parts still 

protect road users from death or 

serious harm.

A commitment to zero traffic deaths 

also means addressing all aspects of 

safety through the following five 

elements that, together, create a 

holistic approach with layers of 

protection for road users: 

• Safe Road Users – The Safe 

System approach addresses the 

safety of all road users, 

including those who walk, bike, 

drive, ride transit, and travel by 

other modes.

• Safe Vehicles – Vehicles are 

designed and regulated to 

minimize the frequency and 

severity of collisions using safety 

measures that incorporate the 

latest technology.

• Safe Speeds – Humans are 

unlikely to survive high-speed 

crashes. Reducing speeds can 

accommodate human-injury 

tolerances in three ways: 

reducing impact forces, 

providing additional time for 

drivers to stop, and improving 

visibility.

• Safe Roads – Designing to 

accommodate human mistakes 

and injury tolerances can greatly 

reduce the severity of crashes 

that do occur. Examples include 

physically separating people 

traveling at different speeds, 

providing dedicated times for 

different users to move through 

a space, and alerting users to 

hazards and other road users.

• Post-Crash Care – People who 

are injured in collisions rely on 

emergency first responders to 

quickly locate and stabilize their 

injuries and transport them to

medical facilities. Post-crash 

care also includes forensic 

analysis at the crash site, traffic 

incident management, and other 

activities.

We all have a role in implementing 

the Safe System approach to save 

The Safe System approach fact sheet.

(Source: FHWA)
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lives and reach our shared goal of 

zero deaths. Consider applying a 

Safe System lens to upcoming 

projects and plans in your 

community. Put safety at the 

forefront and design to 

accommodate human mistakes and 

injury tolerances. 

FHWA has several efforts underway 

to help you on your Safe System 

journey, including: 

• Developing marketing 

materials to help raise 

awareness of Safe System in 

the United States. The materials 

include a flyer, presentation 

(available fall 2020), and video 

(available winter 2021). 

• Exploring the relationship

between Safe System and the 

Highway Safety Improvement 

Program (HSIP). A final report 

(available fall 2020) will identify 

areas of alignment, as well as 

opportunities and noteworthy 

practices to help States 

integrate Safe System with our 

existing safety programs. 

• Assisting Vision Zero 

communities and States to 

coordinate their zero-deaths 

efforts through the Safe System

approach. A report (available fall 

2020) will present strategies to 

coordinate zero-deaths efforts 

among State, regional, and local 

agencies. 

• Assisting Vision Zero 

communities to integrate the 

Safe System approach in their 

action-planning process. A 

report (available winter 2021) 

will document the Vision Zero 

communities’ safety planning 

processes.

• Establishing a Safe System 

framework for intersections. 

This project, A Safe System 

Approach to Intersection 

Planning and Design in the 

United States (to be completed 

in winter 2021), will present a 

methodology that explicitly 

incorporates Safe System 

principles to vet different 

intersection design and control 

alternatives. The methodology 

will be sensitive to exposure, 

severity, and complexity, and it 

will rely on inputs commonly 

available during project 

development. This initial 

framework will dovetail with 

stage 1 of Intersection Control 

Evaluation (ICE) procedures, 

which is typically the planning or 

scoping stage of an intersection 

project. 

• Partnering with the Institute of 

Transportation Engineers to 

develop a Safe System Strategic 

Plan for the United States (to be 

completed in winter 2021).

• FHWA is continuing to 

advance the Safe System 

approach, through these and 

other efforts, to reach zero 

deaths. Visit 

https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/zerod

eaths/ to keep up to date on 

current and future Safe System 

activities.

For more information, please contact 

Chimai Ngo at chimai.ngo@dot.gov. 

A Milestone Year for Safety 

Performance Management

By Danielle Betkey, FHWA Office of Safety

Performance management is an 

important element of roadway safety 

and is measured by the number of 

lives lost and serious injuries 

sustained on our Nation's roadways. 

Safety performance targets are 

interim performance levels that track

progress toward the long-term goal 

of zero fatalities. Additionally, safety 

performance targets help improve 

data, foster transparency and 

accountability, and allow progress to 

be tracked at national and State 

levels. The safety performance 

management framework assists 

States in improving road safety 

through the HSIP, which requires a 

data-driven, strategic approach with 

a focus on performance.

This was a milestone year for safety 

performance management, as it 

represents the first full cycle of 

States setting safety performance 

targets and FHWA assessing them 

to determine if States met the targets 

or made significant progress toward 

meeting targets. The 2018 safety 

performance target assessment 

determined that 27 States (52 

The Safety Performance 

Management Final Rule, which 

was published on March 15, 2016, 

with an effective date of April 14, 

2016, requires States to set safety 

performance targets in the HSIP 

annual report. The performance 

measures are based on 5-year 

averages and include: number of 

fatalities, rate of fatalities per 100 

million vehicle miles traveled 

(VMT), number of serious injuries, 

rate of serious injuries per 100 

million VMT, and number of nonmotorized fatalities and serious 

injuries.
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percent) met their targets or made 

significant progress toward meeting 

them, and 25 States (48 percent) did 

not meet their targets or make 

significant progress toward meeting 

them. It is important to note that 

each State uses its own Statespecific methodology when setting 

safety performance targets. Some 

States may have set aggressive 

targets and did not meet those 

targets, while other States may have 

set more attainable targets and met 

those targets. For this reason, it is 

difficult to draw any conclusions 

about a State’s safety program 

based solely on the safety 

performance target assessment, as 

it does not fully depict each State’s 

unique approach. 

FWHA has launched a new web 

page that provides a glimpse into 

each State’s safety performance 

targets. The webpage displays 

historical data alongside safety 

performance targets, as well as 

information on how States set their 

safety performance targets. For 

additional information about each 

State’s HSIP, the complete reports 

are available online.

FHWA shares the vision that zero 

fatalities on our Nation's roadways is 

the only acceptable goal. FHWA also 

recognizes that reaching zero 

fatalities will require time and 

significant effort by everyone. The 

State's annual safety performance 

targets represent an important step 

in helping States work toward the

ultimate goal of eliminating traffic 

deaths and serious injuries on our 

Nation’s roadways.

For more information or questions, 

please contact Danielle Betkey at 

danielle.betkey@dot.gov. 

SAFETY-DRIVEN CHANGES AND IMPROVEMENTS

USLIMITS2: A Data-Driven 

Tool for Setting Speed 

Limits

By Guan Xu, P.E., FHWA Office of Safety, and 

Jennifer Symoun, Toxcel

In response to a citizen complaint, a 

local traffic authority requested that 

the State DOT conduct an 

engineering study and consider 

lowering the existing 45-mile-perhour (mph) speed limit to 40 mph on 

a U.S. route within a town. The State 

DOT completed a field review of the 

section of the route in question to 

gather information on roadside 

development, bicycle and pedestrian 

usage, curve measurements, and 

other geometric factors. It also 

reviewed nearby historical speeds, 

along with the latest available 3-year 

crash experience to determine the 

recommended speed limit. The 

results of the field study did not 

support changing the speed limit. To 

obtain an additional data point, the 

State DOT entered the relevant data 

into the FHWA web-based 

USLIMITS2 speed-limit-setting tool. 

The results of USLIMITS2 supported 

the field study findings that there 

was no need to change the speed 

limit. 

Traffic engineers must often

communicate with community 

leaders, government officials, and 

the public to explain the 

methodology behind setting, 

maintaining, or changing speed 

limits. USLIMITS2 is FHWA’s free,

web-based expert system tool that 

provides an objective second opinion 

and helps inform these speed limit 

decisions. Determining an 

appropriate speed limit is a 

complicated process that needs 

engineering judgement, as it takes 

into account combined conditions of 

roadway geometrics, traffic safety 

and operations, roadway users, and 

the environment. USLIMITS2 is a 

decision rule-based expert system, 

providing more consideration to and 

weighting of roadway factors by 

mimicking an expert’s thought and 

decision-making process.

USLIMITS2 was developed in 2008 

through the National Cooperative 

Highway Research Program 

(NCHRP) Project 3–67, Expert 

System for Recommending Speed 

Limits in Speed Zones. Since then, it 

has been used by State and local 

agencies to augment the credibility 

of engineering speed studies, 

helping to address concerns from 

local government and private 

A State is determined to have met its targets or made significant progress toward meeting 

its targets when at least four out of the five safety performance targets are met, or the 

outcome for a performance measure is better than the baseline, which is defined as the 5-

year rolling average data for the year prior to the establishment of the State’s target.
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citizens when speed limits are 

unchanged or adjusted, depending 

on the situation. 

