The Metropolitan Houston Traffic Safety Program

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The Metropolitan Houston Traffic Safety Program
Houston-Galveston Area Council Houston, TX
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Seriousness of Problem

• 1998-2000 Houston region - 243,616 serious
  crashes inc. 1,793 fatalities and 274,926
  persons injured
• The region accounted for
• 26 of all statewide crashes
• 27 of all statewide injury crashes
• 17 of all statewide fatal crashes
• The region has 22 of the statewide population
• and, approximately, 21 of the statewide VMT
• Likelihood of a fatal or injury crash was
• 36 higher than statewide average
• 145 higher than national average

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Purpose of the Program
Build a traffic safety program that can reduce
crashes Map the crashes Identify hazardous
locations and area Conduct the necessary
preliminary engineering
Implement roadway improvements Identify funding
sources Leverage local investment with State and
Federal funds
Support other safety efforts Enforcement Educati
on Safety partnerships
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Program Implemented Through Tasks
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Task Build a GIS-based Crash Information System

• Obtained crash data for entire system
• State roads
• Local roads
• Obtain data on an annual basis
• Developed geo-referencing methodology
• Added supplementary data sets (VMT)
• Developed crash analysis tools

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Task Identify Conditions Affecting Crashes

• Improper driving behavior
• High-risk population
• High-risk cities counties
• High crash roadways and intersections (hot
  spots)

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High-risk Behaviors 1998-2000

• Region U.S.
• Speeding 39 13
• Failing to yield 20 19
• Failing to stop 11 9
• Running a red light 8 5
• DUI 7 7
• (However, involved in 37 of fatal crashes/39
  nationally)
• Following too close 3 3
• Improper turn 2 2
• National Safety Council. U.S. average for
  1999. Fatal and injury crashes only

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High-risk Populations

• Region U.S.
• Teenagers 21 16
• (9 of driving age population/5 nationally
• 17 in fatal crashes /14 nationally
• 19 in incapacitating injury crashes)
• Elderly (65) 8 8
• (9 of driving age population/13 nationally
• 11 in fatal crashes/13 nationally
• 9 in incapacitating injury crashes)
• Male drivers 79 - (Compared to 58 for
  females
• 1.7 times more likely to be in fatal crash/1.4
  nationally)
• Pickup truck drivers 31 31
• (More likely to be involved in DUI crash)
• National Safety Council. U.S. average for
  1999. All crashes.

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City Crash Risk (Crashes Per 100 Million VMT)
City Crash risk Galveston
337 Baytown 334 Rosenberg
320 Pasadena 290 Conroe
247 Houston 231 Texas City 211
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Task Conduct Safety Studies

• Identify hazardous locations
• Partner with local government, TxDOT
• Conduct engineering study
• Make mitigation recommendations
• Mitigate hot spot

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Task Improve Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety

• Have identified areas that are hazardous
• for pedestrians and bicyclists (hot spots)
• Information is used for bike/ped planning
• Examine sidewalk, traffic control and
  pedestrian
• flow dynamics to identify mitigation measures

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Task Improve Truck Safety

• Truck crashes a major problem
• 27 of the States truck crashes
• Information provided on location of crashes
• Support Houston Police Departments
• truck weighing efforts
• TxDOT has implemented no truck in
• left lane policies on several freeways

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Task Develop Strategic Safety Plan

• Have identified 344 major crash hot spots
• (78 crashes between 1998-2000)
• Estimating benefits and costs of mitigating
• Programming into RTP

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Costs and Benefits of Hot Spot Mitigation
(Preliminary)   Annual Number
Estimated Estimated Type of
Facility Number of Crashes Cost to
Mitigate Annual Benefit Freeway 150
7,766 75 million 58
million   Intersection between freeway
arterial road 70 3,756 35
million 28 million   Arterial road 124
4,930 62 million 37 million    
 
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Other Safety Activities

• Safety services
• Train local planners in safety planning
• Safety courses for judges, Mayors, etc.
• Provide safety materials for schools
• Safety partnerships
• Governmental (TxDOT, DPS, local jurisdictions)
• Private, non-profit (AAA, insurance,
  associations)
• Community groups
• Promoting good design principles
• Review project designs for safety
• Encourage constituents to include safety in design