Building a safer future
Leveraging data, innovation and collaboration to enhance infrastructure safety
John Barton, PE
Professional Services Chair, DOT Market Sector Leader and Interim Bridge Practice Leader
Serving as the backbone of our nation’s transportation network, state departments of transportation have been at the forefront of the significant strides we have made as an industry in enhancing our road infrastructure. This has included the implementation of innovative solutions to promote and improve safety.
While notable progress has been made, there is still more work to be done to fully realize the potential of a safe infrastructure network that reduces severe injuries and gets us closer to our goal of zero traffic fatalities on our nation’s roads. In 2023, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported more than 40,000 traffic fatalities in the U.S.
Ensuring the safety of commuters and pedestrians is paramount to reducing severe injuries and loss of life on our roadways, also while saving on the significant economic costs that result from these incidents.
Achieving this will continue to require collaborative and innovative approaches that address the systemic factors that contribute to roadway incidents, including the inevitability of human error.
For our industry, this means continuing to advance and adopt proactive measures that puts safety at the forefront of every stage of the decision-making process, from planning to design, construction, operations and maintenance.
Assessing and managing risk
Data-driven decision making
Agencies have more data than ever before. The power of this data and supporting technology is transforming our ability to better understand and address safety challenges, including traffic patterns, accident hotspots and overall condition of infrastructure. Through effective data management, DOTs are better able to make informed decisions that enhance safety by identifying high-risk areas and proactively implementing needed improvements such as improved signage, road redesigns and enhanced lighting.
Leadership in safety culture
As leaders in the transportation industry, all of us must adopt the title of being a safety champion. This involves setting clear safety goals for our organizations and making sure that our colleagues own their unique roles in achieving these safety goals. Being visible advocates for safety allows the opportunity to demonstrate that commitment through actions and policies that advance safety initiatives for the traveling public.
Public engagement and education
Effective risk assessment and management continues to be a critical part of ensuring the safety of road infrastructure. Utilizing a comprehensive approach to assessing risk covers a variety of factors such as natural hazards, structural and operational risks.
Once risks are identified, it is imperative to analyze and prioritize actions based on the severity and frequency of each one individually. This can be done through historical data, institutional and expert knowledge, and predictive modeling.
Through ongoing assessment and management of potential risks, DOTs are better able to enhance the safety and reliability of their transportation networks through regular monitoring and mitigation strategies that can include preventive measures and advanced preparedness plans.
Safety also is prioritized in how we engage our local communities. By encouraging dialogue with our friends and neighbors, in addition to policymakers and engineers, we are empowering everyone to prioritize safety in their daily decisions. This should include providing updates on safety initiatives and soliciting feedback. State DOTs also have helped enhance this process through successful effective public education campaigns that raise awareness on key issues such as distracted driving, speeding and the importance of seatbelt use that help contribute to a safer travel environment.
Looking Ahead
As we look to the future, it is essential that we build on the progress that we have made while remaining committed to achieving the goal of a transportation network that is safe and efficient. By embracing our role as leaders, we will prioritize continuous improvements that help advance transportation systems that are safe, efficient and sustainable. In doing so, we will ensure that our transportation networks support the needs of our communities and advance our vision of zero deaths, both now and well into the future.
The road to zero TxDOT’s mission to ensure every motorist gets home safely
Michael A. Chacon, PE Traffic Safety Division Director | Texas Department of Transportation
Safety is the highest priority for the Texas Department of Transportation. Whether walking, riding a bike, traveling by car or through other modes of transportation, our goal is to enhance quality of life by safely and efficiently connecting people in Texas.
After the anomalies of 2020 and 2021, when states across the country saw traffic fatalities spike, Texas has regained traction. We saw fatalities on roadways and in work zones decline for two consecutive years in 2022 and 2023, inching us closer to our ultimate goal of zero.
To build on our progress, we launched Road to Zero, an ambitious, comprehensive program to #EndTheStreakTX by cutting traffic fatalities in half by 2035 and recording zero deaths by 2050.
