Integrating Safety into Tribal Transportation Planning Supported by:

1. Integrating Safety into Tribal Transportation Planning Supported by: FHWA and the Transportation Safety Planning Working Group June 10, 2009

2. Webinar Faculty • Chimai Ngo, FHWA, Federal Lands Highway • Susan Herbel, Cambridge Systematics • Lorrie Lau, FHWA, Planning • Kyle Kitchel, FHWA, Federal Lands Highway • Dennis Trusty, Northern Plains TTAP • Richard Hall, Northern Plains TTAP

3. Webinar Agenda • Tribal Safety Problem Description • Introduction to Transportation Planning • Introduction to Transportation Safety Planning • Data for Transportation Safety Planning • Transportation Safety Planning Products • Resources for Transportation Safety Planning • Conclusions

4. Why is Tribal Transportation Safety Planning Necessary?

5. Need for Tribal Transportation Safety Planning • Native Americans • Highest risk of motor-vehicle related death of all ethnic groups • For ages 4 to 44, motor-vehicle related injuries are leading cause of death • Total fatalities down from 42,884 to 41,059 (2003 to 2007) • Reservation fatalities up from 325 to 356 (2003 to 2007) Note: only reported fatalities • Low safety belt use (78 percent fatalities 1999-2004) • High alcohol use (57% fatalities 1999-2004) 4

6. Safety Challenges for Tribal Communities • Road characteristics and maintenance • Data collection, management, and analysis • Occupant Protection • Impaired driving • Law enforcement • Pedestrians 5

7. Road Characteristics and Maintenance • Most Tribal lands are in rural, isolated locations • Road maintenance on reservations is generally lacking due to scarce resources • Rural reservation road data is often limited or outdated • Reservation roads often lag behind other road systems in design and safety standards • Traffic markings and signs are limited

8. Data Management • BIA and Tribal police departments often do not have a standardized system for collecting and storing crash data • Tribal traffic records are likely to be stored in multiple departments • Sovereignty issues • More detail in Data Module

9. Occupant Restraint • Low safety belt use rates • Overall, Native American safety belt use on reservations is 62 percent (2006) compared to a national average of 81 percent (2006) • Child safety seat use is low – 27 percent (1999-2004, FARS) 8

10. Impaired Driving • 65 percent of Native American fatal crashes involved alcohol, compared to the national average of approximately 47 percent (1982 to 2002) • More than 50 percent of Native American drivers in fatal crashes were over the legal limit (>=.08 BAC) (1999–2004, FARS) • BIA estimates 75% of all reservation incidents involve alcohol

11. Limited Law Enforcement Resources • 2,380 BIA and tribal officers police 1.4 million Native Americans on 56 million acres of land • About half of the number of officers per capita in other American communities • Most reservations are rural and tribal members are located in small isolated communities remote from the tribal headquarters • Tribal/BIA police spend most of their resources on law enforcement activities other than traffic enforcement 10

12. Pedestrian Crashes • Pedestrian fatality rates – five to seven times the national average • Alcohol use – almost 70 percent had been drinking • High incidence of train – pedestrian fatalities

13. What Is Transportation Planning?

14. What is Transportation Planning? • Process of developing strategies for design, construction, operation, maintenance and safety improvements of transportation facilities • Purpose is to move people and goods and provide services to residents • Objective is to maximize the transportation benefits from the resources invested

15. Why Engage in Transportation Planning? • Manage resources • Address transportation needs and priorities • Safety • Economic development • Land use • Quality of life • Engage the public • Develop investment strategies • Adapt the system to meet current and future needs 14

16. Key Partners in Transportation Planning • Public • Tribal Governments • Federal transportation agencies • Federal land management sgencies • State government agencies • Local government agencies • Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) • Regional planning organizations • Special interest groups

17. Transportation Planning Agencies and Processes • MPO and State requirements • Include safety as a priority planning factor • Involve Tribal Governments in planning process • Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) • All metropolitan areas with population greater than 50,000 • Metropolitan Long-Range Transportation Plan/TIP • State DOTs • Conduct planning in rural areas • State Long-Range Transportation Plans/STIPs 16

18. Tribal Transportation Planning Policy • FHWA and FTA policy • Require state, regional planning organizations, and metropolitan planning organizations to consult with Tribal Governments • Must consider the interests of Tribal Governments in the development of transportation plans and programs • BIA and Tribal policy • Develop Long-Range Transportation Plan • Develop Tribal Transportation Improvement Program 17

19. Transportation Planning Process • Establish policy, goals, and objectives • Analyze system conditions • Perform a needs analysis • Set priorities • Establish a funding plan • Develop the plan • Develop the program • Implement and monitor the plan

20. Transportation Planning Process Involve the public throughout the process!

21. What is transportation safety planning?

22. Crashes Aren’t Accidents • Most crashes are preventable • Injury prevention is a public health issue Transportation Safety Planning is critical for improving the safety and quality of life for Native Americans

23. SAFETEA-LU • Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act – A Legacy for Users • Established safety as a key planning factor • Increased emphasis on transportation safety planning • Requires Strategic Highway Safety Plans (Section 148)

24. Strategic Highway Safety Plans • Addresses 4 Es: Engineering, Education, Enforcement and Emergency response • Evidence based using safety data • Focus on “emphasis areas” and strategies with greatest potential payoff • Involves a wide range of stakeholders in the process including Tribal Governments • Includes methods to measure performance