USLIMITS2 was selected in 2018 as 

one of FHWA’s 20 Proven Safety 

Countermeasures, which are 

infrastructure-oriented safety 

treatments and strategies chosen 

based on proven effectiveness and 

benefits. As a result, USLIMITS2 has 

been promoted by FHWA to 

encourage widespread 

implementation by State, Tribal, and 

local transportation agencies to 

reduce serious injuries and fatalities 

on America’s highways.

To date, agencies from 29 States 

and Washington, DC, have used 

USLIMITS2. State DOTs in 

Alabama, Florida, Texas, and North 

Carolina have recommended use of 

USLIMITS2 in their speed setting 

manuals, SHSPs, 

pedestrian/bicyclist safety action 

plans, and other safety documents. 

Since taking ownership of 

USLIMITS2 in 2012, FHWA has 

focused on ensuring that USLIMITS2 

remains credible and useful. This 

includes making updates based on

user feedback from workshops, 

webinars, and technical support 

emails. Enhancements include:

• A more informative and 

intuitive home page.

• More descriptive field 

names.

• Enhanced ability to review 

and edit data before 

submitting.

• Inclusion of the crash rate 

calculations in the final 

recommendation report. 

An update to the tool is currently 

in progress to include a detailed 

description of how the speed 

limit is determined in the final 

recommendation report, which is 

produced after inputting 

information into USLIMITS2. 

This update is to address a 

particular user-raised issue: a 

so-called “black hole” on how 

recommended speed limits are 

generated by USLIMITS2, and 

helps users better understand 

and present the recommended 

speed limits from USLIMITS2 

In addition, the recently awarded 

NCHRP 03–139, Next Generation of 

the USLIMITS2 Speed Limit Setting 

Expert System, will focus on 

updating the speed limit 

recommendation decision rules to 

take into account the latest speed 

limit research and practices. 

In March 2020, FHWA implemented 

a USLIMITS2 user group with the 

purpose of giving current and 

potential users a forum to discuss 

how they have used USLIMITS2, 

their issues and concerns, and their 

suggestions for updates. Future 

plans for the user group include 

quarterly webinars to discuss 

USLIMITS2 case studies and best 

practices, and creation of a steering 

committee to help identify questions 

for the group and respond to 

questions from members, as well as 

encourage participation in the user 

group.

To join the user group, send a blank 

email to USLIMITS2-subscriberequest@listserv.gsa.gov. If you are 

a regular user of USLIMITS2 and 

would like to serve on the steering 

committee, please email your 

interest to help@uslimits.org. FHWA 

offers free technical assistance to 

State and local agencies interested 

in learning more about using 

USLIMITS2. This includes answering 

questions, providing in-person and 

virtual workshops, and giving 

presentations about USLIMITS2. To 

request technical assistance or help 

with USLIMITS2 please email 

help@uslimits.org. 

USLIMITS2 User Feedback:

• “It’s nice to have another data point to either confirm what we are already deciding to 

do, or to give us pause to look at things more closely if the program recommends 

something different than what we were thinking.”

• “USLIMITS2 is a good tool to use to determine speed limits and not solely rely on 

engineering judgement.”

• “USLIMITS2 is useful especially for local agencies that have limited tools and 

resources.”

• “It is helpful to have all information entered into USLIMITS2 accessible in a report that 

can be saved in the project file.”
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Saving Lives with Effective 

Transportation Planning

By Nicole Waldheim, Transportation Safety 

Planning Lead, Burgess & Niple, and Chimai 

Ngo, FHWA Office of Safety

Transportation agencies have 

several tools available to them to 

reverse the negative impacts of 

transportation-related fatalities and 

serious injuries. One of the best 

ways to get ahead of future crashes 

is to have a plan in place. 

Long- or short-range transportation 

plans with a safety focus or a safety 

plan provide opportunities to: 1) 

engage multiple stakeholders, 2) 

analyze crash and other data to 

understand challenges and 

opportunities, 3) establish key 

priorities based on the results of 

stakeholder engagement and 

analysis, and 4) identify program and 

project responses that align with 

those safety priorities. 

Successful planning processes 

follow this data-driven framework 

and set up agencies to better 

prioritize safety projects or 

incorporate safety into all 

transportation projects. 

Implementing this approach provides 

an opportunity to achieve safety 

performance goals.

One resource available to 

transportation planners to learn more 

about establishing a safety planning 

framework is a workshop offered by 

FHWA’s Offices of Safety and 

Planning. The 1-day workshops 

began in 2015 and guided planners 

at State DOTs, metropolitan 

planning organizations (MPO), and 

local jurisdictions through 

establishing their own decisionmaking frameworks and identifying 

challenges and improvements that 

addressed safety. The content 

focuses on:

• Engaging stakeholders and the 

public in safety conversations, 

setting safety priorities, and 

participating in implementation.

• Using safety analysis results 

and stakeholder input to 

establish safety goals and 

objectives that set the stage for 

project selection. 

• Achieving safety performance 

results by prioritizing safety 

projects and incorporating safety 

into the selection process for all 

transportation projects.

• Tying all elements together to 

deliver a data-driven plan, 

program, and projects that, if 

implemented, can have an 

impact on transportation 

fatalities and serious injuries.

To date, the workshops have been 

hosted by 10 States and are based 

on research developed for NCHRP, 

Institutionalizing Safety in 

Transportation Planning Processes: 

Techniques, Tactics, and Strategies.

Highlights from workshops held in 

Alabama, Alaska, California, Idaho, 

South Carolina, and Virginia can be 

found on the FHWA Transportation 

Safety Planning web page. Individual 

State reports also describe 

successful tactics agencies are 

using to incorporate safety into their 

planning decisions and opportunities 

to make improvements.

In 2020, additional workshops were 

hosted in Tennessee and Indiana 

with plans for two additional 

workshops in Missouri and Illinois. In 

Tennessee and Indiana, participants 

identified the actions outlined below 

to advance transportation safety 

planning. 

Tennessee

Public and stakeholder 

engagement – Develop unique 

safety messaging ideas and use 

infographics to better communicate 

the “safety story.”

Crash data and analysis – Analyze 

crash data and move toward a 

unified data warehouse with 

automated data analysis so all 

transportation agencies are using 

the same data (i.e., from the same 

source and processed the same 

way). Provide statewide training or 

additional information on systemic 

analysis and how to conduct similar Safety planning decision-making 

framework. (Source: Burgess & Niple)
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analyses at the regional or local 

level.

Safety performance – Initiate early 

planning-level discussions between 

MPOs and the Tennessee 

Department of Transportation

districts to ensure safety analyses 

are initiated and results are utilized 

in project selection, and to facilitate 

collaboration and increased 

transparency in the prioritization 

process.

Indiana

Public and stakeholder 

engagement – Better utilize public 

meetings, web pages, social media, 

newsletters, or demonstration 

projects to collect and share 

information about safety. Discuss 

transportation safety topics more 

frequently with policy, technical, and 

other modal/special committees.

Crash data and analysis – Update 

and share the Crash Location 

Improvement Program tool to help 

transportation agencies better locate 

crashes for all roads. Focus on using 

crash data results to identify and 

prioritize regional and local safety 

emphasis areas, educate 

stakeholders and the public on 

safety needs, and select safety 

projects. Apply successful examples 

of local road safety plans (LRSP) 

and the systemic analysis process 

used in the State to other local 

jurisdictions in Indiana.

To learn more about the workshops 

or to request a workshop for your 

State, contact Chimai Ngo at 

chimai.ngo@dot.gov.

Reducing Roadway 

Departure in Tribal Areas

By Adam Larsen, FHWA Office of Tribal 

Transportation

Since 2013, the Tribal 

Transportation Program Safety Fund 

(TTPSF) has distributed $61 million 

that has enabled Tribal governments 

to deploy 648 projects to improve 

transportation safety through safety 

planning, data improvement and 

analysis, education, enforcement, 

emergency medical services (EMS), 

and infrastructure. The 130 

infrastructure improvement projects 

have included pedestrian facilities, 

intersection enhancements, systemic 

roadway departure 

countermeasures, traffic calming, ice 

road monitoring, and much more. 