Road to Zero, adopted by the Texas Transportation Commission in 2019, directs TxDOT to develop and implement strategies to achieve those goals. Our response is the Texas Strategic Highway Safety Plan, a comprehensive document that integrates all the strategies and countermeasures we intend to implement to make our roadways even safer.
Road to Zero acknowledges that most motor vehicle crashes in Texas can be prevented through safety engineering, education and enforcement. When we learn of an area experiencing an increase in crashes, we immediately seek to understand if future crashes could be prevented through engineering applications, public education, increased law enforcement or a combination of these strategies.. Below are some of the life-saving best practices we have launched in each category.
Safety engineering
To reduce the number of fatalities on our roadways and work zones to zero, our engineers have designed a series of tools or safety mechanisms into our system, including:
• 6-inch-wide road striping to enhance visibility
• Cable and concrete median barriers to prevent head-on crashes
• Wider shoulders as a refuge for motorists and law enforcement
• Turn lanes to remove stopped vehicles from through traffic
• Roundabouts and diverging diamonds to minimize conflict points at intersections
In 2020, we had our first all-district safety plan review, where TxDOT districts shared some of their best practices in reducing fatalities and crashes. One good practice that was piloted at several districts was to introduce a centerline buffer on undivided roadways to reduce headon collisions. So, we developed and issued a new standard sheet to provide a wider 2 – 4 foot space and a rumble strip between the yellow lines. The rumble strip warns a motorist if the vehicle begins to drift across the centerline. The increased space between the lines provides more reaction time to correct the vehicle’s course.
To measure the effectiveness of the pilot and all of our programs, we perform a before-and-after comparison of crash counts. If the total for three years following the pilot is lower than the counts leading up to implementation, we consider it a
“Whether walking, riding a bike, traveling by car or through other modes of transportation, our goal is to enhance quality of life by safely and efficiently connecting people in Texas.”
success. Depending on the specific improvement and its widespread application, we may roll out the initiative statewide and incorporate it into our standard lane design, as we did with the centerline buffer concept.
Finally, we equip our roadways with dynamic message signs, vehicle detectors, video cameras and weather sensors that tie into our traffic management centers. Operators at the TMC use the data to identify crashes or potential crashes and warn approaching motorists. When cameras reveal a crash has occurred or a stalled vehicle is creating a bottleneck, they can dispatch first responders or TxDOT Highway Emergency Response Operators to remove the vehicles before they cause a secondary crash.
Safety education
TxDOT is committed to achieving zero fatalities, but we can’t do it without the public’s help. That’s why we have traffic safety specialists in each TxDOT district. They assist with public education and outreach by creating safety coalitions with city and county officials, local law enforcement, school districts, universities and business owners – anyone who wants to be a safety partner. The coalitions dig into the data, discuss community safety issues and collaborate to reduce crashes.
We also hold safety summits and collaborate with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which provides federal funding for our education and enforcement partners, the American Automobile Association, the Associated General Contractors, Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the Transportation Security Administration to find solutions to hazards such as impaired driving crashes.
In addition, we raise awareness of safety issues through public education campaigns that acknowledge and address the human factors of traffic safety, such as not wearing seat belts, driving impaired or distracted, speeding and ignoring roadway conditions, which cause most traffic fatalities. We hope to eliminate these behaviors by educating citizens about safe driving behaviors.
One of our bigger challenges is getting drivers to slow down and not drive when impaired. In Texas, many traffic fatalities are college-aged students driving while impaired. We are trying to bring that number to zero by taking our impaired goggle simulation on the road to college campuses across the state.
The special goggles distort the student’s vision, similar to what they might experience after consuming alcohol. After donning the goggles, the student takes the wheel of a driving simulator to help them better understand the danger they put themselves and others in if they drink and drive. It’s one of TxDOT’s most impactful initiatives.
