ASCE: The Vital Role Civil Engineers Play

By Vincent Spahr, P.E., VICE-PRESIDENT, ASCE FLORIDA SECTION DISTRICT IV

Key tenets of the Safe System Approach are illustrated in the graphic above from USDOT. Paramount among them is an acknowledgment that humans make mistakes, but responsibility is shared and all who are involved in the planning, design, construction, and use of our transportation network have a role in reducing the incidence of fatal and serious injury crashes.

Civil engineers play a vital role in designing and constructing the transportation network that connects homes, schools, businesses and every other destination in Florida and beyond.

For decades, we were laser focused on how to build new roads, wider roads, faster roads and longer roads to get Floridians and our many visitors where they needed to go in as short a time as we could. Sure, there have been parallel efforts to increase transit options and to expand our recreational trail networks, but new lane-miles have long been king, as evidenced by the vast federal and state transportation dollars dedicated to roadway construction.

The tragic side effect of such a transportation network that serves pedestrians and bicyclists within the same footprint as the two-ton vessels that shuttle us from place to place is that when the operators of those vehicles make a mistake – be it due to the sun, a distraction, or poor judgment –the results can be fatal. This tradeoff has long been viewed as an unfortunate inevitability of a convenient and efficient transportation network, but attitudes have been shifting in recent years to prioritize safety, not just as a peripheral detail in our transportation network design plans, but at the forefront of our planning and design efforts.

Nowhere is this shift more evident than in the Florida Department of Transportation’s Target Zero initiative and in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant program.

Target Zero

Target Zero is an FDOT initiative with the same goals as Vision Zero – namely, to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries on the transportation network – but with a focus on drivers’ behaviors that have historically been linked to said crashes.

Like the SS4A program, Target Zero recognizes the Safe System Approach as a critical resource for improving safety on our state transportation network. Of particular importance to Target Zero are the Safe Road Users and Safe Speeds components.

Target Zero is addressing Safe Road Users and Safe Speeds through educational and enforcement campaigns aimed at behaviors such as distracted driving, aggressive driving, and seatbelt usage. FDOT utilizes focus groups to develop campaign materials and then shares resources with Community Traffic Safety Teams (CTSTs) throughout the state to encourage safer behaviors and discourage those that have statistically been found to lead to fatalities and serious injuries. FDOT has approached the dissemination of these materials in creative ways, including 15- and 30-second video snippets as well as “recipes for safe driving” printed alongside recipes for Florida favorites like sweet corn and ricotta fritters or strawberry and citrus shortcake.

Safe Streets And Roads For All

The SS4A grant program was funded via the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) to the tune of $5 Billion from 2022 through 2026. The SS4A program supports the USDOT’s National Road Safety Strategy and encourages widespread implementation of the Safe System Approach in its goal to eliminate roadway fatalities and serious injuries.

SS4A grants are generally awarded to cities, counties, tribes and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) for projects in one (or more) of three classifications: development of Safety Action Plans, demonstration activities to assess the viability and effectiveness of safety countermeasures, and design and/or construction of safety countermeasures previously identified in a Safety Action Plan.

The grants require just a 20% local match, which can be funded through local budget line items as well as through other contributions from other federal, state and local grants.

Of the $2.9 billion awarded throughout the United States over the past three fiscal years, nearly $200 million has been awarded to municipalities, tribes and MPOs within the state of Florida – approximately $98 million toward the development of Action Plans and demonstration activities and approximately $99 million toward the implementation of safety countermeasures. Only California and Texas were awarded more SS4A funds than Florida. More than 100 unique applicants throughout Florida have been awarded SS4A grants from the panhandle (Emerald Coast Regional Council) to the southernmost point of the continental U.S. (City of Key West).

The development of these Safety Action Plans and the implementation of safety countermeasures derived from their findings have been and will continue to be critical to maintaining a forward trend toward reducing the incidence of fatal and serious injury crashes on our roadway networks. The SS4A program has allowed local municipalities to engage in Vision Zero in a meaningful way, multiplying local investments five times over, and helping bring the commitment to Vision Zero to urban and rural communities alike.

Ultimately, civil engineers play a critical role in committing to the reduction of fatalities and serious injuries on our roadway networks. The dedication of federal and state dollars to that end will ensure that safety remains paramount as we continue to plan, design and build the transportation network that serves our communities throughout Florida.