Secretary Slater Releases BTS Plan To Improve Transportation Safety Data
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BTS 12-00
Dave Smallen
202-366-5568
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Wednesday, September 13, 2000 -- U.S.
Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater today released Safety
in Numbers: Using Statistics to Make the Transportation System
Safer, establishing the Bureau of Transportation Statistics
(BTS) as the lead agency for improving the quality of
transportation safety data, which will help raise the level of
transportation safety.
"The actions
to be taken based on the BTS Safety Data Action Plan are an
important step toward improving safety--the top priority of the
U.S. Department of Transportation and the top transportation
priority for President Clinton and Vice President Gore,"
Secretary Slater said. "Accurate and timely data will give
the entire transportation community the information to raise the
level of safety by identifying, evaluating and reducing problem
areas."
"By
implementing this plan, we will provide the DOT and other
transportation decision-makers with a new level of data
quality," said Dr. Ashish Sen, BTS director.
"Fact-based management of transportation safety programs can
reduce the deaths and injuries that are a major cost in
transportation."
Under the five-part plan:
- BTS will be the lead agency for the DOT to improve safety
data in coordination with the DOT Safety Council, which
is an ongoing forum of DOT modal administrators and
senior officials of the Office of the Secretary providing
coordination and leadership on safety issues, as well as
with data experts from each modal administration;
- an Intermodal Transportation Data Base (ITDB) will be
created to organize safety data;
- BTS will develop data quality standards;
- the National Transportation Library will be expanded to
provide more resources for transportation research; and
- DOT will conduct 10 research projects to focus on
addressing specific shortcomings in transportation safety
data.
BTS will continue
to work with the transportation community on improving data
quality through an implementation team of 20 stakeholders which
will meet four times a year and issue progress reports on key
issues, as well as conduct a conference every two years, with
four regional conferences during the intervening years.
The final version
of the Safety Data Action plan followed the "Safety in
Numbers" conference earlier this year involving more than
2,000 of the nation's key transportation stakeholders. Four
Safety Data Workshops held in 1999 with about 200 stakeholders
helped formulate the initial Action Plan. This plan was developed
in response to Secretary Slater's 1999 National Transportation
Safety Conference where stakeholders identified better data
collection and reporting across all jurisdictions as one of the
top priorities for improving safety. Also, BTS in 1998 issued
"Transportation Statistics Beyond ISTEA: Critical Gaps and
Strategic Responses," citing the need for better quality
safety data.
The full Safety
Data Action Plan, Safety in Numbers: Using Statistics to Make
the Transportation System Safer, can be found at the BTS
website: www.bts.gov.
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