One way to reduce the annual U.S. $230 billion societal cost of motor vehicle crashes is toincorporate safety directly into the regional long-range transportation planning process. Asurvey of Virginia regional planning agencies revealed a healthy interest in such integration:83% of respondents included safety in their planning goals and objectives and 86% indicatedsafety is a factor used to prioritize projects in the long-range plan. The survey also identifiedobstacles to safety-planning integration: lack of safety data or difficulty with obtaining such data,lack of dedicated safety funding, and lack of adequate training in necessary areas of expertisesuch as geometric design and human factors. Thus, merely exhorting regional agencies toemphasize safety is unlikely to affect planning practice.To address these obstacles, this paper reports on the creation of a resource guide thatprovides numerous, specific examples implementable at the level of a regional planner withlimited staff. For instance, in one rural plan where several projects entail widening substandardhigh-speed travel lanes, the guide shows how to estimate expected crash reductions so thatprojects with the greatest safety impact are identified. A contrasting example shows how toreduce urban crashes through removing a vehicle travel lane, adding a bicycle path, andmanaging access. Thus, the guide reflects the diverse opportunities to link safety and planning.Other topics in the guide are crash data analysis, alignment of plan goals to specific programs,use of performance measures to prioritize alternatives, and innovative funding sources for safety22related improvements—all based on real data or plans, such as monitoring the impact of a speedlimit change on crashes while accounting for random variation.Recognizing that there is no shortage of planning-related literature, the guide recognizes,but does not duplicate, the long-range regional planning process.
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