Fall 2014: Volume 8 Issue 2 Safety Compass Newsletter • 1

A Message from FHWA Associate 

Administrator for Safety Tony Furst

I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For (U2) 

Hopefully, this isn’t the case for you, too (ok, bad pun, but I 

couldn’t resist). What I mean is we (the Office of Safety) 

communicate with you through a number of channels. We use 

the Safety Compass; we use our website; we use social 

media; and we meet with you in person at peer exchanges, 

professional association meetings, etc. We’d like to hear from 

you on what’s working, what isn’t, and if you can find what you’re looking for. 

The Safety Compass newsletter is our primary vehicle to communicate 

information on new and forthcoming programs, publications, and other offerings 

from the FHWA Office of Safety. We’ve made a number of changes to this 

newsletter over the last year in response to reader comments. Starting with this 

issue, we’ll be using the GovDelivery platform, which will expedite delivery to 

subscribers and will better integrate with FHWA’s other newsletters.

This year we are also undertaking a comprehensive “facelift” of our web site 

(see page 3). We trust that the changes we’ve made will make it easier for you 

to find what you are looking for and for us to notify you of exciting new 

offerings.

We announce new programs first on the main FHWA Twitter and Facebook 

feeds. Sign up at http://tinyurl.com/mxj5cxg and http://tinyurl.com/qgabj9f. We 

also post our safety-related photos and videos on FHWA’s Flickr 

(http://tinyurl.com/n3vx674) and YouTube (http://tinyurl.com/ol9cw62) sites.

Our professional staff are active in transportation-related networks. We present 

at conferences, serve on professional association committees, exhibit at 

transportation-related tradeshows, and lead trainings at peer exchanges. We 

are always eager to meet you, share with you, and learn from you at these 

events.

Please let us know what you think of our website, newsletter, and other 

communications platforms. It is our goal to get you the information and 

resources you need quickly and to get you in touch with an expert if you have 

questions. So if you still haven’t found what you’re looking for (in highway 

safety), I invite you to contact me directly at tony.furst@dot.gov to tell us how 

we can improve the way we communicate with you.

A Publication of the Federal Highway Administration Office of Safety Fall 2014: Volume 8 Issue 2

In This Issue:

FHWA Updates Speed 

Management Program Plan ..... 2

Coming Soon! New “Facelifted” Look for Office of Safety 

Web Site.......................................... 3

FHWA Releases a Model Road 

Safety Audit Policy ...................... 4

FHWA to Launch Intelligent 

Transportation Systems (ITS) 

Safety Web Site............................. 4

States Take Different 

Approaches to Integration of 

State and Local Data................... 5

States Obligated $3 Billion for 

HSIP Projects in 2013 ................. 8

Building Bicycle and 

Pedestrian Networks Pays Off.. 9

Road Diets – Less is More........ 10

Improving Roadway Safety

from Sidewalk to Center Line ..12

ASAP Creates Thriving 

Partnerships for Safety .............13

Data-Driven Safety Analysis –

an EDC3 Initiative......................14

Transportation YOU!.................16

RDIP Technical Assistance 

Teams Help States Boost Data 

Quality...........................................16

Announcements and Events .....17

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Fall 2014: Volume 8 Issue 2 Safety Compass Newsletter • 2

FHWA UPDATES SPEED MANAGEMENT 

PROGRAM PLAN

By Guan Xu, FHWA Office of Safety

Speeding has been 

recognized as a significant 

factor in approximately onethird of fatal crashes for more 

than a decade. While 

speeding is a national 

problem, the balance 

between risk and mobility 

must be determined at the 

local level. The US 

Department of 

Transportation’s Speed Management Team, 

consisting of representatives from the National 

Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 

Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration 

(FCMSA), has recently developed a Speed 

Management Program Plan to help State and local 

safety practitioners learn about the most effective 

strategies to combat speeding. This plan is an 

update of the 2005 Speed Strategic Initiative and 

presents a vision for the actions USDOT plans to 

take in the coming years to address speed 

management and reduce the injuries and fatalities 

caused by speeding-related crashes. The Speed 

Management Program Plan is available at: 

http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/speedmgt/ref_mats/docs/

speedmgtprogplan8120

28.pdf

The Speed 

Management Program 

Plan addresses 

speeding from six 

distinct focus areas; 

data, research and 

evaluation, technology, enforcement, engineering, 

and communications. The six focus areas are 

intended to address the dangers of speeding, 

create synergy among partners and stakeholders 

involved in speed management, and result in 

meaningful change. It is expected that these 

priorities may evolve over time and will be revisited 

periodically when the program plan is next updated.

FHWA is the lead agency accountable for the 

engineering actions. With the guidance of the 

USDOT Speed Management 

Program Plan, we will continue 

working with USDOT Speed 

Management Team member 

agencies and providing technical 

informational guides, tools, and free 

training and webinars, to assist States and locals in 

implementing speed management 

countermeasures to 

reduce speeding 

related crashes. 

Please visit FHWA’s 

speed management 

website at 

http://safety.fhwa.dot.

gov/speedmgt/ for 

speed management 

information and 

resources. For more 

information, please contact Guan Xu at 202-366-

5892, guan.xu@dot.gov.

The six focus areas are intended to address the dangers of 

speeding, create synergy among partners and stakeholders 

involved in speed management, and result in meaningful 

change.
Fall 2014: Volume 8 Issue 2 Safety Compass Newsletter • 3

COMING SOON!

NEW “FACELIFTED” LOOK FOR

OFFICE OF SAFETY WEB SITE

By Tara McLoughlin, FHWA Office of Safety

Early this fall, the Office of Safety will launch a new, 

streamlined, and graphically oriented look for its 

web site. This “facelifted” page will present program 

information in easy-to-access, visually appealing 

categories; display new programs more 

prominently; and bring the Office of Safety page in 

line with the FHWA-branded look that other offices 

at the agency have already launched. 

The new site will feature the following elements:

• A rotating “slider” which will promote new, timesensitive, and frequently-accessed content in a 

visually appealing way;

• Eight feature boxes for primary programs;

• A cross-listing of programs in drop-down menus 

at the top of the page; and

• A search box that is specific to content on the 

Office of Safety.

The URL for the facelifted page will remain the 

same as the current page, 

http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/. Check out the preview 

below, and log in this fall to see the new page live. 

If you have comments about the new look, please 

contact Tara McLoughlin at 

tara.mcloughlin@dot.gov.
Fall 2014: Volume 8 Issue 2 Safety Compass Newsletter • 4

FHWA RELEASES A MODEL ROAD 

SAFETY AUDIT POLICY

By: Rebecca Crowe, FHWA Office of Safety

The public depends on road agencies to build and 

maintain safe roads, walkways, and bikeways.

Road Safety Audits help agencies meet this 

expectation by enabling road owners to identify and 

mitigate safety issues before, during, or after 

roadway construction. To further the goal of 

empowering road owners to perform safety 

evaluations of their facilities, the Office of Safety 

recently developed a Model Road Safety Audit 

Policy, which is designed to assist agencies in 

developing a policy for establishing and 

implementing a Road Safety Audit program.