Pedestrians and bicyclists are another group we want to educate about safety. We are working to decrease deaths among vulnerable road users through efforts like our walking billboards, as part of our “Be Safe Drive Smart Campaign” to raise intersection safety awareness among motorists. At the same time, we need pedestrians to do their part. That’s why we created pedestrian safety commercials offering safety tips at crosswalks to prevent potentially dangerous scenarios from unfolding.
Safety enforcement
TxDOT works closely with local and state law enforcement partners. We provide federal funds to increase traffic safety patrols and discourage unsafe driving behaviors. We also work closely with the TxDOT Safety Task Force, which includes members from local and state law enforcement, sharing data on crash trends and problem locations.
Soon, TxDOT will implement AASHTOWare software, giving us greater insights into specific safety applications and greater efficiency in analyzing the 600,000 crash records and data we receive from law enforcement each year. We are first rolling out the software internally and then externally to each district.
Road to Zero goal
With more than a half-million crashes a year on Texas roads, people often ask if zero fatalities is a realistic, achievable goal. When we respond by asking them what number would be acceptable if we were talking about their loved ones, the answer is always zero.
We believe the Road to Zero is possible, not only because of the engineering, educational and enforcement tools we have now, but also because of the tools and technology we will have in the future to ensure every motorist gets home safety. Each person can also do their part by making responsible decisions while behind the wheel, like buckling up every day, driving a safe speed and driving sober.
Setting the safety standard in Florida
FDOT targets zero fatalities with innovative engineering, messaging initiatives
By Jared W. Perdue, PE Secretary | Florida Department of Transportation
The Florida Department of Transportation is a leader in planning and implementing innovative programs to reduce congestion, increase mobility, advance technologies and support the long-term resiliency of Florida’s transportation infrastructure. Safety remains the highest priority for these massive, impactful and nationally-visible programs.
To convey our vision, we created the FDOT Compass, an at-a-glance visual of our department’s priorities. The compass is the result of a grassroots effort to engage with the communities we serve and understand what is important to them. Each point on the compass represents the shared goals and values that emerged from those conversations, with everyone agreeing to place safety at the top as our collective North Star. Below are a few ways we have evolved our program to reflect and advance our collective goal:
• Engineering safety into roadways
• Improving safety through data-driven, multifaceted behavior change
• Extending an open invitation to innovators
• Encouraging personal advocacy
Engineering safety into our roadways
Beginning in 2020, traffic fatalities increased nationwide. Statistics show most vehicle crashes result from lane departures, collisions at intersections or colliding with people walking or biking. To mitigate these actions, we instituted several major initiatives designed to improve driver predictability and consistency on our roadways, including:
A $60 million lane departure program. We initiated a statewide deployment of ground-in rumble strips — a first-in-the-nation, Florida-specific design — on all high-speed arterial facilities with lane departure crash histories. The rumble strips alert drivers when they are drifting out of their lane and toward oncoming traffic. Statistics show centerline rumble strips can lead to a 20% crash reduction. More than 3,000 miles of Florida roads now feature this deterrent device.
A $45 million Wrong-Way Vehicle Detection
System. To reduce wrong-way driving, we developed and deployed enhanced pavement markings, signage and devices on select interchanges along the Florida Highway System. When a vehicle is detected traveling the wrong way on the interchange, the system automatically activates flashing red lights to alert the driver. A message notifies the closest regional transportation management center where Florida’s Highway Patrol officers are stationed. At a moment’s notice, FHP can mobilize to intercept the wrong-way motorist before a crash occurs. Nearly 550 off-ramps on Florida’s high-occurrence interchanges will be part of this initiative.
A $14 million movable bridge safety program. FDOT owns many movable bridges throughout the state’s eastern and western intracoastal areas. To ensure the safety of pedestrians and cyclists on these bridges, we recently rolled out new technology that uses lidar, thermal cameras and artificial intelligence to prevent a bridge tender from raising a span if a person or moving object is detected on it.
