EVALUATION OF LOW-COST 

SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS (ELCSI)

by Tricia Sergeson and Roya Amjadi

January 2023

SUCCESS STORY

Safety is a top priority of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT). 

In 2020, even though the volume of traffic was down overall, 38,824 people 

still died in motor vehicle crashes, and an estimated 2.28 million were 

injured.1 To reach the USDOT’s safety goals, the transportation sector 

needs to work together to identify and implement safety solutions. The 

Transportation Pooled Fund (TPF) Program provides an opportunity to 

collaborate with stakeholders around the world to help solve transportation 

problems like safety. By pooling funds and expertise, government agencies 

can develop innovative solutions at a lower cost.

The FHWA-led TPF study Evaluation of 

Low-Cost Safety Improvements (ELCSI), 

first established in 2005, actively leverages 

partnerships to develop low-cost, feasible 

countermeasures that reduce safety risks. The 

study has had many proven successes that 

demonstrate the need for high-impact, low-cost 

solutions. Safety countermeasures born out of 

this study, like adding a retroreflective tape or 

adjusting a sign height, may not be noticeable to 

the road-using public, but they have been proven 

to reduce crashes and save lives. 

At the beginning, the ELCSI study chose safety 

improvements from a series of guides developed 

by the National Cooperative Highway Research 

Program for evaluation.2 The study examined 

these countermeasures through rigorous 

data collection, effectiveness evaluations, and 

cost-benefit analysis.

The safety countermeasures evaluated in 

the ELCSI study included a wide variety of 

topics, such as pedestrian and cyclist solutions, 

pavement friction, rectangular rapid-flashing 

beacons, rumble strips, and curve delineation. 

The researchers evaluated topics and 

countermeasures for programs and budgets of 

all sizes.

Mumble strips were one of the safety 

countermeasures developed in the ELCSI 

study. Like rumble strips that offer an audible 

and vibratory warning to drivers veering off a 

roadway, mumble strips can also alert drivers 

but are much quieter. This TPF study’s research 

found that though the sound heard inside the 

vehicle is virtually the same with rumble strips and 

mumble strips, the latter produces significantly 

less noise outside—improving the quality of life 

for those who live and work near a roadway. 

Source: FHWA. Mumble strips were one of the safety 

countermeasures developed in the ELCSI study.
January 2023

EVALUATION OF LOW-COST 

SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS (ELCSI)

SUCCESS STORY

Since its inception, the ELCSI study has 

adapted to meet the evolution of safety needs 

throughout the Nation. For example, this TPF 

study’s “Pavement Safety Performance” project 

researched different types of flexible and rigid 

pavement treatments and their applications 

(like chip seal, concrete diamond grinding, and 

high-friction surface treatment for horizontal 

curves). Treating horizontal curves addresses a 

major safety risk. Approximately one-quarter of 

highway fatalities occur at or near horizontal 

curves. The deterioration of pavement’s 

surface friction could be a factor for roadway 

departure crashes (a crash which occurs 

after a vehicle crosses an edge line, a center 

line, or otherwise leaves the traveled way), 

particularly in wet weather. The Federal Highway 

Administration estimates that 70 percent of wet 

pavement crashes are preventable through 

improved pavement friction.3

 ELSCI research 

indicated significant benefits from the use of 

high-friction surface treatments at curves. 

The more than 60 publications documenting 

the ELSCI study’s evaluated low-cost safety 

countermeasures provide further details on the 

research results and insight.

The ELCSI study has also contributed more 

than 800 crash modification factors (CMFs) 

(factors used to compute the expected number 

of crashes after implementing a given safety 

measure at a specific site) to the national CMF 

Clearinghouse. Data used in these reports have 

helped identify strategies ELCSI study partners 

could implement throughout the United States. 

TPF study partners can analyze the CMFs 

to meet their safety goals. The discoveries 

made in the ELCSI study have helped develop 

a network within scientific communities (the 

Transportation Research Board, the Bureau of 

Labor Statistics, and the American Statistical 

Association) to advance safety research.

Source: FHWA. High-friction surface treatment has been shown to significantly reduce wet pavement crashes.
January 2023

EVALUATION OF LOW-COST 

SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS (ELCSI)

SUCCESS STORY PARTNERSHIP AND COLLABORATION

With over 43 partner agencies, the ELSCI 

study boasts the most members of all the TPF 

studies. (See the map of partnering agencies.) 

Each ELSCI partner agency includes agency 

representatives and subject matter experts on 

the technical advisory committee (TAC). The TAC 

helps to guide the research for a TPF study and 

facilitates knowledge and technology transfer 

to staff at different agencies. Members of the 

ELSCI study meet annually to give presentations 

on their research and share their ideas. 

Participants learn from each other’s experience 

and form connections that help advance overall 

transportation research. These invaluable 

meetings showcase an agency’s innovations that 

other partner agencies can also use.

“This pooled fund study has been invaluable 

to both the Michigan DOT and staff in safety 

programs. The annual meeting allows various 

staff members to learn about new and improved 

low-cost safety improvements and, more 

importantly, to network and learn from fellow 

DOTs and researchers,” said Mark Bott, engineer 

of traffic and safety for the Michigan DOT. 

Source: FHWA. With over 43 partner agencies, the ELSCI study boasts the most members of all the TPF studies.
January 2023

EVALUATION OF LOW-COST 

SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS (ELCSI)

SUCCESS STORY

For More Information, Contact: 

Tricia Sergeson

TPF Program Manager

(202) 493-3166

patricia.sergeson@dot.gov

Publication No.: FHWA-HRT-23-027

HRTM-10/01-23(Web)E

Make an Impact Through 

a TPF Study! 

The TPF Program is a great resource to 

combine limited funds to address important 

transportation issues. Learn more about 

initiating a TPF study and browse the list of 

open solicitations on the TPF website at 

https://www.pooledfund.org/.

4

Recommended citation: Transportation 

Pooled Fund, TPF Success Story: Evaluation 

Of Low-Cost Safety Improvements (ELCSI) 

(Washington, DC: 2023) https://doi.

org/10.21949/1521968

REFERENCES

1. U.S. Department of Transportation. 2022. 

U.S. Department of Transportation Strategic 

Plan FY 2022-2026. Washington, DC: U.S. 

Department of Transportation. 

2. The National Academies of Sciences, 

Engineering, and Medicine. 2014. “NCHRP 

Report 500: Guidance for Implementation of the 

AASHTO Strategic Highway Safety Plan” (web 

page). https://www.trb.org/Main/Blurbs/152868.

aspx, last accessed December 16, 2022.

3. Merritt, D. K., C. A. Lyon, B. N. Persaud, and H. 

N. Torres. 2020. Developing Crash-Modification 

Factors for High-Friction Surface Treatments. 

Report No. FHWA-HRT-20-061. Washington, 

DC: Federal Highway Administration.

4. Transportation Pooled Fund Program. n.d. 

“Welcome to the Transportation Pooled Fund 

Program Web Site” (web page). https://www.

pooledfund.org/, last accessed January 6, 2021.

VALUE

The ELSCSI study will 

remain important for years 

to come as it continues to 

conduct research on cuttingedge technologies that 

improve safety. The proven research from this 

study allow transportation partners to invest in 

low-cost safety countermeasures that reduce 

fatalities and injuries around the world. Many 

of the proven safety countermeasures have 

now become institutionalized practices among 

partner agencies.