However, despite the significant role 

of roadway departure in fatal 

crashes in Tribal areas, only 12

percent of the available TTPSF 

funding (2013–2019) has been for 

projects addressing roadway 

departure, as shown in the bar graph

below.

FHWA is partnering with Tribes to 

increase the number of applications 

and awards for roadway departure 

countermeasures. Efforts underway 

to make this change include 

educational outreach and 

establishing a new funding category 

in the TTPSF to promote the 

systemic deployment of roadway 

departure countermeasures.

The TTPSF application process 

does not currently favor risk-based 

project proposals. The primary 

selection criteria for infrastructure 

projects focus on supporting crash 

data and inclusion in a transportation 

safety plan. In addition, the 

application process requires writing 

a narrative statement, which some 

applicants may view as too 

cumbersome to request low-cost 

safety improvements. The result is 

funding distributed to address 

locations that have at least one 

crash that would support a highercost treatment. This arrangement 

decreases the likelihood that a Tribe 

would pursue risk-based systemic 

improvements. 

Comparison of TTPSF infrastructure spending versus fatalities. (Source: FHWA)
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With support from the Tribal 

Transportation Program 

Coordinating Committee, FHWA 

developed a new funding category 

for systemic deployment of roadway 

departure countermeasures, which 

will be deployed beginning in the 

fiscal year 2021 funding cycle. 

Tribes will provide risk data for 

horizontal curves and tangent 

sections of roadway before selecting 

from a menu of eligible low-cost 

countermeasures. Funding will be 

provided to those locations that 

demonstrate the highest risk. A draft

version of the systemic roadway 

departure countermeasure 

deployment form is available at 

https://www.tribalsafety.org/Run-Offthe-Road. Eligible improvements for 

this funding category include:

• Horizontal alignment warning 

signs.

• Delineators.

• Centerline and edge-line 

markings.

• Rumble strips.

• Mitigation of roadside hazards to 

establish or widen clear zones, 

including clearing and grubbing, 

removing fixed objects, and 

replacing with crashworthy 

devices.

In addition, FHWA will deploy 

educational materials for Tribal 

DOTs to improve understanding of 

the strategies available to address 

roadway departure. This also helps 

inform Tribal DOT staff who interact 

with leadership and the public about 

the importance of roadway departure 

projects.

Three webinars were held in June 

and July, 2020, to provide an 

overview of the countermeasures 

that FHWA promotes, with a focus 

on the reducing rural roadway 

departures (FoRRRwD) initiative. 

This webinar series reviews roadway 

departure crash statistics for Tribal 

areas; explains why a systemic 

approach is critical to addressing 

roadway departure in rural areas;

and identifies available infrastructure 

improvements to keep vehicles on 

the road, reduce the risk of a crash if 

vehicles leave the road, and

minimize the severity of a crash. The 

webinars were delivered through a 

partnership between the FHWA 

Office of Safety, FHWA Resource 

Center, and the FHWA Office of 

Tribal Transportation. Recordings of 

these sessions are posted at

https://www.TribalSafety.org/RunOff-the-Road.

Future webinar sessions will review 

sign maintenance methods and the 

new TTPSF systemic deployment of 

roadway departure countermeasures 

funding category. You can subscribe 

to the TribalSafety.org mailing list to 

be notified of future events and other 

tribal transportation safety updates. 

For more information, contact Adam 

Larsen at adam.larsen@dot.gov or 

(360) 619–2601.

Saving Lives through Local 

Road Safety Plan 

Implementation

By Rosemarie Anderson and Karen Scurry, 

FHWA Office of Safety

Don’t shelve your LRSP! 

Agencies will only see the benefits of 

the LRSP through implementation.

FHWA’s Office of Safety has 

recently released Implementing a 

Local Road Safety Plan, a report that

details strategies and actions for 

State and local agencies to take their 

LRSPs from development to action. 

The report includes examples from 

several State and local agencies to 

show how they have overcome 

barriers and challenges and have 

made a positive impact on trafficrelated fatalities and serious injuries. 

An LRSP, which is an FHWA 

proven safety countermeasure,

provides a framework for identifying, 

analyzing, and prioritizing roadway 

safety improvements on local roads. 

Although several States and local 

agencies have adopted this 

Roadway departure was involved in 63 percent of reported motor vehicle fatalities in Tribal 

areas from 2010 to 2014. That is more than one death each day from a roadway departure 

crash in a Tribal area.

Local Road Safety Plan cover. 

(Source: FHWA)
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approach to improve safety on their 

local roads, many are finding it 

difficult to go from development to 

implementation. This report provides 

the “how-to” for taking the next steps 

toward implementation and 

improving safety on local roads.

The report is useful for State or local 

agencies that have developed an

LRSP, are currently developing an

LRSP, or even those that have not 

yet started the development process. 

The report recognizes how 

considering implementation during 

the LRSP development process can 

lead to consensus building and 

leveraging of resources to move 

plans to actions. The report 

discusses differences in LRSPs, 

including who develops and 

implements the LRSP, the 

geographic area, and how projects 

are selected, to ensure the 

recommendations apply across the 

board. 

The steps to successful 

implementation include the following: 

• Maintain buy-in and support 

from key officials in the agency 

and those outside the agency, 

(e.g., elected officials). This 

support can be gained in 

meetings or briefings and 

presentations at board and 

agency meetings, and by 

distributing fact sheets,

collecting and sharing important 

information on a regular basis,

and bringing in other offices 

(such as maintenance) at the 

local agency that may be able to 

help. Part of maintaining support 

is to identify a champion who 

speaks about and promotes the 

plan in meetings with State and 

other officials. The champion 

can be a local agency 

representative or someone at 

the State level. For most plans, 

the champion is the county or 

city engineer or the county 

supervisor. 

• Identify funding mechanisms,

including requirements for State 

funding through the HSIP, 

funding through an MPO, Tribal 

safety funding, specialty bond 

programs, an Active 

Transportation Program, or 

inclusion in the county or city 

budget. It is also important to 

look at upcoming projects, such 

as pavement preservation, and 

determine if LRSP projects or 

strategies can be implemented 

through an existing project.

• Identify and prioritize projects

based on available resources,

(such as funding and staff) and 

whether they are proven to be 

effective. The report discusses 

various ways to identify projects 

through network screening and 

systemic safety analysis, and 

how to prioritize projects once 

they are selected. This includes 

data analysis on crash histories 

or risk factors, regional safety 

prioritization, and benefit-cost 

analysis. The ability to 

piggyback on projects already 

planned, or for policy or political 

reasons, is another way to 

prioritize projects. 

• Determine project delivery 

methods once funding is 

secured. It usually starts with the 

design of a project, which can 

be streamlined using a designbuild process, if appropriate. 

Other approaches include 

project bundling, where multiple 

projects of the same type are 

bundled together and

implemented by a single 

agency, or where multiple 

agencies bundle projects to 

lessen the financial and 

management burden. The report

also suggests identifying 

projects from the LRSP that can 

be implemented through routine 

maintenance. As such, 

maintenance staff should be an 

important stakeholder in LRSP 

LRSP implementation steps. (Source: FHWA) development.
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• Evaluate effectiveness to 

determine if implementing the 

plan had a positive impact on 

reducing traffic-related fatalities 

and serious injuries. Other ways 

to evaluate effectiveness include

using benefit-cost analysis, 

seeing how many projects in the 

plan were implemented, and

looking at the number of 

applications for funding that was

received. Other metrics, such as 

the number of miles of rumble 

strips installed, can also be 

used. 

• Continue communication and 

coordination to make sure all 

partners in the local and relevant 

State agencies are aware of the 

LRSP, and that partners, 

stakeholders, and the public are 

aware of LRSP benefits. The 

report discusses various ways to 

maintain communication and 

coordination, along with 

examples of how several local 

LRSPs keep stakeholders 

informed. 

LRSPs come in many forms and can 

be implemented at the city, county, 

Tribal, or regional level. The purpose 

of this report is to make sure that 

once developed, LRSP plans make it 

to the next level: implementation. A 

plan that gets developed cannot be 

effective unless it is implemented. It 

takes hard work, determination, and 

the knowledge of what works to 

achieve the greatest benefits. 

The Implementing a Local Road 

Safety Plan report can be accessed 

online along with slides of the 

webinar, “Implementing a Local 

Road Safety Plan.”