25. Additional Safety Plans and Programs • Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) • State plan for safety infrastructure improvements • Federally funded • State Governor’s Office of Highway Safety – Highway Safety Plan (HSP) • Focus largely on behavioral issues, e.g., safety belt use and impaired driving • Federal and state funding • Tribal Highway Safety Programs • Indian Highway Safety Program • Indian Reservation Roads Program • Tribal Safety Management System 24

26. Eligible HSIP Projects • Intersection safety • Pavement and shoulder widening • Rumble strips • Skid resistant surface • Pedestrian, bicycle, disabled improvements • Railway-highway crossing safety improvements • Traffic calming • Safety conscious planning 25

27. Eligible HSIP Projects (continued) • Elimination of a roadside obstacle • Improvement in highway signage • Improvement in data collection and analysis • Work zone safety • Guardrails and barriers • Measures to reduce wildlife crashes • Signs at pedestrian-bicycle crossings and in school zones • Improvements on high-risk rural roads

28. Fundamentals of Tribal Transportation Safety Planning • Develop data collection and management systems • Analyze data to determine priorities • Collaborate to extend Tribal resources • Use the process to build Tribal capacity 27

29. Issues Unique to Tribes • Tribal sovereignty • Jurisdiction in Tribal and non-Tribal lands • Confidentiality of data • Cultural identity • Tribal courts • State – Tribal relationship 28

30. Tribal Transportation Safety Projects • Public service campaigns and active enforcement of safety belt laws and drunk driving • High school education programs on safety belt use and pedestrian and bicycle safety • New legislation and enforcement of occupant protection • Road Safety Audits • Community traffic safety programs 29

31. What data are needed for transportation safety planning?

32. Good Data are Fundamental • Basis for all plan development • Justification for funding • Develop priorities • Benchmark changes • Evaluate the outcomes 31

33. Types of Data: Traffic and Roadway Data • Crash location • Through local, county, state, and Tribal agencies • Can be collected through field inspections (Road Safety Audits) • Traffic counts/exposure data (IRR inventory) • Roadway characteristics

34. Motor Vehicle Crash Data Sources • Police accident reports • Age, gender, ethnicity • Safety belt use • Impaired drivers • Insurance companies • Emergency Medical Services (EMS) • Medical facilities 33

35. Basic Data Needs • Data recorded soon after crashes in a consistent and thorough format (preferably at the crash site) on approved crash reporting forms • Crash records consistent with NHTSA and MMUCC standards to allow for comparative analysis • Roadway characteristics • Exposure data • Citation data and court disposition records • Data sharing among agencies

36. Overcoming Data Deficiencies • Public input • Law enforcement • Hazardous elements review • Narrow bridges • Guardrail terminals • Sharp curves • Road Safety Audits • Safety studies

37. Use of Data • Example – • Menominee Reservation (WI) observational survey of occupant restraint use • 22 percent belt use • 9 percent child safety seat use Transportation safety strategies should focus on occupant restraint

38. Data to Identify Crash Location Navajo Nation Contributing Factors Analysis (2001)

39. Data to Identify Location and Severity of Crashes Navajo Nation Crash Location Analysis (2001)

40. Navajo NationRoadway Safety Strategies • Fencing for roads with high rates of animal crashes • Street lights for roads with high crash rates after dark • Lighting and intersection design for intersections with high crash numbers • Access control for areas of development with high numbers of crashes • Sidewalks and pedestrian crossings for roads with high pedestrian crash rates 39

41. What are the planning products and desired outcomes of transportation safety planning?

42. Products and Desired OutcomesCoordination with External Planning Processes • Participate in development of the transportation plans and programs • Participate in development of state/regional transportation safety plans… particularly the SHSP Best Practices Maricopa Association of Governments (Phoenix MPO) has two tribal members Montana’s SHSP includes Tribal component and involvement

43. Potential Tribal Plans and Programs • Explicit consideration of safety in the Tribal Long Range Transportation Plan (TLRTP) • Tribal Highway Safety Improvement Program • Tribal Highway Safety Management Plan 42

44. Tribal Safety Program Objectives • Reduce the number and severity of motor vehicle crashes • Decrease the potential for crashes • Identify and address highway safety needs • Unsafe highways • Impaired driving • Safety belt use • Child passenger safety education • Traffic records improvements

45. Implementing Tribal Safety Programs • Utilize available Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) guidelines • Review and consider revising outdated Tribal transportation and traffic codes • Become familiar with the Federal Tribal Safety Management System (SMS) and the State Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) • Develop a tribal transportation safety management plan

46. Tribal Transportation Safety Management System • Federally mandated that BIA develop a SMS to address safety on Tribal lands • Administered by BIA and FHWA with assistance from other safety partners • Each Tribe is encouraged, but not required, to develop its own SMS 45

47. Incorporating Safety into the Transportation Planning Process Tribal Council Safety Committee Input Policies LRTP TTIP IRR TIP FUNDING SOURCES Construct Project State TIP Evaluate Other Sources

48. Transportation Safety Behavioral Approach Tribal Council Safety Committee Input Policies LRTP TTIP State Highway Safety Offices FUNDING SOURCES Indian Highway Safety Program Implement Program State Department of Transportation Evaluate Other Sources

49. Tribal Safety Planning Examples • Northern Plains TTAP • Dennis Trusty • Richard Hall • Marketing • “Roads are color blind” • Empowering the Tribes to invest in safety • Roadway safety investments are good for Indian Country and local towns and villages

50. Tribal Safety Projects • SOAR – Safe on All Roads • Road Safety Audits • NPTTAP Local Roads Safety Manifesto – What works? • Signs, delineators, and chevrons • Vegetation control • Gravel roads • Ditches • Approaches • Guardrails