How to Develop a Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Action Plan
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AUGUST 2017 How to Develop a Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Action Plan FHWA-SA-17-050 Notice This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The U.S. Government assumes no liability for the use of the information contained in this document. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation. The U.S. Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trademarks or manufacturers’ names appear in this report only because they are considered essential to the objective of this document. i 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient’s Catalog No. FHWA-SA-17-050 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date How to Develop a Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Action Plan August 2017 6. Performing Organization Code 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. UNC: Dan Gelinne, Libby Thomas, Katy Lang, Charles V. Zegeer; VHB: Elissa Goughnour 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. University of North Carolina 8300 Boone Boulevard, Suite 700 Highway Safety Research Center 11. Contract or Grant No. Vienna, VA 22182‐2626 Chapel Hill, NC 27599 DTFH61-16-D-00005 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered Federal Highway Administration 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590 14. Sponsoring Agency Code 15. Supplementary Notes FHWA Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative: Tamara Redmon Further technical input and content development provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Safety Countermeasures Division within the Office of Safety Programs. This guide is a revision of How to Develop a Pedestrian Safety Action Plan (https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/ped_focus/docs/fhwasa0512.pdf) originally developed in 2006 and revised in 2009 for the Federal Highway Administration and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The current version builds on the existing content, which was created by the following authors and organizations: UNC Highway Safety Research Center (Charles V. Zegeer, Laura Sandt and Margaret Scully). Other Contributors: Michael Ronkin, Mike Cynecki, and Peter Lagerwey 16. Abstract The purpose of this guide is to assist agencies in developing and implementing a safety action plan to improve conditions for bicycling and walking. The plan lays out a vision for improving safety, examining existing conditions, and using a data-driven approach to match safety programs and improvements with demonstrated safety concerns. This guide will help agencies enhance their existing safety programs and activities, including identifying safety concerns and selecting optimal solutions. It will also serve as a reference for improving pedestrian and bicycle safety through a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach to safety, including street designs and countermeasures, policies, and behavioral programs. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement Bicycle, pedestrian, safety, plan, resource, guide No restrictions. 19. Security Classif. (of this report) 20. Security Classif. (of this page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified 66 Form DOT F 1700.7 (8‐72) Reproduction of form and completed page is authorized ii Images Nearly all of the images in this guide were sourced from the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center’s (PBIC) Image Library (www.pedbikeimages.org). A special thanks to Dan Burden, who provided most of the images used in this guide from the PBIC Image Library. iii Table of Contents Chapter 1. Introduction and Background ....................................................................................................1 Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety Problem Background ........................................................................................1 Components of a Safety Action Plan ...........................................................................................................................2 How to Use This Guide ..........................................................................................................................................................5 Closing Thoughts ......................................................................................................................................................................6 Chapter 2. Establishing a Vision for Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety ...................................................7 Street Design Policies Affecting Nonmotorized Road Users .........................................................................7 Design and Policy Elements that Influence Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety ....................................... 8 Strategies to Improve Safety ........................................................................................................................................... 12 Reviewing Existing Policies and Design Guidelines ......................................................................................... 14 Closing Thoughts ................................................................................................................................................................... 14 Chapter 3. Understanding Safety Problems ............................................................................................. 15 Strategies for Identifying High-Crash or High-Risk Locations .................................................................... 15 Information Needed to Identify and Understand Safety Problems ....................................................... 16 Common Types of Safety Data ...................................................................................................................................... 16 Types of Areas to Identify ................................................................................................................................................. 20 Closing Thoughts ................................................................................................................................................................... 23 Chapter 4. Involving Stakeholders ............................................................................................................... 25 Stakeholders to Involve ..................................................................................................................................................... 26 Principles and Strategies for Involving Stakeholders ...................................................................................... 29 Closing Thoughts ................................................................................................................................................................... 30 Chapter 5. Selecting Safety Improvements .............................................................................................. 31 Diagnosing Safety Problems........................................................................................................................................... 31 Types of Solutions ................................................................................................................................................................. 33 Closing Thoughts ................................................................................................................................................................... 42 Chapter 6. Program Implementation and Evaluation ........................................................................... 43 Funding Strategies ................................................................................................................................................................ 43 Funding Criteria and Prioritization .............................................................................................................................. 45 Major Funding Sources ...................................................................................................................................................... 45 Evaluating Safety Programs and Projects ............................................................................................................... 47 Closing Thoughts ................................................................................................................................................................... 49 Chapter 7. Summary and Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 51 Appendix A. List of Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Guides and Resources .................................... 53 Appendix B. Examples of Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Plans .......................................................... 55 Appendix C. Checklist of Safety Action Plan Elements ......................................................................... 57 iv How to Develop a Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Action Plan List of Figures Figure 1. Pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities in the US by year, 2006 to 2015. .......................................1 Figure 2. Seattle Vision Zero data for bicycle and pedestrian safety analysis. ................................... 18 Figure 3. Santa Ana crash type identification example. .......................................................................... 19 Figure 4. Chicago Department of Transportation modal hierarchy. .................................................... 33 Figure