For more information, contact

Rosemarie Anderson at 

rosemarie.anderson@dot.gov or 

Karen Scurry at

karen.scurry@dot.gov.

How a Workshop Brought

Harmful Events to a Halt

By Craig Allred, FHWA 

While attending a Resource Center 

Roadway Safety Audit (RSA) 

workshop, hosted by the FHWA’s

Colorado Division office, Lieutenant

(Lt.) Robert Rock of the Denver 

Police Department identified a 

location of concern at the 20th Street 

on-ramp to Interstate 25 (I–25) in 

Denver, Colorado. During the 

workshop, Lt. Rock and attendees 

discussed the location and how lowcost safety improvements and 

coordination between a public works 

department and a transportation 

agency could solve the problem. 

What was the problem? At this 

location, there were multiple harmful 

events, including a single vehicle 

into a barrier, two fatal crashes, four 

serious bodily injury crashes, at least 

14-driving-under-the-influence 

incidents, and multiple hit-and-run 

crashes. The majority of these 

events had occurred late at night 

and into the early morning hours. 

This accumulation of circumstances 

created a location with more than 40 

harmful events occurring between 

January 2013 and June 2018.

As a result of the information learned 

at the workshop, Lt. Rock was able 

to confidently address the issue. He 

gathered data, analyzed it, and took 

steps to work with Denver Public 

Works and the Colorado Department 

of Transportation to document the 

issue and help resolve the problem. 

Lt. Rock’s endeavor led to added 

signage and pavement markings, a 

repaired concrete barrier, variable 

message signs, driver feedback, and 

directed enforcement and education. 

These efforts culminated in the area 

of concern seeing significant safety 

benefits and going from more than 

40 harmful events (which occurred 

between January 2013 and June 

2018) to zero—and having seen no 

hit-and-runs since the improvements 

were completed. All because of the 

educational and collaborative space 

provided by the RSA workshop, and 

because of a Denver police officer 

who recognized the problem and did 

the work to solve it. 

For more information, contact Craig 

Allred at (303) 434–3366 or 

craig.allred@dot.gov.

Operation Lifesaver Stays on 

Track with Rail Safety 

Education 

By Chantez Bailey, Operation Lifesaver Inc.,

and Kelly Morton, FHWA Office of Safety

Operation Lifesaver Inc. (OLI) is a 

nonprofit public safety education and 

awareness organization dedicated to 

reducing collisions, fatalities, and 

The National Highway Institute offers the RSA workshop to train participants in applying 

RSAs and Road Safety Audit Reviews (RSAR) to proactively improve roadway safety. 

According to the website, this course includes hands-on application of the training 

materials, including topics such as: RSA definition and history, stages and how to conduct a 

RSA, and legal considerations. Learn more on the workshop website.
SAFETY COMPASS NEWSLETTER · Fall 2020: Volume 14 Issue 3

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injuries at highway-rail crossings and 

trespassing on or near railroad 

tracks. 

What Is Operation Lifesaver?

OLI has been committed to sharing 

the importance of rail safety since 

1972, when there were 12,000 

railroad crossing incidents reported 

each year. The organization’s public 

education efforts have helped 

reduce the number of crossing 

collisions by more than 80 percent, 

down to approximately 2,200 

incidents in 2019.

However, there is still more work to 

be done. Commuter trains are 

running on the tracks moving people 

to their destinations. Freight 

railroads, large and small, are 

moving goods and supplies to 

market. It is important to remember 

that tracks are for trains, and both 

pedestrians and drivers must remain 

alert and use caution when walking 

or driving near tracks. 

OLI’s programs are co-sponsored by 

Federal, State, and local government 

agencies; highway safety 

organizations; and America's 

railroads. OLI has a network of 

authorized volunteers in State 

programs across the United States 

who are passionate about the 

mission to save lives through 

education. Led by State 

coordinators, OLI’s State programs 

are in communities every day, giving 

free rail safety education 

presentations to school groups, 

driver education classes, community 

audiences, professional drivers, law 

enforcement officers, and 

emergency responders. 

OLI’s national office creates robust 

and innovative marketing and digital 

campaigns to keep rail safety on 

everyone’s radar. Among the tools 

used by OLI and its State programs 

are award-winning e-learning rail 

safety training programs for 

professional drivers, school bus 

drivers, and first responders. These 

interactive online programs were 

developed to prepare audiences for 

real-life scenarios in a virtual 

environment and help them make 

safer decisions. 

Rail Safety Week Raises 

Awareness

In the United States and Canada, 

Rail Safety Week (RSW) is a major 

public safety initiative held the last 

week of September. The initiative

brings together OLI State programs 

and rail safety partners to further 

promote the importance of rail 

safety. Events are held each day 

during the observance to highlight 

crossing safety and rail trespass 

prevention in high-incident areas. 

The goal of RSW is to raise 

awareness of the need for rail safety 

education and empower the general 

public to stay safe near highway-rail 

grade crossings and railroad rightsof-way.

First held in 2017, RSW continues to 

grow, with public safety events 

throughout North America as well as 

public awareness campaigns via 

social media. Each day during RSW 

2019, a new video was launched 

sharing personal stories of tragic 

consequences to pedestrians and 

drivers on or near the tracks. 

These campaigns underscore OLI’s 

key safety tips:

• Trains move faster than they 

appear and are quieter than you 

think.

• Trains cannot stop quickly: it can 

take up to 1 mile or more (the 

length of 18 football fields) for a 

train to stop once the engineer 

sees someone on the tracks.

• Drivers and pedestrians must use 

caution at every railroad crossing 

and near tracks.

• Whenever you see tracks, think 

train—be prepared to yield to 

trains at crossings.

Join Us for RSW September 21–

27!

OLI is the only national nonprofit 

organization dedicated to saving 

lives by empowering the public to 

make safer choices near tracks and 

trains. We invite supporters of rail 

safety to get in touch with their State 

coordinators to find out about the 

great initiatives happening in their 

States. You can become part of the 

mission, too. Consider volunteering 

with OLI in your community and 

follow OLI on social media to stay 

current. Visit www.oli.org for 

information about State programs 

and other rail safety education 

resources.

For more information, contact 

Chantez Bailey, OLI, at 

cbailey@oli.org or Kelly Morton, 

The unfortunate reality is that in today’s busy and distracted society, a person or vehicle is 

hit by a train roughly every 3 hours in the United States. 
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FHWA Office of Safety, at 

kelly.morton@dot.gov.

Local Road Curve Sign 

Compliance and Safety in 

Pennsylvania 

By Patrick Wright, PA LTAP

Pennsylvania Context

Like many other States, 

Pennsylvania has a diversity of 

government agencies, topography, 

and road ownership that makes 

systemic safety improvements for 

horizontal alignment (turns/curves) a 

challenge. According to the 

Pennsylvania Department of 

Transportation (PennDOT), there are 

more than 120,000 miles of roads in 

Pennsylvania with nearly 80,000 

miles owned/maintained by local 

governments. These local 

governments include more than 

2,500 separate entities, from major 

cities like Philadelphia and 

Pittsburgh, to small boroughs like 

Laurel Mountain (with a population of 

100 people and 1.5 miles of roads),

to rural townships with mainly 

State/national forests. 

Most of these municipalities do not 

have engineers to do the studies 

required for curves, and some may 

not even be aware of the 

requirements in State regulations 

and the Manual on Uniform Traffic 

Control Devices (MUTCD). The 2009 

edition of the MUTCD updated the 

horizontal alignment requirements 

for applying horizontal signing to 

roads, and the challenge to the 

Pennsylvania Local Technical 

Assistance Program (LTAP) was 

how to transfer the requirements and 

the knowledge of curve studies to 

the people who needed it. 

Furthermore, hit-fixed-object crashes 

as a result of a roadway departure 

are the most common crash type on 

local roads in Pennsylvania. Most of 

these crashes occur on curves.

Some common curve issues in 

Pennsylvania include:

• Existing signs that never had a 

study completed.

• Existing signs that are noncompliant.

• Old roadway infrastructure. 

• Limited right-of-way that places 

fixed objects at the road edge.

• Intersections/driveways located 

in the curve.

Plan to Achieve Compliance

To transfer the MUTCD 

requirements and know-how to local 

municipalities across Pennsylvania, 

the LTAP developed a three-part 

plan. The plan includes:

• Training, with a specific 4-hour 

class on curves as well as a 

recorded 1-hour webinar.