This model policy is a flexible document that can be 

used by state highway or local transportation 

agencies to help them meet their needs. It can also

be customized to be consistent with an agency’s 

specific processes, practices, and budget 

constraints. 

Because each road agency has its own mandate, 

culture, characteristics, and staffing and funding 

constraints, agencies should tailor this model RSA 

policy so that it:

• Meets their needs and constraints,

• Is consistent with their processes and practices, 

and

• Is integrated with other policies and programs 

within the agency, such as their Strategic 

Highway Safety Plan (SHSP), Highway Safety 

Improvement Program (HSIP), crash reduction 

goals, safety focus areas, and funding sources.

The Model Road Safety Audit Policy can be found 

on FHWA’s RSA website at 

http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/rsa. For questions about 

the FHWA Road Safety Audit Program, contact 

Rebecca Crowe at rebecca.crowe@dot.gov. 

FHWA TO LAUNCH INTELLIGENT 

TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS (ITS)

SAFETY WEB SITE

By: Karen Timpone, FHWA Office of Safety

ITS improves transportation safety and mobility and 

enhances American productivity through the 

integration of advanced communications 

technologies into the transportation infrastructure 

and in vehicles. ITS encompasses a broad range of 

wireless and wire line communications-based

information and electronics technologies.

To help practitioners improve their understanding of 

the link between ITS and safety, the FHWA Office 

of Safety is preparing to unveil a new web site 

dedicated to Intelligent Transportation Systems 

(ITS). This web site will provide 

resources and guidance designed to 

educate the highway safety 

community about the role that ITS 

plays in enhancing roadway safety. 

The site will also provide resources 

to help safety practitioners 

understand how current ITS areas of focus, such as 

the Connected Vehicle Program, are addressing 

safety issues. 

The Connected Vehicle and Road Safety 

Relationship

Connected vehicles are currently one of the main 

areas of focus of the U.S. Department of 

Transportation’s Intelligent Transportation Systems 

Joint Program Office (ITS JPO). Connected vehicle 

safety applications will enable drivers to have 360-

degree awareness of hazards and situations they 

cannot even see. Through in-car warnings, drivers 

will be alerted to imminent crash situations, such as 

merging trucks, cars in the driver’s blind side, or a 

vehicle ahead braking suddenly. By communicating 

with roadside infrastructure, drivers will be alerted 

when they are entering a school zone, when 

workers are on the roadside, and when an 

upcoming traffic light is about to change (see 

http://www.its.dot.gov/safety_pilot/index.htm for 

more information). 

The FHWA Office of Safety is currently working 

with the ITS JPO and other multimodal partners to 

ensure safety is a major component of the

The Model Road Safety Audit Policy is intended to assist 

agencies in developing a policy for establishing and 

implementing a Road Safety Audit program. It is designed to be 

a flexible document that can be used by any state highway or 

local transportation agency to help the meet their safety needs.
Fall 2014: Volume 8 Issue 2 Safety Compass Newsletter • 5

USDOT’s ITS Strategic Research Plan. Over the 

next 5 years the Office of Safety will be working to 

promote the following connected-vehicle-related 

programs:

• Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) Communications 

for Safety: This research will investigate key 

questions such as are vehicle-based safety 

applications using V2V communications 

effective, and do they have benefits. Research 

is designed to determine whether regulatory 

action by the National Highway Transportation 

Safety Administration is warranted to speed the 

adoption of these safety capabilities. 

• Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) Communications for Safety: This research will 

investigate similar questions about V2I 

communications, with an initial focus on 

applications based on the relay of traffic signal 

phase and timing information to vehicles. The 

purpose is to accelerate the next generation of 

safety applications through widespread 

adoption of V2I communications. Low-cost rural 

ITS safety countermeasures are included as 

part of this effort. 

• Vehicle-to-Pedestrian (V2P) Technologies: 

This research will investigate V2P and 

Pedestrian to Infrastructure (P2I) technologies 

that help to reduce pedestrian crashes.

• Road Weather Management: This research 

will help determine how vehicle-based data on 

current weather conditions can be used by 

travelers and transportation agencies to enable 

decision-making that takes current weather 

conditions and future weather forecasts into 

account. 

• Human Factors: Additional technology in 

vehicles may have the potential to overload 

drivers and increase safety risks. This research 

will examine the extra burden that in-vehicle 

devices may put on drivers and will seek ways 

to minimize or eliminate distraction risks. 

• Cross-Cutting Activities: This program 

includes architecture, standards, professional 

capacity building, technology transfer, and 

evaluation. 

The new web site will be launched soon and we 

encourage you to share the site with your 

colleagues once it goes live. The site will be 

updated on a regular basis with new reports, 

projects, and other new content to reflect the 

exciting advancements that are beginning to 

emerge in the Connected Vehicle program and the 

V2V and V2I technologies. For more information,

contact Karen Timpone, karen.timpone@dot.gov

STATES TAKE DIFFERENT APPROACHES 

TO INTEGRATION OF 

STATE AND LOCAL DATA

By: Bob Scopatz, Senior Transportation Analyst, VHB 

and Stuart Thompson, Transportation Specialist, FHWA 

Office of Safety

Up-to-date, integrated State and local data play a 

vital role in helping States make safety decisions. 

The most recent transportation legislation – Moving 

Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) –

requires States to maintain a database to support 

analysis of the safety of all public roadways. 

Additionally, FHWA established the requirement for 

States to maintain an all-public-roads linear 

referencing system (LRS) and all-public-roads 

basemap. To meet these requirements, States 

must undertake projects to collect and integrate 

local roadway inventory data into a statewide 

database. To support advanced safety analysis for 

all public roads, States and local agencies need 

integrated roadway inventory, traffic volume, and 

crash data. 

As a result of the FHWA’s Integration of State and 

Local Safety Data project, a set of case studies has 

been developed that are intended to support the 

States’ data collection and analysis efforts. Each 

case study identifies a State’s experience collecting 

local data, the challenges and obstacles faced and 

how they were overcome, benefits of the practices,

reasons for success, lessons learned, and 

applicability of each State’s practices to other 

agencies. For example, Michigan, Ohio, 
Fall 2014: Volume 8 Issue 2 Safety Compass Newsletter • 6

Tennessee, and Wisconsin are each taking a 

different approach to supporting local agencies in 

collecting and analyzing road system data. These 

approaches are summarized below. (Clicking on 

the title will take you directly to the case study

summary in the Roadway Safety Noteworthy 

Practices database.) 

Michigan’s Roadsoft Program Enables 

Local Agencies to Collect and Maintain 

Data, while Preserving Local Ownership 

and Control

One way some States are enabling local agencies 

to collect and maintain data, while still preserving 

local ownership and control, is through centrally 

supported data models like Michigan’s Roadsoft 

program. With Roadsoft, there is no centralized 

database of local data; rather, local agencies 

receive a copy of the Roadsoft software to 

download and maintain locally. However, since 

Michigan assigned a consistent linear referencing 

system to the local roads, and since most local 

agencies use the Roadsoft system, the similar 

structure and data definitions make it easier to 

share data when needed.