After deploying a successful pilot program, we chose to implement it statewide. By fiscal year 2025, all movable bridges will be equipped with this lifesaving technology.
A $100 million intersection safety lighting program. Under our State Highway System Intersection Lighting Retrofits Program, we have replaced older, high-pressure sodium lighting with new LED technology. The program has improved nighttime visibility and enhanced pedestrian safety at high-volume intersections statewide.
When implemented along the Busch Boulevard corridor near Tampa Bay, the lighting program reduced nighttime injuries and fatalities by more than 50%. FDOT District 7 implemented improved lighting at more than 400 intersection locations, with before-and-after studies showing a 65% reduction in crashes. Six years after implementing a similar project on State Route 30 in FDOT District 3 near Pensacola Bay, fatalities have declined.
Improving safety through behavior change
We are seeing positive results from our engineering initiatives. However, safety is complex and requires multiple strategic approaches to be successful. In a majority of serious and fatal crashes, driver behavior is a contributing factor. That is why we created Target Zero, a data-driven, multifaceted behavior change initiative. Target Zero takes many existing safety education and awareness campaigns a critical step further through original primary research with the goal of influencing dangerous driver behaviors before serious and fatal crashes occur.
This initiative first identifies behaviors that contribute to crashes. Through outreach to affected communities, including focus groups, we initiate conversations with drivers to hear about their approaches to road safety. Next, we strive to understand why those behaviors are occurring. Then, we identify who the specific target audience is and create impactful messages to promote safe driving.
“By evolving our safety program to include engineering, researchbased data-driven education, innovation and personal responsibility, we will realize a future with zero serious injuries and zero fatalities.”
Extending an open invitation to innovators
We are inviting developers, creatives and entrepreneurs with innovative technologies that could impact safety to come to Florida. We want to be the state where these impactful, game-changing ideas are fully implemented, and we are setting the stage from a policy and funding perspective to make it happen.
In addition, we have the tools innovators need to test their ideas and bring them to fruition. The SunTrax Transportation Testing Facility, the first facility in U.S. designed for both connected and automotive testing, is a 475-acre transportation research facility with a 2.25-mile oval track where innovators can research, develop and test emerging transportation technologies. Florida also is home to premier transportation research institutes, which advance our understanding of safe mobility. These resources act as incubators, giving innovators a space to research, test and apply their potentially lifesaving transportation solutions.
Encouraging personal advocacy
Another way we are evolving our safety program is by encouraging each of our employees, vendors, consultants and every professional in the transportation industry to become a safety champion. Imagine the impact we would have if everyone in the transportation industry took personal responsibility for safety education in the communities where they live, work and play. We could usher in a new era of transportation safety.
The nature of transportation safety is changing, and DOTs must ensure their programs continue to meet the needs of motorists. By evolving our safety program to include engineering, research-based data-driven education, innovation and personal responsibility, we will realize a future with zero serious injuries and zero fatalities.
“Florida in Motion” Newscast FDOT continues to diversify its communication platforms to get important messages out to as many people as possible. Our latest initiative is Florida in Motion, a newscast on YouTube. The newscast strives to empower the communities we serve, inspire collective action and tell the FDOT story.
Since the first episode aired in late 2023, the newscast has generated more than 2,000 subscribers.
Implementing the safe system approach in Washington state
WSDOT realigns safety management strategy to advance zero fatalities goal
Roger Millar, PE, FASCE, FAICP Secretary of Transportation | Washington State Department of Transportation
Washington state has been a leader in traffic safety for decades. We were the first to establish a statewide traffic safety commission and the first to set the formal goal of zero drivingrelated deaths and serious injuries reflected in our Target Zero goal and plan. Among state DOTs, the Washington State Department of Transportation is a leader in adopting and advancing the Safe System Approach.