• Outreach, including newsletters 

and technical bulletins.

• Technical assistance, with 

hands-on assistance in the field 

as well as phone/e-mail support.

Through an Accelerating Safety 

Activities Program grant, the FHWA 

Pennsylvania office purchased 3 

dozen ball bank indicators, which are 

used to conduct curve studies, to 

hand out to municipalities in 

Pennsylvania. 

LTAP Training

Since the 2009 MUTCD was 

adopted in Pennsylvania in 2011, the 

LTAP has held 191 classes on the 

curve sign requirements and has

trained 2,989 people, including 

engineers, supervisors, 

roadmasters, and police officers. 

The curves class includes 

background information on curve 

safety, how to study a curve 

following MUTCD and PennDOT 

regulations, signing requirements, 

and examination of other curve 

safety features (shoulder edge dropoffs, drainage issues, fixed objects, 

shoulders, etc.). Hands-on training 

examples with pictures, videos, and 

local Pennsylvania examples 

highlight the course. As new 

information became available, such 

as the FHWA guide, Low-Cost 

Treatments for Horizontal Curve 

Safety 2016, the course was 

updated. 

A historic cemetery and edge-of-the 

road-fixed-objects are some 

examples of curve complications in 

PA. (Source: PennDOT)

Hit-fixed-object crashes as a result of 

a roadway departure are the most 

common crash type on local roads in 

Pennsylvania.
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Since not everyone has the time to 

attend a 4-hour course, the LTAP 

produced a shortened, 1-hour 

webinar version of the course. The 

webinar was presented several 

times and is available on the website 

https://gis.penndot.gov/LTAP/default.

aspx. 

LTAP services and materials are 

free of charge to Pennsylvania 

municipalities, thanks to PennDOT 

and FHWA funding. 

LTAP Outreach

LTAP produces a quarterly 

newsletter that is sent to every 

municipality in Pennsylvania, which 

includes several articles and 

technical bulletins on curve safety. 

The technical bulletins on curve 

safety focus on how to study a 

curve, sign spacing, and developing 

a curve safety program. 

 1 Nicholas J. Ward, Jay Otto, and Kari Finley, “Ten Principles of Traffic Safety Culture,” chap 7 in Traffic Safety Culture: Definition, Foundation and Application, 

eds. Nicholas J. Ward, Barry Watson, and Katie Fleming-Vogl (2019a), 1–345.

LTAP Technical Assistance

LTAP offers technical assistance to 

municipalities in Pennsylvania. Basic 

questions can be answered over the 

phone or via e-mail. Direct technical 

assistance is also offered in the field. 

The LTAP staff travels to the site 

and provides hands-on training to 

municipalities on curve studies, 

signing, and safety. While classroom 

training is effective, when coupled 

with direct hands-on training in the 

field, the participants learn better 

and are better at applying the 

information. Typically, there are 

more than 240 phone/e-mail assists 

and 120 field assists in a year.

Results

While the safety data fluctuates from 

year to year, the overall trends for 

local road curve safety in 

Pennsylvania are improving. The 5-

year average of roadway 

departure/hit-fixed-object crashes on 

local Pennsylvania roads has

declined by about 10 percent, and 

the fatal crash rate has dropped by 

28 percent. Local road safety is also 

now a priority in Pennsylvania’s 

SHSP. Lastly, there are many 

trained roadmasters and local 

officials who can now conduct curve 

studies and apply the right signs for 

the right situation.

For more information contact Patrick 

Wright, traffic engineer working for 

the Pennsylvania LTAP, at 

pwright@Pennoni.com.

Effectively Engaging 

Stakeholders in a Safe 

System Approach to 

Transform Traffic Safety 

Culture

By Kari Finley, Ph.D.; Nicholas J. Ward, Ph.D.;

Katherine Dively, M.S., CHES;Jay Otto, M.S., 

Montana State University; and Katie 

Fleming-Vogl, M.A., Minnesota Department 

of Transportation Research and Innovation

The Center for Health & Safety 

Culture at Montana State University 

engaged in a 3-year project to 

leverage existing traffic safety 

collaborative efforts to improve traffic 

safety culture in Park Rapids, a 

small rural community in Minnesota. 

The project was funded by the 

Minnesota Department of

Transportation through its HSIP.

Traffic safety culture can be defined 

as “The shared belief system of a 

group of people which influences 

behaviors affecting traffic safety.”1 A 

positive traffic safety culture 

prioritizes safety across the social 

environment, which includes 

individual road user behaviors as 

well as actions by traffic safety 

stakeholders (e.g., local, State, and 

Federal transportation agencies; law 

enforcement; public health; schools; 

and elected officials). This article 

explores insights from the project 

that bolstered sustained 

engagement in growing a 

community’s positive traffic safety 

culture. 

Creating a Coalition

Coalitions are an effective structure 

for collaboratively working to grow a 

positive traffic safety culture. 

An article on a curve safety 

program from the PA LTAP Moving 

Forward newsletter. (Source: 

PennDOT)
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Although there was not a specific 

traffic safety coalition in Park Rapids, 

there were stakeholders who met 

regularly as a health and wellness 

coalition. To leverage these 

resources and the synergy of the 

group, a traffic safety work group 

was created to grow a positive traffic 

safety culture. The following insights 

were developed over the multiyear 

project.

Identifying Local Leaders and 

Champions

Leaders are instrumental in 

recruiting and convening 

stakeholders across the social 

environment (also called the social 

ecology); communicating the 

coalition’s goals; and maintaining the 

group’s function, longevity, and 

success. Identifying local champions 

in traffic safety culture efforts is 

equally important. Champions are 

partners who have a passion for the 

work and are energized to mobilize 

the community for change. Some 

leaders are champions by nature, 

yet others may be fulfilling an 

obligation of their organization. 

Identifying local champions is 

important for coalition sustainability. 

Local champions often bridge gaps 

during shifts in leadership, losses of 

funding, and challenges with local 

engagement. Both leaders and 

champions are important, and it is 

beneficial to recognize they may be 

different.

 2 Fred Luthans, and Bruce J. Avolio, Psychological Capital: Developing the Human Competitive Edge (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007). 3 Gervase R. Bushe, “Generative Process, Generative Outcome: The Transformational Potential of Appreciative Inquiry,” in Organizational Generativity: The 

Appreciative Inquiry Summit and a Scholarship of Transformation, vol 4 of Advances in Appreciative Inquiry, eds. D.L. Cooperrider, D.P. Zandee, L.N. Godwin, M. 

Avital, and B. Boland (Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2013), 89–113.

Building Shared Language and 

Understanding

This project was a change process 

focused on transforming culture, so it 

was necessary that leadership 

understood the role and importance 

of traffic safety culture. Without this 

understanding, it is not possible to 

lead the change process or explain 

and encourage other partners to 

commit to the transformation of 

culture as the means of reaching the 

coalition’s vision. Traffic safety 

culture must be articulated in a way 

that is understood by others. 

Building the capacity of leaders and 

champions is necessary to be 

successful.

Growing Concern and Hope

Engaging in meaningful 

conversations and sharing data 

(e.g., highlighting serious injuries 

and fatalities) can create shared 

concern. Shared concern fosters 

motivation for change. However, in 

addition to creating concern, there 

must also be an intentional focus on 

creating hope. Concern without hope 

can lead to frustration and 

disengagement. Hope entails both 

the recognition of a path to success 

and the will to follow that path.2

Hope can be generated from 

recognizing existing strengths, 

celebrating successes, and creating 

an appreciative generative vision.

Developing an Appreciative 

Generative Vision 

An appreciative generative vision 

shifts from reducing a problem to 

growing a solution, and gives 

energy, aspiration, and space for 

new thinking to take place. It 

changes how people think about an 

issue so new options for discussion 

or action become available and 

compels people to want to act.3

Typical visions in traffic safety tend 

to highlight concern and the need to 

reduce something (e.g., vehicle 

crashes, serious injuries, deaths). A 

vision focused on concern can draw 

attention to the need for change but 

can lack the energy and aspiration 

necessary to motivate and sustain 

engagement to make that change. 

Examples leveraging an appreciative 

generative vision in traffic safety 

could include growing proactive 

traffic safety behaviors, engaged 

driving, conversations about never 

driving after drinking alcohol, and a 

commitment to safety in 

transportation. An appreciative 

generative focus allows for a 

community to tap into the positive 

aspects of its culture, which it can 

leverage to address challenges in 

traffic safety. 