While Michigan DOT (MDOT) provides Roadsoft to 

local agencies at no charge, it does not eliminate 

the costs of data collection. However, Roadsoft 

does improve data quality by defining data 

collection standards, where applicable, within each 

module. Local agencies are only required to report 

standard roadway asset and pavement condition 

data to MDOT for the Federal aid-eligible portions 

of their network; however, the same standards 

apply to all data entered into the system. 

Additionally, Roadsoft has modules for managing a 

large number of assets and each module was 

created based on input from local agencies. To 

help with data collection, Roadsoft has an 

integrated, GPS-enabled, mobile data collection 

utility which links Google Maps and Street View, 

thus creating an inexpensive photo log.

The lessons learned from the Roadsoft effort are 

that long-term support, local agency control, and 

frequent, gradual, incremental updates are the keys 

to Roadsoft’s success. The Michigan Technological 

University’s Center for Technology and Training 

(CTT), which developed Roadsoft for the Michigan 

Department of Transportation (MDOT), supports 

incremental software development using a rapid 

prototyping model with frequent user testing to be 

sure that the final product meets local users’ needs. 

Local users have a great deal of control over 

decisions regarding Roadsoft’s enhancements—a 

formal Roadsoft users’ group selects and approves 

each project. MDOT supports Roadsoft by funding 

the CTT’s efforts and by supplying data. 

Ohio, with Stakeholder Input, Develops 

Consistent Mapping and Data Standards 

for State and Local Roads

With the majority of public road mileage in Ohio 

owned and maintained by local agencies such as 

counties, cities, and villages, ODOT faced 

challenges with consistency in creating and storing 

local road maps. There was no single standard, 

and locating crashes on local roads was a “hit or 

miss” process. For the most part, local road 

jurisdictions did not have a consistent linear 

referencing system – many local roadway crash 

reports referenced approximate street addresses, 

alias street names, or intersections that no longer 

existed. Using street addresses as a location 

reference was problematic because the State road 

database did not contain address ranges, and the 

State’s list of local street names was often 

inaccurate. Given that roughly two-thirds of crashes 

in Ohio happened on non-State roads, this was a 

significant concern.

To remedy the issue, Ohio integrated the local road 

system into the State LRS by assigning consistent 

route numbers and mileposts to the local roads and 

then brought the local roadway data into a 

centralized data system: the Location-Based 

Response System (LBRS). With data standards set 

by ODOT, each local agency collects, inputs, and 

field verifies the data in LBRS. LBRS is web-based 

and the information is available for all stakeholders 

as soon as agencies enter it. Mapping and analytic 

tools are also available through the website. 

Roadsoft Pavement Deterioration Predictive Model
Fall 2014: Volume 8 Issue 2 Safety Compass Newsletter • 7

This integration proved beneficial for both State and 

local agencies. At the State level, the improved 

road centerline and mileposting data has enhanced 

crash reporting and safety analysis—Ohio now 

places local road crashes more accurately, allowing 

for better analysis of road safety issues in the 

counties. The State also now has consistent 

mapping and data standards for all counties, 

allowing easy integration and improved data 

access. Finally, this program helps save taxpayer 

dollars by reducing redundant, and sometimes 

conflicting, data collection activities. 

Ohio plans to improve integration by providing more 

guidance to local agencies on data maintenance 

and increasing coordinated communication among 

the State and local agencies. 

Tennessee Updates Roadway 

Information Management System 

(TRIMS) State Roads Database to 

Include Local Road Data

Historically, the majority of Tennessee’s fatal and 

incapacitating crashes occurred on local rural 

roads; however, local agencies within Tennessee 

collected very little roadway inventory data, and the 

data collected was largely unavailable to the State. 

In 2007, the Tennessee Department of 

Transportation (TDOT) hired a contractor to collect 

location description and inventory data on all local 

roads and to integrate the information into the 

Tennessee Roadway Information Management 

System (TRIMS) database that had been in place 

for State roads since the 1970s.

TRIMS is a single integrated linear referencing 

system database for State and local roadway 

structures, pavement, traffic, photo logs, and crash 

data. In 2007, TDOT began developing eTRIMS, a 

map-centric, web-based version of TRIMS, to 

encourage wider use of the TRIMS database. 

Additionally, the online application supports easier 

maintenance as users no longer need to install the 

TRIMS software locally in order to use the system. 

While TDOT expects that eTRIMS will eventually 

replace TRIMS, TDOT, local agencies and 

contractors in all 95 counties in Tennessee have 

access to both systems.

The benefits of TRIMS and eTRIMS include 

improved data accuracy (for both roadway and 

crash data) and access to all safety information in 

one place. In addition, detailed data analysis results 

support a wide variety of projects and funding 

requests. For example, local agencies working with 

TDOT use TRIMS/eTRIMS to justify safety project 

funding.

Several key lessons emerged from TDOT’s data 

integration process that may be useful to other 

States’ data integration efforts including:

• Collect data in “real time” to the greatest degree 

possible. TDOT found that a fully equipped 

vehicle that collected nearly all data in real-time 

was more efficient than the previous process of 

reviewing photo logs and requiring massive 

investment in post-processing.

• Establish specific data standards to ensure data 

quality. The list of data standards given to the

contractor had been in place for many years 

and TDOT was specific in the proposal about 

data standards and rules. 

• Update State systems if necessary. While the 

initial effort was to collect only local road data, 

data collectors found some local/State 

intersection points that needed adjustment.

• Improve data collection efforts continuously.

Even at the end of the project, TDOT was still 

making improvements to data collection 

processes. This is an open-ended investment.

TDOT is currently developing a method for longterm data maintenance and hopes to include local 

agencies in reporting roadway updates consistent 

with TDOT’s data quality standards. For now, the 

State updates data using an overlay on aerial 

photography as a way to identify major changes.

eTRIMS Depicts Interstates and State Routes within a 

Selected County
Fall 2014: Volume 8 Issue 2 Safety Compass Newsletter • 8

Wisconsin's Information System for 

Local Roads Expands Local Access to 

Data while Integrating State and Local 

Safety Data Systems

The Wisconsin Information System for Local Roads 

(WISLR) is an example of successful development 

of a safety and asset management system 

designed specifically to meet local stakeholders’

needs. For Wisconsin, that included developing the 

new system in a spatial framework that differed 

from what was already in place for Statemaintained roads, and then integrating the State 

roadway data with the new local roads system to 

create an all-public-roads database.

Before migrating to the WISLR system, Wisconsin 

managed the centerline mileage certification 

process for more than 90,000 miles of local roads 

with more than 1,900 separate paper maps. The 

Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) 

entered roadway attribute information into a 

mainframe database accessible only to select State 

staff, and local agencies received paper copies of 

local road mileage certification data. There was 

enormous duplication of effort – local agencies 

often had their own systems for managing data on 

roadway miles, assets, and attributes that were not 

compatible with the existing WisDOT system.