Making traffic safety a shared responsibility
Washington state’s commitment to a multiagency approach for making its roads safer dates back to 1967 when the Washington Traffic Safety Commission was created. The Commission is a board of agency leaders backed by subject matter experts who are working to create a positive traffic safety culture statewide. Creating social norms for safe driving increases our chances of achieving Target Zero.
The Commission, led by Gov. Jay Inslee, is a holistic, highly coordinated multiagency approach with members who have a vested interest in safe mobility, accessibility and land-use practices. They include the chief of the Washington State Patrol, as well as representatives of the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, the state departments of Health, Licensing, Transportation and Health Care Authority, the judicial system, cities and counties. The
Commission also hosts advisory groups on walking and rolling safety, impaired driving prevention and speed management. This collaborative effort ensures that all partners are included in the decision-making process, fostering a sense of shared responsibility among decision-makers whose actions can support safe roads and a positive traffic safety culture that encourages good choices.
In 2000, the commission authored Washington state’s Target Zero Strategic Highway Safety Plan, a plan for ending driving-related deaths and serious injuries. Commission leaders update the plan on a regular cycle to reflect key learnings, the latest data on traffic safety and cutting-edge thought leadership. They plan to release the next update in October 2024. The following are some of the innovative strategies we will carry forward, which together reflect our commitment to the Safe System Approach.
Mandating the Safe System Approach
In May 2024, state officials announced that Washington state experienced 810 traffic deaths in 2023 according to preliminary data collected by WSTC. This represents a 9% increase since 2022, and it is the largest number of traffic deaths in Washington since 1990. Our state is moving in the wrong direction — which is why implementing a Safe System Approach is imperative to reversing the trend.
We are updating the 2019 version of the Target Zero Plan according to the nationally- and internationallyrecognized Safe System Approach. This approach acknowledges road users are humans, prone to error and susceptible to injury, and that roads can be developed to support safe road use and behaviors. By doing so, those mistakes or behaviors that lead to serious crashes are reduced. The goal of “zero” in Target Zero is not to eliminate 100% of crashes, but to eliminate crashes that result in fatal and serious injuries.
To that end, we are designing new facilities and improving existing assets to reduce errors and keep crash forces on the human body within tolerable levels. For example, we have adopted a “roundabout first” policy when planning and designing intersections. Roundabouts change the angle of a vehicle’s approach, prompting the motorist to reduce speed. As a result, the hub-and-spoke configuration reduces motorists’ collisions with each other by 90%, injury collisions by 75% and pedestrian-involved collisions by 40%. We install roadside safety devices in locations where driving errors are likely to occur to lessen potential injuries resulting from drivers running off the road. We’ve identified gaps in the pedestrian and bicyclist networks on the state system and will address those as we construct Complete Streets projects to reduce the vulnerability of people using active transportation.
The Safe System Approach is helping Washington state advance Target Zero by incorporating safety-first design cues that lead drivers to slow down, pay attention and be mindful of those who walk, bike and roll. These are sometimes labeled self-explaining or self-enforcing roads and they’re on the job 24/7.
Incorporating safe land use policies
Almost half the trips we take as individuals are less than five miles long, but many people who are able to will choose to drive short distances rather than bike or walk because they don’t feel they have sufficiently safe alternatives. We hope to change this paradigm by
being the first state DOT to add a safe land-use policy to our Safe System Approach. Safer land use reduces exposure to crashes by shortening distances between where people live, learn, work and play so a vehicle does not have to be the default option for transportation, and so nondrivers have safe access to their destinations. WSDOT doesn’t make land-use decisions directly; we’re a partner in building awareness of how land use affects traffic safety and it’s important to have this concept in Target Zero as a plan for all agencies.
The need for achieving safer speeds
Injuries occur when crash forces exceed what the body can tolerate. Force is a function of the speed, mass of the vehicle and the angle in which a crash occurs. While the current safety mindset for some people is “a little speeding won’t matter,” the reality is a small speed change makes a big difference in injury outcomes. In a crash, the use of seatbelts, air bags and the vehicle around the occupants can help protect them. These same safety devices don’t exist for active transportation users, making them more vulnerable to injury.