Creating Regular Opportunities 

for Interaction 

To grow a positive traffic safety 

culture, there must be regular 

opportunities for stakeholder 

interaction. Frequent interactions 

reinforce commitment to the coalition 
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and its shared goals. Time spent 

together allows for planning, 

engagement in activities, and followthrough. 

Creating Systems to Engage New 

Stakeholders and Learn from and 

Embrace Change

Systems must be in place for the 

coalition to function effectively. A 

system to orient new stakeholders 

and a system from which to learn 

and embrace change are important 

when growing a positive traffic safety 

culture. 

• A system to engage new 

stakeholders – Orienting new 

stakeholders is necessary to help 

quickly adopt shared language, 

embrace the coalition’s 

appreciative generative vision, 

and meaningfully engage in the 

work. Without appropriate 

orientation, engagement of new 

stakeholders can be delayed or 

lost, thereby losing the intended 

benefits of recruiting new 

stakeholders.

• A system from which to learn 

and embrace change – Change 

can take many forms, both 

internally within a coalition and 

externally throughout the 

community. Internal coalition 

changes can include staffing, 

funding for the initiative, and 

member engagement levels. 

External community change may 

be shifts in priorities, changes in 

beliefs, or changes in behaviors 

related to the traffic safety issue. 

As changes emerge, coalitions 

must be flexible and adaptable. 

Examining these changes 

provides the coalition 

opportunities to learn, apply that 

learning, and become more 

effective. 

Celebrating Success 

Identifying big milestones and small 

successes can create momentum for 

change by increasing hope and 

growing confidence. Celebrating 

success nurtures and sustains 

passion and energy for the work of 

the coalition.

Conclusion 

A coalition that prioritizes traffic 

safety and includes stakeholders 

across the social environment has 

the potential to be an effective 

change agent. This project identified 

coalition characteristics necessary to 

bolster cooperation among 

community stakeholders. While 

perhaps underutilized, coalitions 

may be the only way to actualize a 

common vision of zero traffic 

fatalities and serious injuries on our 

Nation’s roads.

For more information, contact Kari 

Finley, Ph.D., at (307) 272–8505 or 

kari.finley@montana.edu.

LEARNING TOGETHER

Pedestrian and Bicycle 

Safety Program Offers Free 

Online Technical Assistance 

and Training 

By Tamara Redmon, FHWA Office of Safety

FHWA’s Pedestrian and Bicycle 

Safety Program released two 

resources in the past couple of years 

that also include free online technical 

assistance and training. 

As mentioned in the fall 2018 edition 

of the Pedestrian and Bike Forum 

Newsletter, FHWA published the 

Guide for Scalable Risk Assessment 

Methods for Pedestrians and 

Bicyclists (and accompanying 

Areawide Exposure Tool [Microsoft®

Excel download]) that outlines eight 

sequential steps to develop risk 

values and describes the scope and 

nature of each step, including 

guiding principles. Practitioners can 

use these scalable risk assessment 

methods to evaluate pedestrian and 

bicyclist risk at different geographic 

scales. These evaluations can then

inform program and project funding 

decisions. Free technical assistance 

is still available through the fall, and 

virtual sessions are provided. The 

team recently completed a wellreceived 3-hour training with the 

State of Arizona with more than 90 

attendees.

FHWA released its Bikeway 

Selection Guide a year ago. This 

resource helps transportation 

practitioners consider trade-offs and 

make decisions to accelerate the 

delivery of high-quality bicycle 

networks. FHWA will continue to 

offer free technical assistance and 

workshops on the guide through 

spring 2021. Throughout 2020, 

FHWA will offer this workshop 

virtually. Participants will review 

online training materials before 

joining an interactive, 3-hour online 

event to learn more about how to 
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apply the Bikeway Selection Guide

to plans and projects. The first virtual 

training took place on July 9.

In addition to supporting the 

resources mentioned above, the 

Office of Safety offers quarterly 

webinars on topics of interest. 

FHWA hosted a two-part webinar 

series with 2,109 attendees on 

Enhancing Mobility, Access, and 

Safety for Pedestrians on April 28

and April 30. Part 1 provided 

information on how pedestrians with 

visual impairments travel, and how 

changes in engineering have 

influenced their safety and mobility. 

Part 2 explored wayfinding for

pedestrians who are blind or have

low vision, and showcased various 

strategies for aiding navigation along 

streets and at crossing locations.

The recorded webinars are available 

online.

FHWA and the Pedestrian and 

Bicycle Information Center (PBIC)

have developed and recorded a 

number of webinars over the years.

The PBIC archives of the webinars 

are available online. Here is a list of 

the most recent webinars:

• Developing and Delivering 

Pedestrian Safety Projects. 

• STEP UP Campaign for 

Pedestrian Safety. 

• Quick Build Networks for All.

• Considerations for Selecting 

Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon 

(PHB) Locations. 

• Improving Pedestrian and 

Bicyclist Safety in Work Zones. 

• Teaching Bicycle and 

Pedestrian Topics to University 

Students. 

• Improving Intersection Safety for 

All Road Users. 

For more information, to schedule a 

workshop, or for virtual assistance, 

please contact Tamara Redmon at 

tamara.redmon@dot.gov or Shawn 

Turner at s-turner@tti.tamu.edu.

Rural Road Safety in 

Montana: It’s Everyone’s Job

By Marcee Allen, FHWA Montana Division 

Montana has an abundance of small 

towns, farms and ranches, Tribal 

reservations, State and national 

parks, and wide-open spaces. The 

73,000 miles of roads in the State 

make up a labyrinth of asphalt 

ribbons crisscrossing the landscape. 

This network of roadways is the 

lifeline to Montana’s economy: 

agriculture, farming and ranching, 

forestry, mining, tourism, energy 

production, and high-technology 

industries. Montana’s highway 

system ensures our products, 

services, and transportation users 

can arrive at their destinations in a 

timely manner. 

The Montana Department of 

Transportation (MDT), in partnership 

with the FHWA and local, Tribal, and 

other Federal agencies, is 

responsible for the health of this vast 

network of roads. MDT’s work is a 

continuous cycle of planning, 

programming, and delivering 

construction projects to ensure the 

roadway infrastructure meets 

acceptable operational and safety 

levels for the traveling public. 

Montana has a vision that no person 

should ever be injured or killed on 

our public roadways. Yet, in 2018 

there were 182 fatalities and 770 

serious injuries resulting from 

crashes on Montana’s roadways. 

Montana’s Comprehensive Highway 

Safety Plan is the strategic 

document for the development and 

implementation of highway 

transportation safety improvements. 

It also guides safety partners and 

community safety through strategies 

aimed at reducing fatalities and 

serious-injury crashes. Other 

Montana stakeholders, such as OLI

and AARP®, who are interested in 

improving roadway safety and 

reducing deaths and serious injuries, 

provide education and public 

outreach in collaboration with the 

NHTSA program, managed by MDT. 

If you think about it, all Montana 

transportation users are 

stakeholders with a role in safety. 

Agricultural vehicle in Montana. (Source: MDT)
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We each have a responsibility to 

buckle up every time, drive sober, 

obey traffic laws and speed limits, 

avoid distractions while driving, and 

make sure we are well rested before 

getting behind the wheel. These 

actions, alone, can prevent crashes 

from occurring, or at least mitigate 

the severity of a crash if it occurs. 

However, traveling in the rural 

environment presents different 

safety challenges. Long stretches of 

unchanging scenery, high travel 

speeds, the possibility of severe 

weather conditions, domestic and 

wild animals, oversize loads, and 

farm equipment on roadways are 

some of the variables encountered 

while driving, which can increase 

crash risk. 

Approximately 58 percent of all 

fatalities and serious injuries in 

Montana result from roadway 

departure crashes. A roadway 

departure is defined as leaving the 

travel lane, either off the roadway or 

across the centerline. Common 

causes of roadway departure 

crashes are speeding; loss of control 

on a curve; overcorrection after an 

avoidance maneuver; or loss of 

control due to impairment, 

distraction, or inattentive driving. 

Moving farm equipment over the 

road, or herding cattle on the road to 

other fields and pastures, is a 

common occurrence. It can be a 

scary and dangerous proposition for 

the unsuspecting traveler, and for 

the farm or ranch hand on the road. 