WisDOT launched WISLR in the mid-1990s. It 

integrates spatial location, asset, inventory, and 

crash information for local roads using an “on-attowards” linear referencing system (LRS). Users 

identify the road name (“on”), plus the distance and 

direction to the nearest intersecting street (“at” or 

“towards”). This location coding method gains 

precision by incorporating measured distances 

along each roadway. WISLR records intersections 

at measured distances along that roadway and 

termini (the ends of the roadways) as the starting 

(zero) or final distance measurement within a 

jurisdiction. When a location is specified, WISLR 

represents that location as the unique combination 

of the street name and the distance and direction 

from the nearest intersecting road or terminus. This 

allows the data for each event or feature to be 

associated spatially with all other data from the 

same location. WISLR also includes a translation of 

State-maintained roadway location, crash, and 

inventory data into the “on-at-towards” LRS so that 

WISLR serves as an all-public-roads safety data 

resource. 

The vast majority of local agencies use WISLR for 

data mining and decision-making. The online 

WISLR user numbers continue to increase each 

year, and WisDOT is considering upgrades to make 

the WISLR network representation as high 

resolution as the state trunk network (STN). This 

could include turn lanes, medians, dual 

carriageways, and other features.

For more information about the FHWA Integration 

of State and Local Safety Data project, visit

http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/rsdp/noteworthy_practice

s.aspx.

STATES OBLIGATED $3 BILLION FOR 

HSIP PROJECTS IN 2013

By: Erin Kenley, FHWA Office of Safety

States reported $3.09 billion in Highway Safety 

Improvement Program (HSIP) 

obligations for 3,292 highway 

safety improvement projects 

during the 2013 reporting cycle. 

The HSIP National Summary 

Report: 2013 presents an 

aggregate summary of HSIP 

projects obligated during the 2013 

reporting cycle. The summary information presents 

HSIP project information by cost, functional 

classification, roadway ownership, improvement 

category, and SHSP Emphasis Area. Please visit 

http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/hsip/reports to view the 

summary details or the individual State HSIP 

reports. 

Opening Screen for the WISLR Safety and Asset 

Management System
Fall 2014: Volume 8 Issue 2 Safety Compass Newsletter • 9

BUILDING BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN 

NETWORKS PAYS OFF

By: Gabe Rousseau, Safety Operations Team Leader, 

FHWA Office of Safety

Cities across the country are eager for information 

about how to make it easier for residents to get 

around town by bicycle or on foot. This is 

happening for a number of reasons—improving 

roadway safety, reducing obesity, fostering 

environmental sustainability, attracting young 

adults, or making it easier for older adults to age in 

place—to name a few. So what really happens 

when a community devotes significant resources to 

improving its walking and bicycling transportation 

networks? How do bicycle and pedestrian 

improvements impact health and environmental 

factors? A new report from FHWA provides some 

answers to these questions and shows how 

building networks for 

pedestrians and bicyclists 

pays off. 

Since August 2005, FHWA 

has overseen the 

Nonmotorized 

Transportation Pilot Program

(NTPP) designed to study 

the impacts of increased 

investment in walking and 

bicycling facilities and 

program. The NTPP 

provided over $25 million 

dollars to each of four pilot communities (Columbia, 

Missouri; Marin County, California; Minneapolis 

area, Minnesota; and Sheboygan County, 

Wisconsin) to make nonmotorized transportation 

system improvements. Congress required FHWA to 

submit two reports describing the results of the 

program and FHWA submitted the second report to 

Congress in 2012 (available at 

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/

bicycle_pedestrian/ntpp/2012_report/). To fulfill the 

reporting requirements, FHWA and the pilot 

communities created a Working Group to 

coordinate implementation of the program and 

develop a common methodology for data collection 

and analysis across the four pilots. Even after the 

final report to Congress was submitted, the 

Working Group decided to remain intact to continue 

to monitor the changes taking place in the four 

communities. In May 2014, FHWA released a new 

report, Continued Progress in Developing Walking 

and Bicycling Networks, (http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/

environment/bicycle_pedestrian/ntpp/2014_report/) 

which describes these trends.

Key outcomes described in the report include:

• Mode Share Shift: An estimated 85.1 million 

vehicle miles traveled (VMT) were averted

because of increased nonmotorized trips 

between 2009 and 2013 relative to a 2007 

baseline. The walking mode share increased 

15.8 percent from 2007 to 2013, while the 

bicycling mode share increased 44 percent over 

the same period. This translates to 22.8 percent 

and 48.3 percent increase in the number of 

pedestrian and bicycle trips across the four 

communities.

• Access and Mobility: NTPP expanded 1/4-mile 

bicycle network access to approximately 

240,000 people, 106,000 

housing units, and 102,000 

jobs. More than 70 percent 

of all NTPP infrastructure 

projects connect to 

employment centers, 

schools, parks, and 

recreation areas.

• Environment and 

Energy: In 2013, NTPP 

saved an estimated 25 

pounds of CO2 pollution per 

capita in the pilot 

communities, or a total of 

9,065 tons. This is equivalent to saving over 

1.25 gallons of gas per capita in 2013 or nearly

3.6 million gallons between 2009 and 2013.

NTPP saved an estimated 3.6 million gallons of 

gasoline between 2009 and 2013. This 

translates to a savings of an estimated 34,629

tons of CO2 emissions over that time period. In 

2013, the pilot communities reduced emissions 

of hydrocarbons (33.4 tons), particulate matter 

(255 pounds PM10 and 241 pounds PM2.5), 

nitrogen oxides (23.3 tons), and carbon 

monoxide (304.6 tons) that contribute to local 

air pollution.

• Safety: Despite large increases in nonmotorized 

transportation, the pilot communities collectively 

observed a 20 percent decline in the number of 

pedestrian fatalities and a 28.6 percent decline 

in the number of bicycle fatalities from 2002 to 

2012. Similarly, over the same time period, 
Fall 2014: Volume 8 Issue 2 Safety Compass Newsletter • 10

three of the communities experienced declines 

in the number of pedestrian injuries, and 

pedestrian injury rates declined between 17.9 

percent and 55.1 percent in each of the four 

communities. Bicycle injuries increased in three 

of the four communities, but bicycling injury 

rates (incidents per number of trips) declined 

between 8.6 and 38.2 percent in each of the 

four communities.

• Public Health: Based on the added bicycling 

trips observed just in 2013, the U.S. Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 

estimates reduced economic cost of mortality of 

$46.3 million from bicycling in 2013. This does 

not include reduced economic cost of mortality 

from walking or benefits from reduced 

economic costs of morbidity (i.e., the incidence

or prevalence of disease in a population), which 

are likely higher than mortality.

The full report provides more detail about how 

these health and environmental issues were 

studied. The report also offers lessons that the pilot 

communities learned while implementing the 

program. The NTPP demonstrates what 

communities can achieve by investing in 

nonmotorized transportation planning, 

infrastructure, and programs. Columbia, Marin 

County, the Minneapolis area, and Sheboygan 

County serve as examples for peer communities 

nationwide as they consider how to improve 

nonmotorized transportation to produce a broad 

range of benefits in their communities.