In a safe system, we want to explicitly consider all road users in our design choices. Together with our partners, we developed injury minimization guidelines to increase recognition of speed management as an essential tool to reduce serious injuries and deaths. These guidelines recommend setting speed limits for a mix of people and uses and that often means lowering the speed limit in a population center, not raising it based on driver speeding behavior that’s responding to the existing designs. We’ve updated our design manual to consider road user mix in setting target speeds and we’re moving away from speed setting based solely on the 85% speed. As part of our safety action plan, I have directed a working group to implement these practices on state highways. The Legislature changed the law to allow speed safety cameras on state highways, which gives us another tool. WSDOT also is working with local agencies to allow for the lowering of speeds on city streets as part of state highways and providing safe mobility for all.
“When zero serious injuries and fatalities are the goal, philosophies that have underpinned traffic management for decades must change.”
Making values-based decisions
Data doesn’t make decisions, people do. People base their decisions on their values. That is why WSDOT’s safety program is values-based first and data-informed second. For example, to understand and address the transportation equity issues in our system, we conducted a safety assessment of vulnerable road users. We learned neighborhoods with disparities in social vulnerability, poverty and health are experiencing a disproportionate increase in pedestrian and cyclist deaths and serious injuries compared to other neighborhoods.
Using only data-informed decision-making, we might attempt to deter people from walking and biking in those areas. However, our job is to make active transportation safer in these communities. These are often places where more people depend on walking, biking and transit for everyday transportation. With values-based decisions, we encourage people to leverage any and all modes of transportation that meet their needs and we work to create a safer environment for them to do so.
Advocating for walkers, bikers and rollers WSDOT is one of only two DOTs in the country with an active transportation division. When we created the division in 2017, we elevated its position within our organization to emphasize the importance of all transportation modes.
By 2025, we will invest nearly $150 million in infrastructure and programming through the Safe Routes to School and Pedestrian/Bicyclist Programs. These safety-oriented programs focus on reducing or eliminating serious and fatal crashes and increasing the number of people walking or biking.
The new Sandy Williams Connecting Communities Program focuses directly on active transportation gaps on current and former state highways and is investing another $25 million specifically in overburdened communities where environmental justice needs — and pedestrian/ bicyclist crash rates — are highest. Both of these programs are wholly or funded in part by Washington’s Climate
Commitment Act. The CCA supports Washington’s climate action efforts by putting cap-and-invest dollars to work reducing climate pollution, creating jobs and improving public health.
The Complete Streets Program, designed to provide space and separation for safer and more convenient travel on our network by all users, is another initiative under the Active Transportation Division’s leadership. According to state law, Complete Streets policies must be incorporated into any WSDOT project of half a million dollars or more, which means they will apply to most of our projects. Over multiple years, this will have a dramatic cumulative effect on safety.
Further, we are among only a few state DOTs measuring traffic stress on our active transportation corridors. We assess each corridor and assign a stress level number from one (facilities appropriate for all ages and abilities) to four (lacking facilities and likely to be used only out of necessity) based on how wide, fast and busy the segment is. The scores help us understand where to invest our resources to create the most significant safety effect for people walking, biking and rolling, which ultimately improves safety outcomes for everyone else on the road. Our goal is to provide facilities that align with the safety, connectivity and comfort associated with a level of traffic stress one or two.
These and many other active transportation initiatives are helping us increase the safety of all road users.
Taking ownership
When zero serious injuries and fatalities are the goal, philosophies that have underpinned traffic management for decades must change. WSDOT is leading the way in making that shift by sharing responsibility with all agencies who play a role on our streets, embracing the Safe System Approach, instituting safe land-use policies, making values-based decisions and ensuring safety for all road users with our innovative Active Transportation Division. That level of commitment is why Washington state continues to be a leader in traffic safety, and it’s why we will achieve our goal.