Integrating Safety in the Rural Transportation Planning Process.

摘要

Regional planning organizations (RPO) are poised to assist state departments of transportation (DOT) and local officials in addressing the safety needs in non-metropolitan areas. By identifying transportation safety needs in RPO transportation plans, funding for safety countermeasures or other transportation improvements can be programmed into long-range transportation plans (LRTP) and statewide or regional Transportation Improvement Programs (S/TIP). The most recent crash data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) indicates that rural fatalities account for 55 percent of all fatalities, although Census Bureau figures show only 19 percent of the United States population living in rural areas. Every RPO engages in a planning process to understand the regional issues and needs, either through the development of a regional plan, by providing input into the statewide plan, or coordinating the development of other planning documents. During the development of any of these plans, the opportunity exists to incorporate safety into the process. The terminology may differ across agencies, but the basic elements of a transportation planning process include: Public Involvement and Outreach; Multidisciplinary Coordination and Input; Data Collection and Analysis (Problem identification); Development of Goals and Objectives; Identification of Performance Measures and Targets; Project Prioritization and Programming; and Monitoring and Evaluation. This Technical Report provides regional planners in non-metropolitan areas with methods for integrating safety into each of the above-mentioned planning elements, with the goal of incorporating safety into all the elements to help planners address multi-modal safety needs. Key methods for integrating safety in the planning processes for rural regions, which are expanded in the document, are highlighted below.