ROAD DIETS – LESS IS MORE

By: Rebecca Crowe, FHWA Office of Safety, and 

Heather Rigdon, Leidos

We live in a world that requires more. More 

highway lanes to move traffic, more bandwidth to 

run our computer applications, more energy to 

power our screens. We also live in a world where 

more is harmful: more people are killed in roadway 

crashes in the United States than most anything 

else, ranking in the top 15 causes of death for the 

past 30 years. (NHTSA, “Traffic Safety Facts 

Research Note: Motor Vehicle Traffic Crashes as a 

Leading Cause of Death in the United States, 2008 

and 2009,” DOT HS 811 620 (Washington, DC: 

2012). Available at: http://www.nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/

Pubs/811620.pdf

Of the multiple safety treatments from which an 

agency can choose to address this problem, what if 

one of them involved not increasing but rather 

reducing the number of travel lanes? That solution 

exists, and it is called a “Road Diet.” Four-lane 

undivided highways have a history of relatively high 

crash rates as traffic volumes increase and as the 

inside lane is shared by higher-speed through 

traffic and left-turning vehicles. A classic Road Diet 

converts an existing four-lane undivided roadway 

segment to a three-lane segment consisting of two 

through lanes and a center two-way left turn lane 

(TWLTL). The configuration also provides an 

opportunity to allocate excess roadway width to 

other purposes, including bicycle lanes, on-street 

parking, or transit stops. 

A Road Diet can improve safety and provide 

important benefits including::

• Reduced overall crashes (typically 19 to 47 

percent).

Road Diet (Photo Credit: Virginia Department of 

Transportation)
Fall 2014: Volume 8 Issue 2 Safety Compass Newsletter • 11

• Reduced rear-end and left-turn crashes through 

the use of a dedicated left-turn lane. 

• Reduced number of lanes for pedestrians to 

cross.

• Reduced right-angle crashes as side street 

motorists must cross only three lanes of traffic 

instead of four.

• Improved traffic calming and reduced speed 

differential, which can decrease the potential for 

crashes and reduce the severity of crashes if 

they occur.

• Simplified road scanning and gap selection for 

motorists (especially older and younger drivers) 

making left turns from or onto the mainline.

The Road Diet configuration also offers a number 

of quality- of-life improvements, offering 

transportation planners the opportunity to:

• Install pedestrian refuge islands.

• Install bicycle lanes when the cross-section 

width is reallocated.

• Allocate the “leftover” roadway width for other 

purposes, such as on-street parking or transit 

stops.

• Support a more community-focused, “Complete 

Streets” environment.

The table below shows problems may be 

correctable by Road Diet implementation.

A Road Diet can be a low-cost safety solution, 

particularly in cases where only pavement marking 

modifications are required to make the traffic 

control change. In other cases, the Road Diet may 

be planned in conjunction with reconstruction or 

simple overlay projects, and the change in cross 

section allocation can be incorporated at no 

additional cost.

Geometric and operational design features should 

be considered during the design of a Road Diet. 

Category Problem Rationale

Safety

Rear-end crashes with left-turning 

traffic due to speed discrepancies

Removing stopped vehicles attempting to turn left from the 

through lane could reduce rear-end crashes

Sideswipe crashes due to lane 

changes

Eliminating the need to change lanes reduces sideswipe 

crashes

Left-turn crashes due to negative 

offset left turns from the inside 

lanes.

Eliminating the negative offset between opposing left-turn 

vehicles and increasing available sight distance can reduce 

left-turn crashes

Bicycle and pedestrian crashes

Bicycle lanes separate bicycles from traffic; pedestrians 

have fewer lanes to cross and can use a refuge area, if 

provided

Operational

Delays associated with leftturning trafficSeparating left-turning traffic has been shown to reduce 

delays at signalized intersections

Side street delays at unsignalized 

intersections

Side-street traffic requires shorter gaps to complete 

movements due to the consolidation of left turns into one 

lane

Bicycle delays Potential for including a bike lane eliminates such delays

Other

Bicycle and pedestrian 

accommodation due to lack of 

facilities

Opportunity to provide appropriate or required facilities, 

increasing accessibility to non-motorized users

Aesthetics Provisions can be made for traversable medians and other 

treatments

Traffic calming Potential for more uniform speeds; opportunity to 

encourage pedestrian activity

Source: N. Stamatiadis, A. Kirk, C. Wang, A. Cull, and N. Agarwal, Guidelines for Road Diet Conversions, KTC-11-19/SPR-415-11-1F (University 

of Kentucky, Kentucky Transportation Center: 2011). Available at: http://www.ktc.uky.edu/projects/guidelines-for-road-diet-conversions/
Fall 2014: Volume 8 Issue 2 Safety Compass Newsletter • 12

Intersection turn lanes, traffic volume, signing, 

pavement markings, driveway density, transit 

routes and stops, and pedestrian and bicyclist 

facilities should be carefully considered and 

appropriately applied during the reconfiguration for 

appropriate Road Diet implementation. As with any

roadway treatment, data analysis and engineering 

judgment are required to determine whether a 

Road Diet is the most appropriate alternative in a 

given situation.

FHWA is currently developing a Road Diet 

Informational Guide. The new publication will 

include safety, operational, and quality of life 

considerations from research and practice, and it 

will guide readers through the decision-making 

process to determine if Road Diets are a good fit for 

a certain corridor. It also provides design guidance 

and encourages post-implementation evaluation. 

The guide will be available on the FHWA Office of 

Safety website later this year. For more information, 

contact Becky Crowe at Rebecca.Crowe@dot.gov. 

IMPROVING ROADWAY SAFETY FROM 

SIDEWALK TO CENTER LINE

By: Amanda Cairo, Institute of Transportation Studies, 

University of California, Berkeley

With rising transportation costs and healthier 

lifestyle opportunities, Americans are taking a hard 

look at how they move from point A to point B, 

which is creating a greater need for traffic safety 

assessments. But as the Institute of Traffic Studies 

(ITS) at the University of California Berkeley has 

discovered, it’s more than just vehicular traffic that 

needs to be reviewed.

With a grant from the California Office of Traffic 

Safety, funded through the National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration, ITS’s Technology Transfer 

Program is adding pedestrians and bicyclists into

the equation by providing free pedestrian and 

bicycle safety assessments (PSA and BSA) for 

California communities. The Technology Transfer 

Program also developed both online and physical 

technical guidebooks to assist communities in 

assessing their pedestrian and bicycle safety needs

to foster the growth of safer communities 

nationwide.

“We’ve seen a lot of success with our awardwinning safety assessment programs,” said Laura

Melendy, ITS assistant director. “As we move to be 

more inclusive of multiple traffic safety concerns, 

we are helping the state create better, safer and 

healthier options for people and the environment.”

Complementing the urban and rural traffic safety 

assessments, pedestrian and bicycling safety 

assessment studies look for ways to alleviate 

growing traffic tangles by encouraging safer 

walkable and bike-able solutions. 

Both pedestrians and bicycles create specific 

challenges: each as its own collision patterns, 

human behavior issues, and severity of conflicts as 

they share the road with vehicles. These 

challenges are all reviewed in the safety studies.

