National transportation policies and programs emerging out of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) and the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) require transportation plans and decisions at the state and metropolitan levels to take safety into account more directly. While safety is often mentioned in plan policies and goals, the short- and long-range planning and programming processes rarely include safety initiatives and commitments in a comprehensive manner. Further, the data collection, analytical support methods, performance monitoring, and decision collaboration normally carried out as part of the planning process for facilities and services do not adequately include safety. Presently, within long-range transportation planning at the state and metropolitan levels, current conditions, performance, and impacts can be assessed as the basis for predicting future implications of plan alternatives in terms of system capacity, travel demand, system condition, economic conditions, population, and land use. We can predict the impacts of pavement preservation and the future condition of highway congestion and capacity deficiencies. Regarding safety, we can describe the current accident and fatality rates and project them into the future; however, we cannot accurately predict future safety implications associated with transportation system improvements. Similarly, while we can estimate, if not accurately predict, future effectiveness of various safety countermeasures, we are not able to assess their collective implications or performance expectations on a systemwide basis. Thus, long-range transportation planning processes at the state and metropolitan levels need better analytical tools to identify current and likely future safety deficiencies and methods to address those deficiencies. Further, processes to create and promote communication and collaboration between safety and transportation planning practitioners are essential in order to integrate safety into long-range transportation planning and decision making. This need is particularly acute because current national policy requires these long-range planning processes to improve the safety and security of the transportation system for motorized and non-motorized users. The objective of this research was to develop a guidance manual for practitioners that identifies and evaluates alternative ways to more effectively incorporate and integrate safety considerations in long-range statewide and metropolitan transportation planning and decision-making processes. The research encompasses the full range of safety implications of facility and geometric improvements, capacity improvements, operational improvements, population growth and other demographic issues, land use decisions, and human behavior-related issues associated with all surface transportation modes. It also includes recommendations for improvements to the tools, methods, and procedures that support systems, corridor, and project planning. Under NCHRP Project 8-44, “Incorporating Safety into Long-Range Transportation Planning,” researchers at the University of Arizona and the Georgia Institute of Technology focused on safety issues within the long-range transportation planning processes of state DOTs and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) and included the following: (1) a comprehensive review of recent literature on safety and how it is addressed in long-range transportation planning; (2) a review of federal regulations and guidance on safety issues in the planning process; and (3) case studies to synthesize notable current practice in safety planning. A planning process was developed that describes how and when various methods can best be applied in developing systemslevel transportation plans. The process addresses decision-making relationships; technical requirements (e.g., data and analytical methods); necessary staffing capabilities; public involvement; interagency coordination; financial commitments; and methods for tying the systems-planning considerations to more detailed processes such as corridor planning, subarea planning, modal development planning, priority programming, and project development. The guidance manual presents descriptions of a variety of analytical tools and software applications for conducting various safety analyses. It also describes PLANSAF, a tool developed as part of the research to forecast safety effects at the traffic analysis zone (TAZ) level or higher. Appropriate applications of the tool are discussed in this appendix. Finally, guidance is provided for MPOs or DOTs to develop their own set of safety forecasting models at the TAZ level. The guidance manual, contained on the accompanying CRP-CD-62, is presented in an interactive electronic format for easy use as a tool for planning practitioners. (Author/publisher) This report may be accessed by Internet users at http://gulliver.trb.org/publications/nchrp/nchrp_rpt_546.pdf
Abstract