Farm equipment is most often heavy 

and slow, making it difficult to warn 

the much-faster traveling public. 

Here are some safety tips to 

consider when planning field 

equipment and pasture movements:

• Notify your local sheriff’s office or 

jurisdictional authority in advance 

of when and where you will be on 

the road; they may be able to 

help with traffic control or 

advance-warning signs. 

• Check that your tires are properly 

inflated and that equipment, 

trailers, and loads are secured. 

• Use pilot vehicles with flashing 

lights in front and behind to warn 

drivers of your presence. 

• Use the roadway only in well-lit 

conditions; be watchful and 

vigilant for any signs of trouble. 

• Look twice, and if unable to 

gauge speed of travelers, wait to 

cross or pull out until it is clear. 

• Be visible to traffic; use flashers 

and clearly visible warning signs 

on the back of slow-moving 

agricultural vehicles, in 

accordance with State law 

Montana Code Annotated (MCA)

61-9-415.

• Be aware of other road users; 

operate vehicles, equipment, and 

all-terrain vehicles (ATV) 

predictably on the roadway. 

• Use appropriate safety gear 

when operating an ATV or riding 

a horse. 

• Be aware of the features of the 

road. Ensure other vehicles are 

expecting you over hills and 

around vertical curves where you 

cannot be seen in time for a 

vehicle to stop. 

• If vehicles cannot pass you and 

are backing up behind you, pull 

off at the first opportunity to let 

vehicles clear. 

• If you experience harassing or 

aggressive driving behavior, 

record the vehicle and license 

description and notify your 

highway patrol, local sheriff, or 

jurisdictional authority. 

Montana farmers and ranchers are 

important aspects of the economic 

vitality and social fabric of our great 

State and country. We want you to 

arrive home safely to family and 

friends at the end of a hard day of 

work. If you would like to learn more 

about Montana’s highway safety 

program, please visit MDT’s Vision 

Zero website: 

https://www.mdt.mt.gov/visionzero/.

For more information, contact 

Marcee Allen at (406) 441–3909 or 

marcee.allen@dot.gov. First printed 

in the Montana Farm Bureau 

Federation Spokesman magazine.

Maximize Use of 

Dashboards for Data 

Analysis in the Highway 

Safety Program

By Grace Diaz-Estrada, Juan C. Rivera Ortiz, 

and Andres Alvarez, FHWA PR–USVI Division

Data are one of the most valuable 

resources for transportation 

professionals. Without data, 

transportation safety professionals 

could not calculate measures or 

targets. Without data-driven 

measures, strategic plans could not 

be developed, locations could not be 

selected for the HSIP, police 

enforcement plans could not be 

developed, and locations for EMS 

stations to improve response time 

during golden hour would be a 
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mystery. Data make it possible for 

safety professionals to keep the 

zero-deaths vision in the highway 

safety system our top priority.

Crash data analysis is essential for

cultivating safe transportation 

systems. Data dashboards support 

development of strategies and 

efforts to reduce fatal crashes and 

serious injuries. A data dashboard is 

an information management tool that 

visually tracks, analyzes, and 

displays metrics and key data to 

monitor a specific process. It is

customizable to meet the specific 

needs of a division or agency. With a 

simple spreadsheet, a dashboard 

application can develop beautiful 

and efficient visualizations with 

tables, line charts, bar charts, and 

gauges. Today, a data dashboard 

provides a central location for 

agencies to monitor the progress 

and performance of specific 

programs.

FHWA’s Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin 

Islands (PR–USVI) Division is

helping State DOTs evaluate 

highway safety programs and 

investments using data dashboards. 

Thanks to a virtual presentation from 

our peers at the FHWA Florida 

Division, we established a roadmap

to start and maximize the use of 

dashboards in the division. With the 

crash data set provided by Puerto 

Rico DOT and USVI Department of 

Public Works, we produced several 

dashboards that help in the 

evaluation of crashes by location, 

contributing factors, safety funding 

per year, before-and-after study 

results, and performance measures. 

Puerto Rico Dashboards

Since 2014, the Puerto Rico DOT 

has been effective in its Highway 

Safety Program thanks to the 

development of an SHSP, 

implementation of the HSIP, and the 

evaluation of high-crash locations. A 

best practice implemented in Puerto 

Rico to achieve a successful 

Highway Safety Program has been 

sharing crash data that could be 

analyzed from different perspectives. 

Every day, we received a 

comparison of fatal crashes for the 

current year and the previous 2 

years from the Puerto Rico Traffic 

Safety Commission. With this 

information, a dashboard was 

developed and a digital copy 

provided monthly to all FHWA 

division staff (see below). The area 

engineers evaluate the information 

and look for technical assistance on 

those safety areas considered focus 

areas according to the number of 

fatal crashes. Information from 

pedestrians, drivers, motorcyclists, 

passengers, and cyclists is included 

in the analysis. Several T2 projects 

Dashboards of fatalities in Puerto Rico until Monday, June 29, 2020. (Source: 

FHWA PR–USVI Division)

HSIP cost per SHSP emphasis area, 2017–2019. (Source: FHWA PR–USVI 

Division)
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and Call for Services requests have 

been granted using the data 

evaluation performed with fatal 

crashes. 

The Puerto Rico DOT provided a 

copy of its crash data set for the 

years 2014–2018. A new series of 

the dashboard was developed 

looking at crashes per municipality, 

road, and emphasis area of the 

SHSP. Also, a comparison of 

information provided in the HSIP 

reports for the last 3 years was 

performed (see chart on the previous 

page). The results will help us 

identify locations or patterns for the 

development of highway safety 

projects with Federal funding. 

The information by municipality and 

road could be valuable for law 

enforcement and EMS action plans 

on the Island. The police department 

could determine the enforcement 

strategies by looking at maps;

tables; and graphs per year, season, 

and related event. The EMS agency 

could relocate rapid response 

stations near the locations with more 

incidents. This illustration above

shows the intensity of crashes at 

every municipality. The San Juan 

Metropolitan Area (red bubble) and 

several municipalities on the coast 

around the Island (green bubbles) 

could be analyzed by safety 

stakeholders as part of their 

Highway Safety Programs.

Looking for a better comparison of 

municipalities based on VMT, we 

found a limitation of available data, 

especially current annual average 

daily traffic for the highway system. 

Our analysis incorporated data 

normalization of crashes per 

population (2010 U.S. Census) and 

crashes per kilometer of roads 

(Puerto Rico DOT ArcGISTM maps). 

This new approach in data analysis 

helped us identify municipalities with 

high frequency and severity of 

crashes, which would be considered 

good candidates for the strategies 

included in the SHSP. We created a 

heat map to show municipalities that 

do not have a considerable number 

of crashes but are in the top 10 

when the data are normalized by 

population and kilometer of roads 

(e.g., Rincón and Fajardo).

USVI Dashboards

As with Puerto Rico, we requested 

crash data information from the 

USVI Department of Public Works, 

and it provided us a crash data set 

for years 2015–2019. With the 

information, we developed a 

dashboard that will help USVI to 

improve its highway safety strategies 

in the following emphasis areas: 

intersections, roadway departure, 

vulnerable users (pedestrians and 

bicyclists), and work zones (see 

dashboard below). The map 

illustration in the dashboard shows 

the crashes by city in Saint Thomas 

and Saint John.

Frequency of crashes per municipality. (Source: FHWA PR–USVI Division)

Dashboards of fatalities in Puerto Rico until Monday, June 29, 2020. (Source: 

FHWA PR–USVI Division)
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Next Steps

FHWA PR–USVI Divisions will 

continue with development of 

dashboards to maximize the results 

of data analysis. This new way of 

data visualization will helps us 

evaluate our programs. We are also 

looking to develop dashboards in 

other essential areas, such as 

finance, emergency response 

program, transportation planning 

management, planning, and 

construction. 

For more information, contact Juan 

C. Rivera Ortiz at

juan.riveraortiz@dot.gov. 

NEW RESOURCE ROUNDUP

New Zero Deaths Success 

Stories Available Online

By Chimai Ngo, FHWA Office of Safety

FHWA is developing a series of 

success stories highlighting notable 

practices Vision Zero communities 

and transportation agencies have 

implemented to reach their zerodeaths goals.

Learn about how Vision Zero 

communities deployed a new 

approach, enhanced lighting, 

redesigned their streets, and 

fostered partnerships to save lives 

from the first four success stories 

below: 

• Milwaukee Avenue Rapid 

Delivery Approach – Chicago, 

IL.