For the assessment, the Technology Transfer 

Program partners with safety experts who visit

cities and counties to review pedestrian, bicycle, 

and urban and rural traffic conditions and concerns, 

tailoring their visit to meet the needs and interests 

of each community. These experts meet with key 

staff, perform field observations, analyze relevant 

data, and review current safety programs to 

suggest improvements and strategies. Specifically, 

they look at connectivity and continuity of networks; 

sidewalks, bike lanes and curbs; crosswalks and 

pedestrian refuges, pedestrian and bicycle signals, 

signs, markings and warning lights; road diets, 

speed limits and traffic calming; pedestrian, bicycle,

and transit interface; safe routes to schools; 

accommodating pedestrians and bicyclists to 

ensure safety during design, planning, construction 

Photos courtesy of the USDOT-sponsored Safe 

Routes to School Program
Fall 2014: Volume 8 Issue 2 Safety Compass Newsletter • 13

and operations; pedestrian and bicycle master 

plans; pedestrian/bicycle coordinators; and ADA 

improvements and accessibility upgrades. 

In the absence of an onsite visit, the award-winning 

technical guidebooks, based on the expertise and 

experience of evaluators, help walk communities 

through the assessment process, issues, and the 

improvements that will increase safety in 

communities across the country.

For more details, to access the guidebooks, or to 

participate in a safety assessment study, check out 

Technology Transfer’s website at: 

www.techtransfer.berkeley.edu/services.

ASAP CREATES THRIVING 

PARTNERSHIPS FOR SAFETY 

By Esther Strawder, FHWA Office of Safety and Mark 

Sandifer, FHWA Technology Partnership Programs

The partnership established between the Office of 

Safety and the Office of Technical Services, 

Technology Partnership Programs to jointly 

administer the Accelerated Safety Activities 

Program (ASAP) is a prime example of working 

together to accomplish common goals. ASAP 

specifically supports the goal of promoting safety 

innovation through training, outreach, and 

education focusing on roadway departure, 

pedestrian, and intersection safety. The program 

also promotes partnerships between the Federal 

Highway Administration, State DOTs, and local 

agencies by requiring Local Technical Assistance 

Program (LTAP) and Tribal Technical Assistance 

Program (TTAP) participation in the proposed 

projects. Both LTAP and TTAP centers serve as 

excellent partners to help address local-level safety 

issues. Currently, limited ASAP funding is available

to the 23 States that are eligible to participate in the 

Focused Approach to Safety (for more information, 

see http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/fas). 

All of the partners have taken advantage of the 

valuable resources ASAP provides and have 

proven the benefits that even small programs can 

achieve. 

Janet Leli, Associate Director of the New Jersey 

LTAP Center writes: 

Our Center has used its Accelerating Safety 

Activities Program funding to conduct 

training for public agency personnel; to date 

we have conducted a symposium on 

pedestrian facilities and another on 

signalized and unsignalized intersections, 

both with a focus on safety enhancements 

from the planning and design perspective. 

Our next activity will be an Older Driver 

workshop, as our state crash data shows a 

high representation of older drivers involved 

in both pedestrian and intersection crashes. 

We have been combining subject matter 

experts from FHWA, along with local 

professionals, to provide both global and 

home-based references for the audiences.

Nina Barker, Assistant Director or the Florida 

Transportation Technology Transfer (T2) LTAP

Center states: 

Our Center has participated in the ASAP 

program since 2006, receiving five awards 

during the time period. Our funded projects 

include the purchase of a retroreflectometer 

for loan to local agencies for use in their 

sign assessment program, the production of 

a roundabout PSA to inform drivers on how 

to correctly navigate a roundabout, a Safety 

Edge peer exchange to discuss challenges 

and benefits of implementing the safety 

edge treatment, a Road Safety Audit course 

for Florida’s Community Traffic Safety 

Teams, and an Intersection Safety course 

for rural counties and small agencies. The 

awards have made a great impact on the 

safety of our local transportation agencies 

by providing much needed training and 

equipment to improve the safety of their 

roadways.

In April of this year, the Office of Safety awarded 12 

projects from 9 States with ASAP funding totaling 

$106,998.00 for FY 2014. A total of 19 proposals 

were submitted from 10 Focused Approach to 

Safety States, which were evaluated by a technical 

panel and ranked based on their merit. The 

recipient States also invested at least 20 percent of 

their own funds, bringing the total investment for 

the projects up to $167,615.00. This is the ninth 

consecutive year for ASAP to assist States with 

implementing innovation in safety with over $1 

million dollars invested to date. 

For more information on the ASAP program, 

please contact Esther Strawder at esther.

strawder@dot.gov or Mark Sandifer at mark.

sandifer@dot.gov. 
Fall 2014: Volume 8 Issue 2 Safety Compass Newsletter • 14

The Winning Proposals for the 2014 Round of ASAP Funding

State Project Partners

AR Low Cost Safety Improvement Workshop for 

Local Agencies, Statewide

Arkansas LTAP Center, Arkansas State Highway and 

Transportation Department, Federal Highway 

Administration Division Office, and University of 

Arkansas at

Fayetteville

FL Intersection Safety Courses for Florida's Rural 

Counties/Small Communities

Florida T2 Center, Federal Highway Administration 

Division Office, FDOT Safety Office and the Florida 

Community Traffic Safety Teams (CTSTs)

FL Florida Safety Edge Peer Exchange Florida T2 Center , FDOT Safety Office, and FL FHWA 

Division Office

FL Road Safety Audits for Florida's Community 

Traffic Safety Teams (CTSTs)

Florida T2 Center , FDOT Safety Office, FDOT District 3, 

and FL FHWA Division Office

GA Best Practices Workshop: Intersection 

Treatments & Road Diets for Improved 

Roadway Safety for Non-Motorized Users:

GA DOT, GA FHWA Division Office, GA LTAP,

and ALTA Planning + Design,

KY Traffic & Safety Academy: Lexington Kentucky KY Association of Counties, KY Transportation Center, KY 

LTAP, KY Transportation Cabinet, KY FHWA Division 

Office

MO Develop a Strategic Highway Safety Plan for 

Boone County, Missouri

MoDOT, Missouri LTAP, Kansas City, Mid America 

Regional Council (MARC) , and FHWA Division Office

MO Develop a Pedestrian Safety Action Plan for 

Kansas City

Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety, MO LTAP Kansas 

City, MoDOT, MARC, and FHWA MO Division Office

NC Proven Safety Countermeasures for North 

Carolina Local Governments - Information 

Sharing on Roadway Departure, Intersection, 

and Pedestrian Issues and Solutions

Institute for Transportation Research and Education, 

Highway Department, City of Greenville, City of 

Greensboro, City of Kings Mountain, NC LTAP, and NC 

FHWA Division Office

NJ New Jersey Older Driver and Pedestrian 

Engineering Workshop

NJ LTAP, FHWA NJ Division Office, Rutgers University

OH Case Studies: Local Implementation of Proven 

Safety Countermeasures in Ohio

ODOT, County Engineers Association of Ohio, FHWA OH 

Division, and OH LTAP Center

OK Safety Champion Workshop: Transportation 

Tools for saving Lives in Oklahoma

OK Highway Safety Office, ODOT, FHWA Office of Safety, 

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, OK 

Tribal Transportation Council Safety Subcommittee , and 

OK TTAP 

DATA-DRIVEN SAFETY ANALYSIS – AN 

EDC3 INITIATIVE

By: Jerry Roche, FHWA Office of Safety

Recent advances in highway safety analysis are 

revolutionizing the practice of highway safety by 

providing more reliable information, which in turn 

leads to more effective investment decisions on the 

Nation’s highway system. These advances, fitting 

into the general categories of predictive and 

systemic analysis, were selected as an Every Day 

Counts 3 (EDC3) program initiative. The goal of this 

initiative is to broaden implementation of these 

kinds of data-driven safety analyses so that they 

become an integral component of all safety 

management processes and project development 

decision making. 

