Transportation Decisionmaking:
Information Tools for Tribal Governments
This summary provides tribal decisionmakers and planners with a brief overview of how to conduct transportation safety planning and develop Transportation Safety Plans. It is based on the Developing a Transportation Safety Plan module, which is one of 12 modules in the series Transportation Decisionmaking: Information Tools for Tribal Governments. The FHWA Office of Planning produced this series to educate tribal planners and decisionmakers about the tribal transportation planning process and to provide them with useful program information.
What is a Transportation Safety Plan?
A Transportation Safety Plan is a collaborative and comprehensive document that identifies transportation safety issues and strategies to address them. Effective Transportation Safety Plans help tribes implement safety projects and programs that make the transportation system safer for all users.
What are the Benefits of a Transportation Safety Plan?
Some benefits of developing a Transportation Safety Plan are:
How is a Transportation Safety Plan Developed?
Developing a Transportation Safety Plan consists of seven steps:
Step 1. Establish a Safety Leadership Framework |
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As a first step, the tribe identifies a champion and working group to guide the development of the Transportation Safety Plan. The working group develops a vision, mission statement, and goals and seeks Tribal Council support to develop the Plan. |
Step 2. Collect and Analyze Safety Data |
This step involves gathering and analyzing transportation data and anecdotal evidence to identify specific safety issues. |
Step 3. Determine Emphasis Areas |
During this step, the working group uses the results of Step 2 to determine key safety issues to address, known as emphasis areas, which will help the tribe achieve the Transportation Safety Plan's vision, mission statement, and goals. |
Step 4. Research and Identify Potential Strategies |
This step involves identifying possible strategies that tribal safety staff and/or stakeholders can implement to achieve the goals of each emphasis area. |
Step 5. Prioritize and Incorporate Strategies |
The next step is to prioritize the identified strategies for each emphasis area in order to develop a final list of strategies. |
Step 6. Draft the Plan |
With the components of the Transportation Safety Plan in place, the next step is to draft the Plan and lay out next steps for implementing safety improvement projects and programs. |
Step 7. Evaluate and Update the Transportation Safety Plan |
The final step is to evaluate and update the Transportation Safety Plan to reflect changing transportation safety conditions within the tribe. |
How Does Developing a Transportation Safety Plan Relate to the Rest of the Modules?
This module is closely aligned with seven others: Public Involvement, Developing a Long-Range Transportation Plan, Data Collection and Use, Developing the Tribal Transportation Improvement Program, Project Prioritization, Funding Sources, and Financial Planning. Having a Transportation Safety Plan in place will increase opportunities for public involvement, project planning and programming, data analysis, and funding.
What are the Training Modules for Tribal Transportation Decisionmaking?
The figure below shows how the 12 modules in the series relate to each other:
Who can I contact?
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/processes/tribal/contacts/
Additional Resources
Transportation Planning Capacity Building Website: http://www.planning.dot.gov/focus_tribal.asp
FHWA Tribal Transportation Planning: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/processes/tribal/