• Improved Nighttime Lighting –

Fremont, CA.

• Fletcher Avenue Complete 

Streets Redesign –

Hillsborough, FL.

• Equity in Vision Zero – Oregon 

Metro, OR.

For further information on zero 

deaths, visit 

https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/zerodeath

s/.

For more information, please contact 

Chimai Ngo at chimai.ngo@dot.gov. 

New Intersection Safety 

Outreach and Education 

Products

By Jeffrey B. Shaw, P.E., FHWA Office of 

Safety

FHWA’s Intersection Safety Program 

is pleased to announce several new 

outreach and education products to 

assist our State, local, and Tribal 

partners in advancing intersection 

safety efforts in their communities. 

These products were identified 

based on feedback from 

stakeholders in our Intersection 

Focus States. 

Public Service Announcements 

(PSA)

Two new PSAs are 30-second audio 

clips intended for over-the-air or 

streaming broadcast. They are 

designed to inform the public about 

the safety benefits of roundabouts 

and restricted crossing U-turn 

(RCUT) intersections, in hopes that 

when proposed in a community, 

members of the public will recall that 

these intersection types are safer. 

The roundabouts PSA uses a twist 

on the familiar “The Wheels on the 

Bus” sing-along, and the RCUT PSA 

drives home the “RCUTs are cutting” 

theme of reducing crashes and 

delay.

• Roundabouts PSA.

• RCUTs PSA.

Informational Videos

Three new videos have been 

produced to help advance efforts to 

implement intersection solutions that 

also reflect the Safe System

approach. For intersections, this

approach involves separating users 

in space, separating users in time, Vision Zero success stories. (Source: FHWA)
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modifying conflict angles, and 

reducing speed through conflict 

areas—all to manage the kinetic 

energy involved in a potential 

collision. Each video is 3–5 minutes, 

and is intended to help State, local, 

and Tribal agencies explain these 

intersections to their communities.

• Alternative Intersections –

Common Safety Principles.

• Roundabout Rules – Slow Down, 

Look Around, Be Ready to Yield.

• RCUTs – A Guided Tour of How 

They Work.

Informational One-Pagers

This suite of one-pagers will 

undoubtedly become the hot 

handout at your next conference 

booth, training, or public meeting! 

According to our Intersection Focus 

State stakeholders, a “print-ondemand” product that can be handed 

out to internal and external 

audiences is expected to help 

advance intersection safety efforts in 

their jurisdictions. 

• High Friction Surface Treatment 

for Intersections.

• Intersection Control Evaluation 

(ICE) Policies and Procedures.

• Roundabout Rules – Slow Down, 

Look around, Be Ready to Yield.

For more information, contact Jeff 

Shaw at Jeffrey.shaw@dot.gov. 

Explore STEP Studio: An 

Interactive Resource 

Connecting Pedestrian 

Countermeasure Guidance 

and Best Practices

By Rebecca Crowe, FHWA Office of Safety

The FHWA Guide for Improving 

Pedestrian Safety at Uncontrolled 

Crossing Locations has been applied 

to countless roadways, discussed in 

dozens of workshops, and 

referenced in several agency 

guidance documents since its 

release in 2018. The guide follows 

six steps to help the practitioner 

understand problems and identify 

potential countermeasures for 

improving pedestrian safety at 

unsignalized crossings. STEP Studio

now brings the guide to life by 

allowing the user to click through the 

steps, digging deeper into supporting 

research, implementation case 

studies, and other FHWA guidance. 

STEP Studio, published in July 

2020, links users to the dozens of 

key educational resources produced 

by the FHWA Safe Transportation 

for Every Pedestrian (STEP) 

program, such as countermeasure 

videos and tech sheets. STEP 

Studio also introduces new 

information, such as a matrix crossreferencing common design 

considerations with the “spectacular 

seven” countermeasures. This new 

“Table 3 Implementation & 

Operations Considerations” is a 

companion to tables found in the 

FHWA guide that associate roadway 

conditions and common safety 

problems with countermeasure 

options. 

Informational one pagers. 

(Source: FHWA)

STEP table from the FHWA guide. (Source: FHWA)
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STEP Studio helps the practitioner to

learn the basics of improving 

pedestrian safety at crossings, but it 

also offers insights into technical 

questions and research for the more 

experienced professional. For 

instance, it links to research reports 

that more thoroughly explain 

systemic analysis for pedestrian 

safety and FHWA guidance on 

overhead lighting. The tool is visually 

appealing and includes easy-to-use 

navigation options throughout. STEP 

Studio includes simple guidance for 

marking new crosswalks, including 

visual aids for describing 

considerations such as pedestrian 

travel time and stopping sight 

distances.

STEP Studio lists and answers 

frequently asked questions for each 

of the countermeasures, such as 

“When would a Rectangular Rapid 

Flashing Beacon (RRFB) generally 

be preferable to a PHB at a 

designated pedestrian crossing?” 

The resource also links to local and 

State agency guidance on topics 

such as crosswalk spacing, 

designing pedestrian refuge islands, 

and before-and-after evaluation 

studies. 

The STEP program has produced 

more than 30 case studies, videos, 

and tech sheets on the 

countermeasures explained and 

promoted in STEP Studio. If you 

would like to learn how your agency 

can improve pedestrian safety with 

STEP, contact Becky Crowe at 

Rebecca.crowe@dot.gov with 

FHWA's Office of Safety, or Peter 

Eun at peter.eun@dot.gov with the 

FHWA Resource Center.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

2021 TRB Annual Meeting—

A Virtual Event

The 100th annual meeting of the 

Transportation Research Board 

(TRB) will be a virtual event!

Following the schedule outlined 

below in the month of January 2021, 

through an interactive virtual 

platform, the annual event will

feature presentations and poster 

sessions, workshops, exhibits, and 

committee meetings along with 

opportunities to connect with other 

attendees!

Committee meetings: January 5–8 

and January 11–15, between 10 

a.m. and 5 p.m., eastern standard 

time. 

Sessions (of various types): 

January 21–22, between 10 a.m.

and 4 p.m., eastern standard time, 

and January 25–29, between 10 

a.m. and 5:30 p.m., eastern standard 

time.

Exhibits: January 25–29, between 

10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., eastern 

standard time.

Networking events: January 25–28, 

between 5:30 a.m. and 7 p.m.,

eastern standard time.

Coming Soon: Local Road 

Safety Plan “Do-it-Yourself” 

Website for Local Agencies

Approximately 40 percent of the 

Nation's fatalities occur on the local 

roadways, an average of 12,000 

deaths each year. Local Road Safety 

Landing page of the FHWA LRSP “Do-it-Yourself” website. (Source: FHWA)
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Plans are an FHWA Proven Safety 

Countermeasure that local agencies 

can use to effectively identify and 

address at-risk locations and deploy 

safety solutions. 

It would be impossible to give inperson, hands-on training to each 

and every one of those local 

agencies, so FHWA is developing a 

new delivery method: the LRSP DoIt-Yourself website!

The purpose of the website is to 

provide resources and assistance to 

local agencies virtually, so that they 

can develop LRSPs on their own.

The new website will be launching 

soon. Please contact Hillary 

Isebrands at 

hillary.isebrands@dot.gov or Jerry 

Roche at jerry.roche@dot.gov for 

more information.

U.S. Department of 

Transportation Develops 

Applicant Toolkit to Support 

Rural Project Sponsors

The USDOT recently developed an 

applicant toolkit as part of the Rural 

Opportunities to Use Transportation 

for Economic Success (ROUTES) 

initiative. This initiative aims to 

address rural transportation 

infrastructure disparities. The 

ROUTES applicant toolkit helps rural 

communities better identify and 

navigate USDOT discretionary grant 

funding opportunities. The toolkit

provides user-friendly information to 

build understanding of various 

discretionary grant programs and 

application processes, including a 

matrix of funding opportunities, key 

applicant activities during the funding 

life cycle, featured rural 

transportation projects, and other 

resources to maximize award 

success.

For more information, please contact 

Robert Hyman at 

Robert.hyman@dot.gov

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

FHWA publishes the Safety Compass Newsletter 3 times a year. We can be reached at:

FHWA Office of Safety

1200 New Jersey Ave., SE

Room E71–320

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 Tara McLoughlin at: tara.mcloughlin@dot.gov.