Predictive analysis approaches combine crash, 

roadway inventory, and traffic volume data to 

provide more reliable estimates of an existing or 

proposed roadway’s expected safety performance. 
Fall 2014: Volume 8 Issue 2 Safety Compass Newsletter • 15

The results inform roadway safety management 

and project development decision making as well 

as safety countermeasure selection and evaluation. 

Examples of tools that State and local highway 

agencies can use to apply predictive approaches 

include AASHTO’s Highway Safety Manual and 

AASHTOWare Safety AnalystTM software, 

FHWA’s Interactive Highway Safety Design Model 

(IHSDM), NCHRP’s Enhanced Interchange Safety 

Analysis Tool (ISAT), FHWA’s Crash Modification 

Factors Clearinghouse, and several commercial 

products in the marketplace. Several State DOTs 

including Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Utah, and 

Washington are using the HSM to prioritize their 

Highway Safety Improvement Program projects. 

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and 

Development has incorporated the HSM throughout 

its project development process, facilitating better 

decisions in planning, design, construction, 

operations and maintenance phases. 

Systemic analysis approaches target high-risk 

roadway features associated with particular severe 

crash types. A comprehensive safety management 

program incorporates a systemic approach to 

complement traditional site analysis (i.e., “hot spot”) 

approaches. FHWA’s Systemic Safety Project 

Selection Tool and the AAA Foundation for Traffic 

Safety’s usRAP software* are examples of tools 

available to implement a systemic approach to 

safety management. Several agencies including the 

Missouri DOT and Thurston County, WA have been 

leaders in implementing the systemic approach to 

safety. 

FHWA, an advocate for a broader deployment of 

predictive and systemic analysis approaches to 

support highway safety investment decision 

making, has launched this EDC3 initiative to 

improve upon traditional approaches that rely on 

recent crash history data at a given site and 

prioritizing “hot spot” fixes. The net result of this 

initiative is a more scientifically sound, data-driven 

approach to allocating resources—resulting in 

fewer and less severe crashes on the Nation’s 

roadways.

If your agency is interested in furthering its datadriven safety analysis and would like assistance, 

please contact Jerry Roche in the Office of Safety 

(515-233-7323 or jerry.roche@dot.gov).

* Note: FHWA cites specific tools as examples of ways to 

implement predictive and system safety analysis 

approaches, not as an endorsement of these specific tools 

over others.

NORTH AMERICAN CONFERENCE ON ELDERLY MOBILITY (NACEM) SPREADS 

THE WORD ON SAFETY COUNTERMEASURES TARGETING OLDER DRIVERS

From May 11–14, 2014, FHWA co-sponsored the North American Conference on Elderly Mobility (NACEM)

in Detroit, Michigan. There were national and international presentations on Alternative Transportation, 

Infrastructure and Vehicles, Driver Education and Training, Driver Screening and Assessment, and Housing 

and Land Use. The conference also included a roadway demonstration of proven engineering 

countermeasures to improve safety and navigation for aging drivers. 

In an effort to highlight best practices from the Conference, FHWA will develop a Noteworthy Practices 

Guide. As communities across the Nation experience transportation challenges facing older adults and are 

looking for methods to keep our older adults safely on the move, this Guide will include over 20 practices to 

assist them in improving mobility for the aging population. Look for the North American Conference on 

Elderly Mobility: Noteworthy Practices Guide on the FHWA website the Fall of 2014!

NEW 2014 HANDBOOK FOR DESIGNING ROADWAYS FOR THE AGING POPULATION

NOW AVAILABLE! 

As the number of licensed drivers increase in age, FHWA is turning it’s attention to the importance of 

designing State and local roadways with the aging population in mind. FHWA has made this job much easier 

with the recent release of the 2014 Handbook for Designing Roadways for the Aging Population. The new 

Handbook provides 143 recommendations to make intersections, interchanges, roadway segments, 

highway work zones and highway-rail grade crossings safer for the aging driver and pedestrian! From 

Road Diets to Roundabouts, the Handbook is filled with treatments to reduce crashes, injuries and fatalities. 

The Handbook can viewed and downloaded at: http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/older_users/handbook/. Get your 
Fall 2014: Volume 8 Issue 2 Safety Compass Newsletter • 16

TRANSPORTATION YOU!

By: Rebecca Crowe, FHWA Office of Safety

On April 10th, I had the opportunity to work with 35 

middle school girls from across the Richmond 

region in Virginia at the first Transportation YOU!

event. The Central Virginia Chapter of Women’s 

Transportation Seminar paired up with the Federal 

Highway Administration, Virginia Department of 

Transportation and Virginia Department of Rail and 

Public Transportation to sponsor a “Girls in 

Transportation” workshop. There were several 

interactive working sessions that introduced middleschool aged girls to specialized areas of 

transportation, including highway safety. 

Becky Crowe working with Students at the 

Transportation YOU! event in April (Source: Virginia 

Department of Transportation)

I had the opportunity to lead two groups of eight 

girls through an intersection safety improvement 

project. The girls were required to determine the 

appropriate operational and safety upgrades, which 

ranged from pedestrian and audible signals, 

emergency vehicle preemption detection, detection 

cameras and bicycle signal heads. They were also 

required to account for the funding required for the 

upgrades. The girls actively debated which 

improvements to make and designed an intersection to accommodate all road users, including 

pedestrians, bicyclists, the aging population, as well 

as the many emergency vehicles traveling to the 

nearby hospital. The goal of the Transportation 

YOU event was to expose girls to different parts of 

the transportation sector and encourage them to

consider a career in transportation. As I worked 

with the girls, I was reminded of how fortunate I am 

to work in safety and focus on saving lives every 

day! I hope I had a positive influence on just one 

girl and we will work side-by-side in the future, 

reducing injuries and fatalities, and making our 

roads safer. 

RDIP TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TEAMS 

HELP STATES BOOST DATA QUALITY 

By: Bob Pollack, FHWA Office of Safety

The Roadway Safety Data Improvement Program is 

a component of the Office of Safety’s technical 

assistance and outreach efforts conducted through 

the Roadway Safety Data Program (RSDP).

To further support data quality improvements 

among the States, the RDIP program has developed a process whereby a State may request an 

RDIP data review. In an RDIP data review, a 

technical assistance team (TAT) comprised of 

subject matter experts works with the State to 

examine multiple aspects of the State’s roadway 

inventory database (e.g., data collected, usage of 

the data, management and governance of the data, 

and the interoperability of the data with other 

databases). In preparation for an on-site visit with 

the State, the TAT will review relevant materials,

policies, practices, and procedures used by the 

State for its roadway database. 

