Performance-based Assessment to Transportation Safety Planning for Metropolitan Travel Improvement Study

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

1-2017

Keywords

Safety Performance, Predictive Models, Highway Safety Manual, Crash Mod ification Factors, MTIS, Alternative Strategies, Towards Zero Deaths

Abstract

Nebraska’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) sets an ambitious “Toward Zero Deaths” safety goal that aims to improve highway safety with strategic countermeasures to fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads. This vision is integral to transportation safety management in Nebraska and is advanced by the Metropolitan Travel Improvement Study (MTIS) for Omaha, Nebraska and Council Bluffs, Iowa. This quantitative safety performance study conducted here stands as an important milestone for key decision making for the Nebraska Department of Roads (NDOR) and the Metropolitan Area Planning Agency (MAPA). This study establishes a framework for implementing the quantitative safety evaluation process envisioned in the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Highway Safety Manual (HSM) with the objectives: (1) focusing on the process of identifying freeway and major arterial locations with the greatest safety improvement potential in the MTIS by applying a micro-level network screening method based on the HSM; (2) using the study’s detailed analysis of the most recent 5 years of historical crash data to understand contributing crash factors; and (3) performing predictive safety performance of six strategy packages for design year 2040. With this knowledgebase, safety strategies to mitigate fatal and serious injuries were determined and countermeasures selected in the light of the Federal Highway Administration Crash Modification Factor Clearinghouse. This paper focuses on a performance-based approach to compare safety performance to transportation planning alternatives and provides an analytical framework to assist safety professionals, designers, planners, and policy makers at state and local levels in making informed decisions.

Was this content written or created while at USF?

No

Citation / Publisher Attribution

Presented at the Transportation Research Board 96th Annual Meeting on January, 2017, in Washington D.C.

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