With preliminary fact-finding completed, the TAT 

travels to the State to conduct a multi-faceted 

review with key representatives. The RDIP data 

review process consists of a workshop, two 

technical transfer sessions, development of a 

summary report, and a presentation of the TAT’s 

findings to the administrators and managers of the 

roadway inventory database. 

The workshop is a highly interactive session that is 

open to both State DOT staff and external 

stakeholders invited by the host agency. Typical 

participants include the collectors, users, and 

maintainers of the State DOT roadway database 

and non-DOT users such as city or county 

engineers, MPO planners, university researchers,

and representatives from various interest groups or 

associations. The workshop addresses “good 

practices” for roadway data collection, use, and 

management. 

The TAT also conducts two technical transfer 

sessions, which are round-table sessions to review 

and discuss the TAT’s findings and recommen-
Fall 2014: Volume 8 Issue 2 Safety Compass Newsletter • 17

dations regarding State’s roadway inventory 

database and management practices. One 

technical transfer session is devoted strictly to the 

internal practices of the State DOT. The second 

technical transfer session involves the State DOT 

and selected representatives from local agencies 

(cities, counties, MPOs) to examine current data 

and roadway information sharing practices between 

these stakeholder groups. 

Finally, during the on-site portion of an RDIP

review, a summary report is developed that 

presents the TAT findings on how the State is 

performing in collecting, using, governing, and 

sharing roadway data and makes recommendations for how these processes might be improved. 

The TAT presents its findings to the State DOT in a 

face-to-face meeting at the conclusion of the State 

visit. A more complete narrative report of the 

findings is written and sent to the State 

approximately 6 weeks after the site visit.

Thus far, FHWA has completed RDIPs with five 

States and has several more planned. The 

participating agencies have generally expressed 

positive comments about the RDIP process and the 

findings provided in the reports. 

The Roadway Safety Data Improvement Program

was developed by the FHWA Office of Safety as an 

information resource designed to assist States in 

improving the quality of their roadway inventory 

data. Additionally, given the requirements imposed 

on States’ safety data systems by the MAP-21 

legislation, the RDIP is intended to provide States 

with a way to improve their roadway data to better 

support States’ safety countermeasure programs. 

If you would like more information about the RDIP

data review process, please contact Robert Pollack 

at Robert.pollack@dot.gov or 202-366-5019.

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND EVENTS

2014 Governors Highway Safety Association 

Annual Meeting, September 6-10, 2014, Grand 

Rapids, MI (tinyurl.com/luc9wh9). GHSA’s 2014 

Annual Meeting will explore highway safety after 

MAP-21—from congressional legislation to 

technology to new approaches and programs.

Breakout workshops topics include: teen safety, 

older driver safety, drugged driving, motorcycle 

safety and other important highway issues.

AASHTO Standing Committee on Highway Traffic 

Safety - Subcommittee on Safety Management 

(SCOHTS-SM) Annual Meeting, September 9-12, 

2014, Grand Rapids, MI.( http://tinyurl.com/n9tspf9). 

Join your colleagues for this annual meeting that 

will focus on implementation of the SCOHTS 

Strategic Plan, with presentations and discussions 

on research and activities related to the goal areas 

of the Strategic Plan, including the Toward Zero 

Deaths national strategy on highway safety, 

Highway Safety Manual, workforce development,

and performance management, and other topics of 

interest in the safety management field.

OSIT2014: Occupational Safety in Transport 

Conference, September 18-19, 2014, Queensland, 

Australia (ositconference.com). This conference 

will feature representatives from road and 

transportation safety, aviation and watercraft, fleets, 

safety culture and management, construction 

safety, and associated fields. Themes will cover 

topics including transportation safety culture and 

management; technology for the improvement of 

safety, systems, and behavior; transportationSystemic Safety Implementation Peer 

Exchanges, September 17-18, 2014, Salt Lake 

City, Utah and November 18-19, 2014, 

Columbus, Ohio: The purpose of the peer 

exchange is to advance the systemic approach 

to reducing fatalities and serious injuries on local 

and rural roadways. The peer exchange will 

provide a forum for participants to discuss and 

exchange ideas on the application of systemic 

safety analysis, as well as the benefits and 

challenges associated with incorporating a 

systemic approach to safety in their existing 

roadway safety management programs.

HSIP Peer Exchange: Streamlining HSIP Project 

Delivery, September 23-24, 2014, Charleston, 

West Virginia. The purpose of the peer 

exchange is to share noteworthy practices for 

streamlining HSIP project delivery and identify 

opportunities for West Virginia to advance HSIP 

project delivery from planning through design 

and construction. The peer exchange is open to 

invited participants only. 

Learn more about FHWA’s Roadway Safety 

Peer-to-Program at 

http://rspcb.safety.fhwa.dot.gov/technical.aspx. 
Fall 2014: Volume 8 Issue 2 Safety Compass Newsletter • 18

related impairments and return-to-work assessment 

processes; industry logistics and transportation

safety risk; developing and evaluating safety 

programs; and transportation safety innovations, 

challenges, and opportunities.

Webinar: State and Local Agency Safety Data 

Integration Experiences, September 18, 2014, 2:00-

3:30 EDT. Join the FHWA Office of Safety and Dr. 

Tim Colling (Michigan Technological University), 

David Blackstone (Ohio DOT), Brian Hurst 

(Tennessee DOT), and Kelly Schieldt (Wisconsin 

DOT) as they discuss how to overcome State and 

local agency challenges in integrating roadway 

datasets into a cohesive database. This webinar 

will present experiences from the different states as

well as discussion among participants. To register

for this no-cost webinar, please visit:

http://tinyurl.com/kbkynm9

Transportation Research Board (TRB) 94th 

Annual Meeting, January 11-15, 2015, Washington, 

D.C. (http://tinyurl.com/lp5k2zf). The spotlight theme 

for the 2015 TRB Annual Meeting is “Corridors to 

the Future: Transportation and Technology.” A 

number of sessions and workshops will focus on

this theme. Note that TRB standing committees

have issued calls for papers for the TRB 94th 

Annual Meeting. While papers addressing any 

relevant aspect of transportation research will be 

considered, some committees are soliciting papers 

in specific subject areas to help potential authors 

identify topics for their papers.

AASHTO/AGC/ARTBA Task Force 13 meeting to be 

held in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, on 

September 17-19. Participation in Task Force 13 is 

open to anyone in the highway industry interested 

in standardization of road and bridge hardware, 

particularly roadside and work zone safety devices.

For more information, contact Nick Artimovich at 

nick.artimovich@dot.gov

International Walk to School Day, October 8, 2014

(http://www.walkbiketoschool.org/). Join millions of

parents, teachers and community leaders across 

the globe by encouraging your children to walk to 

school in celebration of International Walk to 

School Day. In 2013, communities in more than 40 

countries participated in Walk to School Day, and 

more than 4,400 of these events were held 

throughout all 50 States and the District of 

Columbia. 

The Safety Compass Newsletter

is a publication of the U.S. 

Department of Transportation, 

Federal Highway Administration.

The Federal Highway Administration 

publishes the Safety Compass 

newsletter three times a year. We 

can be reached at:

FHWA Office of Safety

1200 New Jersey Ave., SE

Room E71-105

Washington, DC 20590

The Safety Compass 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.